Any supplements for anxiety

[Elliejane]

Hi
I am 50 suffer from health anxiety on and off for a number of years . Never been that anxious about other things other than health anxiety until last 6 mths . Now as well as health anxiety , anxiety has appeared for everything .
Used to be on citropram but not sure it every helped as much as it could. Came off it last year gradually no withdrawal
Been to see gp number of times referred for counselling which had 2 sessions .
Not keen to give hrt as only anxiety symptoms so far
Anyone had any success with non prescription medication?

Ellie

[BadAtMaths2]

HRT really helped with anxiety for me. It was like a switch, 8 hadn’t realised how bad it ha£ got. Oestrogen loss causes anxiety, replace the oestrogen it really helps. It’s also best on more recent advice to not wait for loads of symptoms before starting hrt. Kind of nip it in the bud before it gets a hold.

is there a specific issue you have with hrt.

[Elliejane]

Not that I am aware off . It was my gp that said she would prescribe ssri over hrt . Said because I have history of anxiety for many years and no physical symptoms that’s why

[BadAtMaths2]

All I can say is HRT really helped me. But I think for me I had had anxiety for years and it wasn't until I was embarrassingly old that I realised it was cyclical and linked to hormones/periods. Might be worth a read up on perimenopause in case there's anything else there symptom wise.

[Branleuse]

id go back and ask to trial HRT for a start. If you already had anxiety, then menopause symptoms will be likely the reason thats got so much worse. Oestrogen levels dropping so drastically can cause so many problems for women at this age. Id watch the Davina Mcall menopause documentary and then go back to the doctor, empowered with more knowledge.

As for supplements which could help, id try Agnus Castus, and 5htp

[JinglingHellsBells]

Your GP is right to refer you for counselling although CBT is better for dealing with things like anxiety as you can learn ways of overcoming it. There are ways of learning CBT online so might be worth looking into that unless you want to pay for it privately? what do you get anxious about in particular?

At the same time, your new anxiety is likely to be linked to hormones. HRT is the treatment, not ADs.

[HairyKitty]

Can you get a full least of potential menopause symptoms and go through it carefully? Maybe you have more than you realise which would justify the gp letting you try hrt.

[Movinghouseatlast]

My symptoms were anxiety, feelings of doom, depression, feeling overwhelmed and rage. Like you I didn 't ask for HRT. I soldiered on for 6 years and how I wish I had gone on HER sooner as all these symptoms went within days of starting HRT.

I used St John's Wort and 5HTP before HRT which helped a little

[SunshineCake]

I take Sage and 5-HTP which I get from Holland & Barrett and and on line supplier.

[Elliejane]

Thanks everyone for replying . I have been through the 34 symptoms and I have the following
anxiety - about lots of things that I was never anxious over before . Before it was only health anxiety (which was bad enough) . Things like worrying over my pets , son at uni etc.
Brain fog - much more forgetful
Breast tenderness - mild
Insomnia - oh yes
Mood swings
Night sweats - not often
Loss of libido - although that been gone for ages
Irregular cycles - 21 days to 42
Feeling low and much more tearful than ever before

So as you can see most are mental which she will say are all signs of anxiety and depression. She was very clear it would be ssri first

I really like my gp and she got me through some hard times . But she does seems to be against hrt .

Will start a diary and see how counselling goes . I just don’t know .
Also I not the best at self care either . I don’t smoke or drink (much only odd glass of wine c) but I do not eat the best and exercise is poor also

Will keep you updated . It’s so hard to know what to do maybe I do need a ssri again . Just cannot face that horrible horrible weeks when you first go on them .

Ellie

[Trivester]

is the anxiety all day or at particular times?

Mine is from 4/5am and interferes with sleep and a weighted blanket has been very helpful.

The cluster of symptoms you described are why I was prescribed hrt though my gp doesn’t agree with it either and I had to go to a menopause specialist.

[Mirrorball2022]

I take valerian root/Kalms. Not all the time as gives me headaches long termination but 3/4 days a week and my anxiety and insomnia is on the milder side but it helps. My nephew ( adult) recommended it as he takes for anxiety,

I notice my anxiety/worry is worse if I haven’t taken any for a few days. Could be a placebo effect I guess….who knows

[SunshineCake]

Sounds like peri-menopause to me.

[Carriemac]

My only menopause symptom was anxiety and HRT is brilliant for that for me.

