3 Herbs To Help You With Anxiety

When anxiety starts to rise in your body, it can feel like the world is closing in on you. Your breath comes in short gulps, your pulse speeds up, and your mind starts to race.

Whether your anxiety is a rare visitor who only shows up when you’ve got an important meeting in the morning, or a more consistent companion that’s been with you for years, there are natural herbal therapies that are safe, effective and non-habit forming.

Of course, lifestyle practices like conscious breathing, exercise, and ensuring that you’re eating a mineral-rich diet can make a big difference in dealing with anxiety. But when I was struggling with severe anxiety, it could seem like those common suggestions didn’t even put a dent in my suffering. My clients tell me similar stories. “I really don’t want to take medication,” they say, “because I know a lot of the anti-anxiety meds are addictive.” Then they sit for a moment and confess, “But it really feels like I need more than just the breathing exercises.”

Afraid of everything

The good news is that there are lots of wonderful herbs that are strongly effective against anxiety, and they don’t share the same risk of addiction and dependence that come with pharmaceutical anti-anxiety medications like benzodiazepines. Like all medicinals, these herbs aren’t right for everyone, but they can be tremendously helpful when they’re used at the correct dose and are correctly matched to your needs.

Here’s the lowdown on three herbs that can help you dance more gracefully with anxiety. It’s important to remember that herbs aren’t like drugs; there’s no “anxiety herb.” You’re looking for the herb that’s the best match for you.

1. Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)

Skullcap is the anxiety remedy for people who experience anxiety along with restlessness, muscle tension, and jaw clenching. If you tend to toss and turn in bed, or if you feel like you can only relax when you’re out walking (but sitting still makes you want to jump out of your skin), or if you feel like “climbing the walls” when you’re stuck inside during a bout of anxiety, skullcap can help you to unwind not only your anxiety, but also the accompanying muscular tension and restlessness. Skullcap is effective in tea or tincture (a tincture is an herb extracted in alcohol) form, but if you can tolerate small amounts of alcohol I think 20-40 drops of the tincture (for a 150-pound person) is the most effective form.

Scutellaria lateriflora

2. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Often mistaken for an aphrodisiac because of its seductive name, passionflower is actually the remedy for people who are so burned out and exhausted that all that’s left is anxiety. This is the remedy for people who give and give until they have nothing left for themselves. The tips of their tongues are usually bright red, and they feel a sense of being exhausted but unable to rest because the thoughts in their head keep spinning out of control. They may have heart palpitations or a racing heartbeat during bouts of anxiety.

Passion flower

This plant is effective in both tea and tincture form, but like skullcap, I tend to prefer tinctures for anxiety remedies because they’re easy to use and ready in an instant. Use 20-40 drops of tincture in a little bit of water (for a 150-pound person) and increase the dose by 10 drops at a time if you don’t feel relief after 15 minutes.

3. Kava kava (Piper methysticum)

Kava kava is the most famous anti-anxiety herb, and with good reason. It’s a powerful remedy that’s been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety, as compared to a placebo. Kava kava is more sedating and hypnotic than passionflower and skullcap, and some people find that it creates a blissed-out feeling. It has an intriguing taste that almost numbs your mouth, and has a long tradition of ritual use in Polynesia as well as medicinal use for its sedative and pain-relieving properties.

Young Kava plant

In recent years there’s been some research to suggest that over-consumption of kava kava may damage the liver, complication may happen to use this herb if they have liver problems, if they consume alcohol regularly, or concurrently with acetaminophen. That said, there is a very long history of safe use of this herb, so as long as you don’t have any liver issues, you can feel confident using this herb up to 3-4 times per week to help relieve your anxiety. It’s effective as a tea, tincture, or capsule, but I think tea or tincture is best.

Cautions

Avoid taking any of these herbs (unless otherwise directed by a qualified practitioner) if you’re taking prescription medication for sleep, anxiety, or depression, or if you’re taking blood thinners like Coumadin or Warfarin.

OMG! Izzit safe? Izzit edible? Izzit poisonous?

Remember, these herbs are helpers on your journey to healing your anxiety. All of your other lifestyle practices, like breath work, exercise, journal writing, a healthy diet, and reaching out for support from friends, family, and practitioners are still important — but there’s no question that life with anxiety is a lot easier with safe and effective herbal remedies in your back pocket.

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7 Reasons You're Tired All the Time

We all tend to blame fatigue on a too-busy lifestyle. And much of the time we're right. But if you feel tired all the time, don't blow it off. Give yourself about 2 to 3 weeks to make some lifestyle changes: Get more sleep, trim your social calendar, eat more wholesome foods, drink more fluids, take a multivitamin, and cut back on caffeine and alcohol. "If you're still feeling the symptoms of fatigue after those changes, then you need professional help," says Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD, an internal medicine doctor in Atlanta. Excess exhaustion could be the sign of a more serious medical condition that can be treated.

Feeling tired always

Here are the 7 most common problems you need to know about.

Anemia

The fatigue caused by anemia is the result of a lack of red blood cells, which bring oxygen from your lungs to your tissues and cells. You may feel weak and short of breath. Anemia may be caused by an iron or vitamin deficiency, blood loss, internal bleeding, or a chronic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, or kidney failure. Women of childbearing age are especially susceptible to iron-deficiency anemia because of blood loss during menstruation and the body's need for extra iron during pregnancy and breastfeeding, explains Laurence Corash, MD, adjunct professor of laboratory medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Genetic inherited Anemia

The Symptoms: Fatigue is a major one. Others include extreme weakness, difficulty sleeping, lack of concentration, rapid heartbeat, chest pains, and headache. Simple exercise, such as climbing the stairs or walking short distances, can cause fatigue.

