Kanna. It is a natural SSRI but surely has a different mechanism of action to the chemical SSRI's and likely does not interact in the same way with the same things certainly not in all cases I expect at least.
In an
in vitro study, a high-mesembrine
Sceletium extract showed
monoamine releasing activity by upregulation of
vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2).
[7]
^That makes me particularly nervous. A natural SSRI as well as a natural MAOI.
Kratom, I cannot tolerate it due to allergies and intolerances but I did take it for one month and I absolutely loved it or what you are seeking I found it to be amazing for my anxiety and I have a really extreme anxiety disorder about as extreme as can be much of the time.
Kratom was probably the best thing I have ever experienced for immediately taking away all of my mental agitation and anxiety and woes as soon as the effects kicked in in and instantly improving my mood and outlook.
Thanks for this, I do have kratom on my list and you have made me look forward to eventually trying it.
You never mentioned Etizolam. I have found that to be very helpful with anxiety in certain situations and certain types of anxiety but probably not to the same degree as the kratom for example.
Ehh, I've heard of it but I'm pretty much done with benzos period. I have plenty of klonopin on the table in case of emergency where I need a quick fix but that's all those are: quick fixes. And after Tofisopam messed up, the acclaimed benzo without the horrible side effects, I've utterly lost my patience with these. Imidazenil is the only one I will give a try at this point in time because it was highly recommended.
Also have you considered microdosing psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms or LSD or the clearnet LSD homologues like 1p LSD, ald-52 and 1cp LSD?
Hallucinogens are a huge no-no. The first and last time I took acid was the worst nightmare I ever had that I couldn't wake up from. Whoever claims this helps their anxiety is confusing anxiety with something else.
Understand that I'm a very negative, cynical person who has learned to always watch his back and expect the worst. Thus, any hallucinogen or stimulant I take just greatly amplifies these feelings. If I start seeing shit, it's guaranteed to be negative and horrifying.
SSRIs are fucking crazy. I went through like 3 of them, then switched to SNRIs, then NDRIs... 2 hellish years of my life. Your depression is cured because you're so wrapped up in the side effects,
You're lucky, they didn't even cure my depression but made me outright suicidal back in the day.
For real. Psychiatry is still in the dark ages right now, SSRIs are going to be looked at in the same way we view lobotomies 100 years from now.
Psychiatry is pseudoscientific, that's the problem, it will always be in the dark ages. SSRIs have just as much as scientific foundation as lobotomies which is why they were both proclaimed miracle cures before they even bothered to test their crackpot theories out.
This is why when you're as desperate as I am, your only option left is to become a guinea pig until you find something that works, because you'll never know why it works, just that it does. Nothing would make me happier than if someone found a way to study the brain in a non-invasive way.
It looks like you've explored just about every anti-anxiety medication or supplement available... If you're not wanting to be on a bzd daily or an SSRI, I don't know what you're looking for at this point. It sounds like you need to turn inwards and look for the source of your anxiety and perhaps consider alternatives that aren't medications or supplements; what those are, I couldn't say. I just take bzds every day and my anxiety is managed well and I'm fine with that so I haven't spent much time exploring stuff like meditation, etc.
Haha, I've only explored about half, if that. Plenty of more popping sprees to go on before I'm done.
As for the source of my anxiety, it stems from living in a sick system full of sick people. I had to watch my back all the time, paid the price every time I made the mistake of even slightly letting my guard down. So all this walking on eggshells, being paranoid, being cynical, having to treat everybody like a predator and needing to be one step ahead in case someone is plotting against me and so on. This wasn't nerve-wracking in the beginning. In fact, I could derive pride from it and I was quite confident, because I knew no one could fuck with me. Over time, these stopped being voluntary thoughts and have become involuntary. Now I can't control my apprehension and cynicism, it happens on an unconscious level. Now I overthink every thought and can't do something as simple as deciding to watch a fucking movie without wasting 3 hours reminiscing, procrastinating and multitasking random stupid shit.
In other words, I've trained myself into this state the past few decades and it backfired. I reject CBT because I have no intention of undoing my awareness about this sick world that pushed me into this corner and becoming blissfully ignorant. Fuck that. What I do want is to be able to have a choice, to be able to voluntarily be the cynical, paranoid, misanthropic fuck that I am. So far, only oxytocin and selank have done this. I do not want to be a prisoner of my own mind.
It's more complicated than this, but that's about the long of the short of it.