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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by KimStereo on November 19, 2008, at 17:13:54
Just picked up some tonight from Vit. store. I've been gaining weight around the belly area like I never have. Anxiety has been at record highs lately. I'm thinking my Cortisol levels my be high and thought I'd try some Relora for weight loss and possibly some stress relief.
I've read up on the Kava Kava for years, but have never taken it. From what I've read, it's similar in action to the Benzos without the addiction and sedation, boy would that be wonderful. I'm looking to stop my Xanax and Klonopin at some point and just thought if this worked similarly it might help me through the withdrawal when the time comes. Very curious to see if any have had sucess with either of these two herbs.
Posted by Phillipa on November 19, 2008, at 17:13:54
In reply to Anyone know about Relora and or Kava Kava ?, posted by KimStereo on November 18, 2008, at 20:40:19
Not to upset you have you considered you might be bipolar? So many meds for anxiety. Did any work? Have You tried a mood stabalizer? Phillipa
Posted by Extreme on November 19, 2008, at 17:13:55
In reply to Anyone know about Relora and or Kava Kava ?, posted by KimStereo on November 18, 2008, at 20:40:19
> Just picked up some tonight from Vit. store. I've been gaining weight around the belly area like I never have. Anxiety has been at record highs lately. I'm thinking my Cortisol levels my be high and thought I'd try some Relora for weight loss and possibly some stress relief.
>
> I've read up on the Kava Kava for years, but have never taken it. From what I've read, it's similar in action to the Benzos without the addiction and sedation, boy would that be wonderful. I'm looking to stop my Xanax and Klonopin at some point and just thought if this worked similarly it might help me through the withdrawal when the time comes. Very curious to see if any have had sucess with either of these two herbs.Tried them both! I sadly didnt notice anything at all on relora (even on higher doses) so I came to the conclusions that a) cortisol might not be the stress/anxiety-trigger for me afterall and b) or it might , just that relora is too weak to make a significant effect.Benso does have some cortisol-decreasing properties but... I am not sure if that effect is a primary or perhaps secondary related to its primary gaba-effect (if someone knows, plz do tell).
Kava has a lot of potential. Tried the first in the form of a spray with a small amount of alcohol in it for taking the taste away (sprayed under the tounge... makes it very numb for a while) and you can feel the effect very rapidly... hard to describe the effect, somewhere between alcohol and benso. Tried the pure form too... it tastes so horrible that it really goes beyond descrption! Anyway... Kava has potential indeed but of course there is always the issue with tolerance... but I considered it to be less addictive than benso due to its "smooth" effect-peak. There was some talks about liver-damage after prolonged use but I dont know the whole truth about that.
Posted by Maria3667 on November 19, 2008, at 17:13:55
In reply to Anyone know about Relora and or Kava Kava ?, posted by KimStereo on November 18, 2008, at 20:40:19
Hi Kim,
I've tried both and found them to be too weak to treat a real anxiety syndrome.
Relora made me depressed after a couple of weeks.
The Kava has some very mild sedating properties, slightly resembling a benzo... But not strong enough.Ofcourse you could always try this alternate route, if it works for you, all the better!
Best wishes,
Maria> Just picked up some tonight from Vit. store. I've been gaining weight around the belly area like I never have. Anxiety has been at record highs lately. I'm thinking my Cortisol levels my be high and thought I'd try some Relora for weight loss and possibly some stress relief.
>
> I've read up on the Kava Kava for years, but have never taken it. From what I've read, it's similar in action to the Benzos without the addiction and sedation, boy would that be wonderful. I'm looking to stop my Xanax and Klonopin at some point and just thought if this worked similarly it might help me through the withdrawal when the time comes. Very curious to see if any have had sucess with either of these two herbs.
Posted by nolvas on November 20, 2008, at 2:46:25
In reply to Re: Anyone know about Relora and or Kava Kava ? » KimStereo, posted by Maria3667 on November 19, 2008, at 17:13:55
I agree, I've tried most natural products for treating anxiety and if I'd found one that worked well enough I'd be telling everyone about it.
Relora for me was totally worthless. Kava in the form of capsules is worthless in my opinion. The only Kava that has a noticeable effect for me is the raw root prepared correctly. For that you need to visit sites such as realkava and konakavafarm. I've used realkava and the Vanuatu variety is the strongest. Kava has an effect definitely, but if you have life crushing severe anxiety as I have and do, then Kava simply won't touch it.
What works best for me is supplementation with Selenium 100µg and Zinc 15mg. A lack of Selenium will cause anxiety. It's no miracle cure but most of the time I can live a semi normal life.
Posted by Lao Tzu on December 4, 2008, at 10:33:11
In reply to Anyone know about Relora and or Kava Kava ?, posted by KimStereo on November 19, 2008, at 17:13:54
No, no, no Kava does not work just like benzos. I used it for about 1 year without any problems. It helped my anxiety a lot. In fact, it was the best herb I ever tried for anxiety. No other herb matches it. Some say it has an effect like an MAO antidepressant. It may do other things too. I had severe panic attacks years ago. I used Kava everyday for at least a year, maybe more. At the time, I wasn't taking any pharmaceutical medications, just doing it naturally, along with St. John's Wort. I was taking a modest dose per day, not overdosing on it because taking too high a dose of kava can cause overstimulation, which I learned very quickly. So be careful to take the lowest dose that helps you. You don't need much of it. Also, it only works for several hours, not the whole day. So I would take it in the morning, and by lunch time it would wear off, so for the remainder of the day I would have to deal with my anxiety a different way. I've heard passionflower may be good for anxiety as well, but I don't know how well it compares to kava. I finally turned to taking pharmaceutical antidepressants for my anxiety, which seemed to help. Not a cure, but the medicine did help somewhat. I also took Ativan as needed for extreme situational anxiety. The problem is, I always wanted the Ativan. I've heard that certain MAO antidepressants may be better for social anxiety than the SSRI antidepressants. However, I've been on Zoloft for three years now, and it does help with generalized anxiety quite a bit. The only downside to kava is, don't mix it with pharmaceutical antidepressants. I think there can be a drug interaction between the two.
This is the end of the thread.
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