[hereiam]

My severe anxiety (I'm not even sure if that's what I should be calling it...) brings me to a point at times where I feel like self-injury will be the only thing to calm me down. For about 6 months now I haven't self-injured, and have been trying to deal with the anxiety in healthy ways such as journaling and breathing exercises. Unfortunately, these don't work as well as I had hoped, and my anxiety can still be out of control.

My question is this - If I went on Xanax, do you think this would be beneficial? This way when I feel like my anxiety is getting out of control, I can take this drug (as needed) instead of hurting myself. I feel like Xanax could really help me as I don't feel anxious 24/7, so I don't think I need to take something everyday (and I don't want to). I don't want to self-injure anymore and really want this to help. Do you think this is a good idea? Would xanax calm me down enough to possibly curb my urges?

Thanks for everyones time.

[Larry_Hoover]

There you are, hereiam. I was wondering where you were.

It sounds like you'd like to use "healthy" ways to manage anxiety, and I could make some suggestions there.

Magnesium. Magnesium sulphate is epsom salts. Epsom salts baths are calming, because some of the magnesium soaks right through your skin. Magnesium calms you by making your natural GABA receptors more sensitive.

Another sensitizer is niacinamide, a special form of vitamin B3. Please make special note, it has to be the amide form. Niacinamide is also called nicotinamide. If you try plain niacin, it will not work. It will backfire and make you worse.

Niacinamide not only sensitizes the GABA receptors, it also is a mild agonist. What that means is it turns on the GABA receptors even when there's no GABA present.

And another one to try is taurine. It's one of the ingredients in red bull. It makes the caffeine gentler. It soothes the activation, so that it feels comfortable. On its own, it's like taking a mild tranquilizer.

All these are perfectly natural, and it's quite common to be deficient in any of them. In fact, stress itself depletes each of them, so you can get into a vicious circle. Stress increases the need, but decreases the amount available, increasing the stress, etc. etc.

So, how much of each? I knew you'd ask.

Magnesium salts are readily available and cheap. Just avoid magnesium oxide and magnesium glycinate and glutamate. Any other magnesium salt is fine.

You can take 300 mg/day (with food) as a starting dose, and you can increase by 100 mg/day if you think it would help. The thing is, if you take too much, you'll have loose stools. So, if that happens, drop the dose by 100 mg, and that should solve the problem. Over time, your body gets used to it, and you can increase it again. Some people find magnesium so calming, that they use it as a sleep aid.

Niacinamide can be taken in individual doses of 100-500 mg, and as needed, up to 2000 mg/day. It has pretty quick responsivity, and should be active in 20-30 minutes following oral intake. Peak effect at 1 hour.

Taurine is maybe a little harder to find. Body builders use it, so anywhere those protein powders and bulking agents are available will certainly have it, as would a good vitamin store. Dose, again, is 100-500 mg. As needed. No upper limit really, but if you use too much, you might develop insomnia or irritability. What "too much" means, in dose terms, is something you need to learn for yourself.

Those are for starters, and considering it sounds you're nearly successful at managing stress already, these nutrients should help you tip the balance. I really like taurine and niacinamide because they're quick acting. Magnesium is more the slow steady decrease thing.

Taurine hits quite quickly. If you're sensitive to MSG, you can totally cancel the MSG response by taking some taurine. That's what taurine does, it shuts down the effect of the stimulatory amino acid, glutamate.

Any questions, feel free to hit me up. But right now, it's time for the sack.

L8r,
Lar

[EJ711]

HereIam -

Xanax is a good drug, because you can take it on a as needed basis.

Talk it over with your doctor.

Jane