Does anyone use Kava?

[Doberman]

I have been reading about kava recently, and tried some last night. I ran across some studies indicating that kava is useful for anxiety. I could not really find anything about people using kava to combat anxiety that can occur while tapering, but found several stories of people who use it successfuly to combat depression and anxiety, and saw a lot of discussion about using it to taper off of Klonopin.

 

Here is one article on kava for anxiety

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/05/19/alternative-treatment-kava-shown-to-reduce-anxiety/55012.html

 

"At the end of the study, the kava group showed a significant reduction in anxiety compared to the placebo group.  For those diagnosed with moderate to severe GAD, kava had an even greater effect in reducing anxiety.

In the end, 26 percent of the kava group were in remission from their symptoms compared to six percent of the placebo group.

Kava was also well-tolerated. The findings showed no significant difference among the two groups for liver function, which had previously been a concern for kava’s medicinal use.

Furthermore, there were no significant adverse reactions that could be attributed to kava and no difference in withdrawal or addiction between the groups."

 

I have been reading about herbal treatments for depression but did not want to start using anything like St. Johns Wort that could affect serotonin levels since I am already on an SSRI. Kava affects GABA neurotransmitters, but not serotonin or dopamine. My uncle loves it and uses the powder, which is apparently what most kava advocates prefer.

 

I tried a cup of strong kava tea and a few kava capsules last night. It gave me a relaxed, somewhat euphoric feeling. It was somewhat similar to marijuana, but milder and no munchies. I'm going to experiment with it more and see how it goes.

[Jemima]

Please see this topic on Kava-kava in Symptoms and Self-care:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/653-kava-kava-piper-methysticum/?hl=kava

 

I know it's tempting to try anything and everything to alleviate withdrawal symptoms, but generally, the fewer supplements used, the better.

[Doberman]

Thanks Jemima, I searched for Kava and couldnt find anything, apparently I needed to search for Kava-Kava lol

[Jemima]

Yeah, this search engine doesn't exactly rival Google. Thanks for making the effort, though.

 

The best way I've discovered to find things is to click on that gear icon to the right of the search box, then enter the one word I'm looking for, check "Only search in titles", and then click the most likely discussion area. I leave everything else at whatever default is already set. This *usually* works.