Non benzo meds for anxiety

[paranoid_pancakes]

I haven't really found anything other than benzodiazepines useful in the relief of my anxiety, caused partially by schizophrenia and partially by severe depressive disorder.

I have tried almost every SSRI there is, and none of them, including the one I take now - mirtazapine - have helped reduce it at all. I also take venlafaxine in the extended release form, and that doesn't help either.

I've tried almost everything else that is recommended for anxiety, from 5HTP to melatonin to promethazine to vitamin supplements, having suffered with my conditions for about 10 years now, and to be honest, diazepam and lorazepam are really the only things that I've found to help.

[Sindbad]

Picamilon sounds interesting. I'd like to try it. Is it easily obtainable?
For depression and anxiety i've used St. John's Wort , that didn't help much, but it took the worst edge off.
My GP once gave me Melatonine against insomnia ( he was against the use of benzos...) but he failed to inform that it takes weeks before Melatonine works , so when i didn't notice any improvement i stopped using it after 2 weeks.
Now i use Valium for insomnia and for bad panic attacks , but it leaves me groggy and of course it doesn't help for depression.
I would like to know about an effective calming/anti-depressant drug and i don't want to experiment if i can avoid it. So i'd like to hear about meds that worked for people too.

[Slick]

Lord knows I have tried just about every kind of the 'anti-depressants', and several different meds my GP prescribed, along with a long list of meds from a physic. But in the end - the only true help I have ever found - are the benzos.  Sad, but if its going to help me maintain some semblance of sanity in this insane world - it is what it is.......................    Lots of other meds can help - but after all the others and many attempts - here I am!!
Slick
P/S - Don't mean to sound like doom and gloom, but I am just going thru a rough period of time.  With the problems of a certain vendor and my family doc being tight fisted, it's been a rocky couple of weeks!

[Goyakla1]

I have tried nearlly everything..but i have ended up with Mitrazapin, 1 benzo a Day and some med
Mary Jane at Night...Indica of course.. NOT saying it Will help all, but it let me having a  " calm" Life.. When life isnt Bull... Me 

[MoJim]

I'm always on the search for a non benzo's for anxiety. Kratom has worked well in higher doses and I've tried some Kava, but am going to try some liquid extract to get the real experience. Also Valerian extract and combining the two. I've tried Valerian years ago and damn that stuff stinks, plus it didn't do anything for me. A concentrated liquid extract might work. I also have OTC Gaba, taurine, L-theanine and phenibut. I unfortunately haven't been disciplined enough to take them in a more scientific/experimental doses. I have found that Benadryl (Diphenhydramine), generic of course, works great for insomnia. It's the exact ingredient in Sominex. I recently picked up a box (24ct) at my local 99cent store for...99cents. When I take a break from my anxiety meds I tend to have insomnia. I'm also looking at med MJ, which is legal in my state. Decades ago as a teen I used it, mostly out of peer pressure, but it really gave me panic attacks and anxiety. It was probably Sativa, but back then MJ was just MJ and nobody ever talked about THC vs CBD. So I might try a Indica with very low THC levels, it could reduce my anxiety issues. I have a $60....coupon, sitting in front of me, for new patients from a local Med MJ clinic. For those of us that are older, who would of thought we would be getting coupons in the mail for MJ. Of course, everything in moderation, regardless of it being OTC, herbal, prescription, RC or dietary supplements.
MoJim

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One thing I forgot to mention was Melatonin. It works well for some, but it gave me terrible nightmares. Maybe a fractional dose could work.

[iNsom]

I find diphenhydramine does nothing for me now (it used to)
In the UK that is the active ingredient in Nytol.
Sominex' active ingredient (again, in the UK) is promethazine. I find it works a little.

Doxylamine (found in Unisom [US] and Kirkland sleep aid [UK]) works VERY well for me, as does melatonin.

Melatonin also gives me crazy dreams, I wouldn't call them nightmares but sometimes they are powerfull and negitive, however it can be nice to wake up and go "AAHH PHEW, IT WAS ALL DREAM" - that feeling of relief! 

I take melatonin every night now, I buy 90 X 5mg fast dissolve tablets but I split them in half so I take 2.5mg per night.
I still also take 10mg d1az3p4m (5mg am, 5mg pm) each day.

I don't like being a slave to p1ll5 but I'd rather this than my old anxious/ insomniac self.

[Charon]

it is a tough decision and we have all faced it at varying times in our lives: when we know a medicine will help us and our general practitioner might not agree.

You have to follow ur research, ur self knowledge, and ur heart.

You have made many a good decision (that u shared with us) to date. I trust you are making a wise decision again after much thought.

[MoJim]

That's interesting, Sominex in the US still uses diphenhydramine HCI. Tylenol PM adds acetaminophen to the diphenhydramine. Of course, don't they add Tylenol to anything they can. They say it's works in synergy, I say market manipulation. I will look into Unisom and might try maybe 1mg of melatonin in the future. I don't like being a slave to meds either, but after a rather poor prognosis of my life expectancy and decades of anxiety, I finally got the help I needed to get some relief. Life is short.

[Grandote]

I find a certain herb helps a lot. I'm not supposed to mention it here, there is a forum for it if you can guess.

[cutstack]

Look into Viibryd, it's a new class of anti depressant which will wipe out anxiety, panic etc without the sexual sides. its; actually the one ssri that i may try. I would look into it. I believe this will be my next course of action if my current plan of weaning off benzos with ambien fails.