[Indoctro]

5HTPT and L-Theanine

[KarenLovesRosario]

All of those symptoms can be candida imbalance in the guy and/or thyroid problems, many women including me suffer for years because thyroid tests very often miss big thyroid problems and many doctors are really crap with autoimmune problems.
Anyway here are the things that helped me during a horrific menopause
Give up gluten and soya for at least a month to see if any improvement
Magnesium spray(amongst many other used helps with anxiety and the menopause)
American Skullcap herb (I still use this for anxiety it's brilliant stuff, no way could I do a lot of things without it)
Look up Paleo recipes they have tons of vegan ones also, it's not just meat
Many panic attacks are caused/ made worse by sugar levels bouncing up and down so seeking out recipes that have steady GI levels will I promise help.
Thyroid/candida diets are very similar too.
Having a sip of cider vinegar has been proven to help with food causing sugar spikes.
If you find it hard to stop high carb things like rice and potatoes cool then reheat them it massively reduces the rise in blood sugar by 50%
Most of the things that can make anxiety worse I did.
It becomes a chicken and the egg thing.
I drank heavily ate high carb foods caffeine, never drank water.
Make sure you're getting plenty of dark leafy greens.
If you look up the vitamins and minerals we can be deficient in during the menopause such as selenium and ones that help the thyroid, you can then make sure you're eating enough of the foods they are high in.
I promise you get through the other side, I know it doesn't feel like it but you will

[KarenLovesRosario]

*gut not guy 🙄

[NeededAction]

Hello :)
sorry you’re struggling with this.
i’ve no experience of HRT but I do have experience of anxiety! SSRIs did not work for me and a new one caused a heap of problems which culminated in a lengthy hospital stay, so I stick to boots / holland and barretts now!! I found st Johns wort didn’t do anything for me, valerian tea is nice at bedtime, but again didn’t really do anything for me.
What has helped was taking a combined ‘evening primrose oil and starflower oil’ capsule from boots (about £7 for 30), for me this re-regulated my periods (they were dodgy af after covid, two week gaps, double the length of bleeding as normal, not pleasant!), it’s reduced my night sweats (not gone entirely) and I believe it’s keeping me MUCH more level headed in the week before my period when I’m usually very.. (not snappy, but just. Explosive. Like the teeniest non-thing used to make me see RED).

I’m also RUBBISH at remembering to take a pill consistently, and it doesn’t seem to have mattered that I’m very sporadic with taking these

In your position, maybe try a different GP? It sounds like HRT might be best for you but I’m no doc :)

[JinglingHellsBells]

@Elliejane But the ones you list- anxiety (more on that in a minute!), insomnia and mood swings are peri meno, as are night sweats, brain fog and loss of libido.

Worrying over pets and your son at uni. Aren't these just normal life - events? I sometimes think that it's easy to label being concerned and worried as 'anxiety'. Everyone worries about things. That's normal and it doesn't need medicating.
Maybe you could share these worries with a friend over a cuppa and that might do you the world of good, far more than taking pills to blunt your emotions. What do you think?

[JinglingHellsBells]

ps I still think your GP is wrong and they have been advised by Nice to use HRT first, not ssris. she sounds out of touch.

[KarenLovesRosario]

@JinglingHellsBells
Rather patronising post.
OP is a grown woman, I think she knows whether she has anxiety or not.

[HairyKitty]

You need to press for hrt. Whether you have underlying anxiety or not, night sweats, insomnia and brain fog = menopause symptoms and are enough reason on their own to try hrt. There’s nothing to lose is there and it might relieve the anxiety.

[JinglingHellsBells]

@KarenLovesRosario But she doesn't know. The point of her post is whether her emotional state is peri meno and / or anxiety that has already existed. There is a difference between feeling anxious about life events and crippling anxiety which may need medication. There has been a LOT in the news lately from drs who are concerned that emotions are being medicalised and treated incorrectly with drugs, that often do not work.

[catfunk]

Op have you watched the latest davina doc on all 4?

[KarenLovesRosario]

@JinglingHellsBells
Oh really they're suddenly very concerned?
After years of heavily medicating women going through the menopause with anti depressants and beta blockers (I started with my symptoms a year and a half before periods stopped)
Telling them it's all in their head they're now "concerned"
You obviously didn't read my post, coming up to and including the menopause the thyroid goes under a big strain, some women sail through some don't. One of the biggest symptoms of a problem thyroid is panic, depression, anxiety.
It actually causes problems with the part of your brain that's the flight or fight part. Can cause all of those symptoms, fear of death, brain fog and a million others.
My advice was diet and mostly making sure the things we become deficient in both before and during menopause OP was having enough of foods that contain these vitamins and minerals.
I personally don't want conventional medicine for myself, but I would never tell anyone else not to ever.
We all have a right to decide what goes into our own body.
If most doctors did more than a few months bloody training about nutrition and diet and how amazingly we can have a ton of symptoms that point to a huge problem, but they don't most still treat.
1 symptom pill for that
2 symptom separate pill for that etc
Doesn't matter that both those pills may cause more harm
My post was about steady GI levels, no gluten less carbs, more greens
Magnesium, selenium.
Stuff that wouldn't harm anyway.
If doctors are suddenly concerned it's because they're the ones that have been throwing drugs out in the past to shut women up nobody is stealing them ??

[HairyKitty]

OP mentions that she has already tried antidepressants and noticed little/no difference when she stopped them. Trialling hrt at this stage could be a good starting point.