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sleiber_gw

Calming Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Pain Relief

sleiber
12 years ago

I need help finding an herbal alternative. I have issues with stress, anxiety, and depression to a point that it's affecting my marriage and my interactions with others. Over the weekend a friend came over and while she was here she gave me some medication telling me that it would calm me. To be honest I felt the calming effect of marijuana without the high. My wife said while I was on the medication I was "cool". When I asked the friend what she gave me she told me it was Lorcet Plus. After searching online I discovered that is a narcotic pain medication consisting of hydrocodone and acetiminophen. I don't want to take pain pills and risk becoming addicted to them and I thought for sure there would be an herb or two that would provide me with this same calming effect without taking illegal narcotics or developing an addiction! Please help!!!

Comments (6)

  • lazy_gardens
    12 years ago

    First of all - what about the rest of your lifestyle. Nothing - legal, illegal, pharmaceutical or herbal - can compensate for a crappy lifestyle.

    1 - Do you get adequate sleep and a regular schedule?
    2 - Eat a reasonably good diet? Mostly real food with a minimum of fast food and pre-made stuff? Minimal sweets, low alcohol intake.
    3 - What is your caffeine intake like? In all forms?
    4 - What is your exercise regime? How much time a week do you get out in the sunshine and just walk?

    Let me know what the lifestyle is like and I'll help you adjust it, and give you the names of some herbs that will help get you under control so you can get the lifestyle you need for less stress and anxiety.

  • cacye
    12 years ago

    try taking fish oil daily. I have ADHD and this calms me down. Exercise is another thing you might need. There is an amount of exercise for altering mood, and it is every bit as good as most drugs. The main side effects are you sleep better, look better, and calm down. Generally the amount you need is 20 minutes a day to start of fairly brisk walking, swimming, weight lifting, running, whatever you want to do to keep moving. As the Buddhists say, magnify small progress.
    The next thing is B vitamins. These are essential for nerve function. The 50mg doses might be a good idea for you. Also you need magnesium to make them work. Good sleep is not possible to any real extent if you have mineral deficiencies. Take a calcium/magnesium suppliment before bed. The amounts for both should be about equal. 500mg or so. Make sure you are getting enough B12. This can take some experimentation, as many people do not digest it well. Start looking at what you do and find out what you need for your lifestyle in terms of all the vitamins. Food no longer supplies those because the soil is depleted, and plants can't give you what they don't get themselves. This is true of animals as well. You will find that your life is oh so much more bearable if you do these things.

  • rusty_blackhaw
    12 years ago

    lazygardens has given you excellent advice. Regular exercise especially can release endorphins in the body to relieve stress and give you a "high" of sorts, much better for you than any pharmaceutical or herbal drug.

    Changing your diet to include lots more fruits and vegetables may or may not improve your mood, but it'll be good for you and you won't need to take vitamin supplements. Recent research suggests that taking excess vitamins may actually increase the risk of cancer or other diseases.

    I have never seen any good evidence that modern agricultural soils are "depleted" of nutrients...if they were, crops wouldn't grow altogether (and some modern varieties have even been bred to be higher in vitamin or antioxidant content). Grow your own and you can take advantage of this, plus getting exercise and sunshine (in moderation).

  • kk1515
    12 years ago

    i like the nutritional supplements recommended here. in addition try a tea of lavender, rosemary, catnip and chamomile, works great.

  • theherbalist2012
    12 years ago

    Sleiber:

    From my perspective, there are a few conditions you may have that contribute to these undesirable mental states. For instance, there can be problems in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. It can be a weakness in the neuroendocrine systems, too. It could be a Yin deficiency which would have accompanying symptoms of worry, excess thirst for water, hunger pains several times a day, hianal hernia, acid reflux, dreaming a lot, etc. This dryness of mucous membranes can cause your mental state.

    I could go on, but I think you get the idea. If the above suggestions by the other posters don't work, you would need a professional evaluation to determine what's at the bottom of it all.

    theherbalist2012

  • pj636
    10 years ago

    Stress and anxiety are conditions that many people suffer with. There are ways to relieve symptoms, and they can be relieved naturally. Take a look at this article to see the way to do this: http://voices.yahoo.com/three-natural-ways-relieve-stress-anxiety-12279018.html?cat=5

    Here is a link that might be useful: Three Natural Ways to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

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