The Tests: A thorough evaluation for anemia includes a physical exam and blood tests, including a Full blood count (FBC), to check the levels of your red blood cells. It's also standard to check the stool for blood loss.

Thyroid Disease

When your thyroid hormones are out of whack, even everyday activities will wipe you out. The thyroid gland, about the size of the knot on a man's tie, is found in the front of the neck and produces hormones that control your metabolism. Too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism), and metabolism speeds up. Too little (hypothyroidism), and metabolism slows down.

Thyroid hormone controls your metabolism

The Symptoms: Hyperthyroidism causes muscle fatigue and weakness, which you may notice first in the thighs. Exercises such as riding a bike or climbing stairs become more difficult. Other symptoms include unexplained weight loss, feeling warm all the time, increased heart rate, shorter and less frequent menstrual flows, and increased thirst. Hyperthyroidism is most commonly diagnosed in women in their 20s and 30s, but it can occur in older women and men too. Hypothyroidism causes fatigue, an inability to concentrate, and muscle soreness, even with minor activity. Other symptoms include weight gain due to water retention, feeling cold all the time (even in warmer weather), heavier and more frequent menstrual flows, and constipation. Hypothyroidism is most common in women over age 50; in fact, as many as 10% of women past 50 will have at least mild hypothyroidism.

The Tests: Thyroid disease can be detected with a blood test. Your doctor may order for Thyroid Function test. 

Thyroid Function Test

Diabetes

More than a million people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every year, but many more may not even know they have it. Sugar, also called glucose, is the fuel that keeps your body going. And that means trouble for people with type 2 diabetes who can't use glucose properly, causing it to build up in the blood. Without enough energy to keep the body running smoothly, people with diabetes often notice fatigue as one of the first warning signs, says Christopher D. Saudek, MD, professor of medicine and program director for the General Clinical Research Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Diabetes lead to fatigue

The Symptoms: Aside from exhaustion, other signs include excessive thirst, frequent urination, hunger, weight loss, irritability, yeast infections, and blurred vision.

The Tests: There are two major tests for diabetes. The fasting plasma glucose test, which is more common, measures your blood glucose level after fasting for 8 hours. With the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), blood is drawn twice: just before drinking a glucose syrup, then 2 hours later.

Depression

More than "the blues," depression is a major illness that affects the way we sleep, eat, and feel about ourselves and others. Without treatment, the symptoms of depression may last for weeks, months, or even years. 

Feel Depressed

The Symptoms: We don't all experience depression in the same way. But commonly, depression can cause decreased energy, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, problems with memory and concentration, and feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and negativity. 

The Tests: There's no blood test for depression, but your doctor may be able to identify it by asking you a series of questions. If you experience five or more of these symptoms below for more than 2 weeks, or if they interfere with your life, see your doctor or mental health professional: fatigue or loss of energy; sleeping too little or too much; a persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood; reduced appetite and weight loss; increased appetite and weight gain; loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed; restlessness or irritability; persistent physical symptoms that don't respond to treatment, such as headaches, chronic pain, or constipation and other digestive disorders; difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; feeling guilty, hopeless, or worthless thoughts of death or suicide. 

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This autoimmune disease is not always easy to diagnose early, but there are some subtle clues to look for. RA happens when your immune system turns against itself and attacks healthy joint tissue, sometimes resulting in irreversible damage to bone and cartilage.

Unexplained Pain? Check for Rheumatoid Arthritis

The Symptoms: Many symptoms (such as fatigue, low energy, loss of appetite, and joint pain) are shared by other health conditions, including other forms of arthritis such as fibromyalgia and lupus. Anemia and thyroid disorders, which also cause fatigue, are even more common in people with RA, according to John Klippel, MD, president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Arthritis Foundation. Rheumatologists look for at least four of the following criteria in diagnosing RA: morning stiffness in and around the joints lasting at least 1 hour before maximum improvement; at least three joint areas with simultaneous soft tissue swelling or fluid; at least one joint area swollen in a wrist, knuckle, or the middle joint of a finger; simultaneous involvement of the same joint areas on both sides of the body; lumps of tissue under the skin; and bone erosion in the wrist or hand joints, detected by x-ray.

The Tests: A thorough physical exam by a rheumatologist can provide some of the most valuable evidence of the disease, but there is also a test for the presence of rheumatoid factor, an antibody found in the blood. About 80% of people with RA test positive for this antibody, but the test is not conclusive.

Chronic Fatigue

This baffling condition causes a strong fatigue that comes on quickly. People who suffer from CFS feel too tired to carry on with their normal activities and are easily exhausted with little exertion.

No mood in anything

The Symptoms: Other signs include headache, muscle and joint pain, weakness, tender lymph nodes, and an inability to concentrate. Chronic fatigue syndrome remains puzzling, because it has no known cause.

The Tests: There is none. Your doctor must rule out other conditions with similar symptoms, such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, before making the diagnosis.

Sleep Apnea

You could have this sleep-disrupting problem if you wake up feeling tired no matter how much rest you think you got. Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. In the most common type, obstructive sleep apnea, your upper airway actually closes or collapses for a few seconds, which, in turn, alerts your brain to wake you up to begin breathing again. Someone with obstructive sleep apnea may stop breathing dozens or even hundreds of times a night, says Roseanne S. Barker, MD, former medical director of the Baptist Sleep Institute in Knoxville, TN.

The Symptoms: Sleep apnea is often signaled by snoring and is generally followed by tiredness the next day. Because sleep apnea can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke, it's important to be tested.

The Tests: This involves an overnight stay at a sleep clinic, where you'll undergo a polysomnogram, which is a painless test that will monitor your sleep patterns, breathing changes, and brain activity.

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