Experiences with chamomile tea?

[hazmatz]

Hello everyone

I know there have been a few threads made on this. But I was wondering if anyone has had experience with chamomile tea? I have moderate anxiety and sometimes find it hard to sleep at night but I've heard rave reviews about chamomile tea and its sedative effects. The only thing I'm worried about is that I read it binds to the same receptors as benzos do - GABAa. This concerns me a little because a few months ago I quit using Clonazepam cold turkey and it was a really hard time for me. I know this sounds really stupid and I'm probably just worrying over nothing but do you think I will get "addicted" to chamomile tea if it is sedative like a benzo? I found that using Clonazepam made my anxiety much worse over time and I would hate for chamomile to do the same. Should I just drink it occasionally or is it safe to drink every night before bed? I just bought 2 ounces of the chamomile leaf so I would like to use it, perhaps even before bed tonight, but for some reason I am anxious about it. I feel like if I get that glimpse into being sedated like I used to always be, I will relapse and all the severe anxiety I used to have will come back.

Again, I know it sounds stupid. I'm sure a cup of chamomile tea is much more mild compared to a pill. But I'm an anxious person and I've never tried it before so I would just like some personal insight. Thanks in advance.

 

[oVerde]

Prepare to abdominal cramps!

Is cool to take chamomile tea, nothing ever near a drug symptoms, you will be just fine, not over relaxed neither anything.

It's fair popular where I live.

 

[neversickanymore]

Hey haz.. what kind of anxiety do you suffer from? maybe if we all explore it a bit we can find the root you need to address. I am very familiar with the hell of anxiety. I totally agree with you that continues long term use of antianxiety meds makes things so much worse. I was on benzos pretty much continuously for like twenty years. I was foolish enough to listen when they told me I had a chemical imbalance in my brain that was causing the anxiety. They were right, but my brain was causing this "imbalance" so that i would feal wretched. The reason it wanted me to feal wretched is that it wanted to tell me that there was something that I needed to address or change. It feels wretched so we cant ignore it. If we use drugs to try and ignore it it just ramps up the power and makes things worse as we both have experienced. I now take nothing for anxiety and its awful face almost never appears to me. So I guess if you want maybe you could share somethings about what your going through and we could see if all of us could help you find the root and help you address whats going down?

 

[hazmatz]

Thats really sweet, thank you

Well I never experienced the PHYSICAL symptoms of anxiety until I was 17. I started doing drugs when I was 15 just because my life was boring, I wasn't depressed or anxious at the time. But after a few years of use and a bad mushroom trip, I stopped doing all drugs. I'm in college now and I'm feeling a lot better than I did a year ago, (I was waking up in panic attacks) and I've - for the most part- accepted that the anxiety that is left over is what I'm going to be stuck with permanently. The worst part is the physical symptoms. Sometimes my heart will just start racing and my breathing gets shallow for absolutely no reason. Its not what I would define a panic attack, because that includes this feeling of pure dread and wanting to jump out of my skin. Like I said,I don't get that anymore. My panic attacks were at its peak when I was taking benzos every day. so now I'm just an anxious college student that worries about things that the average person never has to worry about. As a result its hard for me to sleep sometimes because when I'm laying down before bed, that is when I find my mind wandering the most and having anxious thoughts. So what i've read, it sounds like this chamomile tea will help me but I am afraid of using it as a coping mechanism like I did when I started using benzos.

Benzos are the worst thing to ever happen to me. I still can't believe doctors actually prescribe them to people.

 

[neversickanymore]

so now I'm just an anxious college student that worries about things that the average person never has to worry about

The amazing thing is that we are in control of how we choose to think. With a strong rational mind anxiety no longer produces any positive effect and many negative ones. Care to share what you have identified as reasons for your anxiety. I think we may be able to explore different ways of looking at these and why current approaches provide no positive benefits.

My life free of anxiety os progressing in an amazing fashion and I have enjoyed a great deal of success while bound by anxiety and other emotions. So i guess i think that you could greatly reduce you anxiety and achieve even greater positive life results. I know for on im done making myself miserable and in doing so really the sky has turned out to be the limit.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

I've drank chamomile for decades. It works as a good sleep aid. Most people do not get anxiety from it.

I usually just drink 1-3 cups in the late afternoon or evening. Sometimes I put honey in it, and other times I put it over ice. There's no caffeine in it. Just try making one 8 oz cup, and drink it slowly. Steep the herb it for 3-5 mins, or if you want it very strong 10 minutes.

Another herb you might like to relax you is rooibos or 'red tea' from South Africa. Some people find lavender flowers made into a hot drink to be relaxing, and Jasmine flowers can do the same thing.

 

[Chatative]

Another herb you might like to relax you is rooibos or 'red tea' from South Africa.

I came in to say this... it's "red bush" actually. I know because my late grandpa was South African.

I was introduced to rooibos like 18 years ago now when I went over to visit him once. Lovely drink although I'm not really sure to what extent it assists sleep. Certainly very refreshing & doesn't affect it negatively though.

I like it with just a tiny dash of milk, although having it with lemon is nice too.

Redbush Tea FAQ