Green Tea For Reducing Anxiety? Comments

[KwanYingirl]

A little background: my PTSD service pooch has Addisons Disease. Her adrenal glands don't produce the stress hormones cortisol and aldosterone. She is monitored for her electrolytes and gets a shot once a month of synthetic aldosterone. As well, she takes a .05mg of prednisone daily. If she has too much stress I can give her an extra prednisone, but we don't want to give her more prednisone than absolutely necessary due to its toxic effect on the kidneys and liver.

At Christmas I took her to spend a few days at my Mothers. Usually, she comes unglued due to the travel there and the difficulty settling in, leading to vomiting and diarreah. This year I asked for tranquilizer a for her. Instead my Vet recommended a neutroceutical called Anxitane. It is derived from green tea leaves. It worked wonders. She was cool as a cucumber and had fun.

So the Vet and I had a long talk about how to help Annie in times of stress. Yes, the go to drug is the prednisone, but I asked her if I could experiment with the Anxitane as it worked so well for her ( it is commonly used for dogs and cats who are anxious). She was all for it. You have to think ahead with it as you give a dose 12 hours before the stressful activity ensues, then tablets every six hours until the threat is over.

So now my PTSD question. Do any of you drink green tea or take it in capsules for anxiety? Granted we're different species but I'm curious if there is also a calming effect for humans. The data I read on the Anxitane says it does not interfere with any drugs. I'm hopeful that I can help reduce her need for the steroid thus extending her life.

Comments?

 

[Justmehere]

I used to take L-theanine capsules often - it is the active calming ingredient in green tea. I started taking it after giving something similar to my cat and seeing it work well. I asked my doctor about it and she said it was a good thing to try - works for some people, doesn't work for others, but is pretty safe. It works for me! I now drink green tea instead, and sometimes supplement it with capsule of 200mg of l-theanine.

 

[City Slicker]

I take L-theanine occasionally and also Relora for anxiety. I believe l-theanine is the active ingredient in the green tea and 'Now' brand offers it in capsule form as well as Relora. I do notice a bit of a calming effect when I take the l-theaine and the same when I take the Relora.

It's not a drug-like effect but it's enough that I feel the 'edge' dull a bit when the adrenaline rises and the subsequent increase in respiratory and cardiovascular arousal disrupts.

(I also use rescue remedy drops for both me and my dogs)

 

[KwanYingirl]

@Justmehere how did you determine the dose for you? Did you find capsules at a health food store? Did it help you sleep?

 

[Deleted member 28740]

@KwanYingirl I have been working on learning small animal acupressure. Link here is from the course study - http://www.animalwellnessmagazine.com/articles/acupressure-for-cushings/

Site for all animal acupressure is Tallgrass. Decades of work.

For my pal I use homeopathic for stress and calming. Swanson's vitamins online has great Homeopathic formulas. Use them for me to Environmental is a very good one. Just slip her a few down to back of throat and keep mouth closed and rub down from mouth to chest to she has swallowed them. They have a Calm, and many others. Homeopathic does not depend on dosage amounts, no side effects or interaction with other meds. It either helps in a day or so or not.

 

[Justmehere]

@Justmehere how did you determine the dose for you? Did you find capsules at a health food store? Did it help you sleep?

My doc said the typical dose is 200mg. I think it can be taken a few times a day. I only took it once. It did help me sleep. It took the edge off the anxiety and mostly helped my body physically relax. I found the capsules at a grocery store - they are pretty common. But they can also be found at health food stores and online too. If you try it, I hope it works for you!

 

[Nico]

I don't have PTSD, but I do have anxiety and have suffered from panic attacks. Green Tea has caffeine in it, albeit lower than coffee, but could still trigger anxiety. I can't drink it because it doesn't calm me down. Instead, I discovered whole flower chamomile tea. It is not the stuff you buy in a box in a grocery store. Those tea bags are lower grade, aren't whole flower, and are usually blended with other herbs. I buy mine from a high quality tea shop, but I have seen them in bulk in some health food stores. I wouldn't trust Amazon. I can't talk enough about how calming the whole flower tea is. I was talking to a friend's husband of mine who was in rehab eons ago for heroin addiction and he said they were given whole chamomile tea to help. That speaks about it's potency too (although you don't feel drugged out, just really relaxed).

 

[KwanYingirl]

@Nico I grew herbs including chamomile flowers and you are right about them! They grow wild in New Hampshire. I guess it's time to go back into my gardening days and gather some teas.

 

[WildMermaid]

@KwanYingirl I drink ridiculous amounts of green tea every day I prefer it iced and never with sugar or sweetener. It tastes a little like I imagine lawn clipping would but I find it pretty pleasant. :) Here is a link that will give a few of the health benefits for it. Also, I agree and @Nico chamomile is lovely as well. :) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/48132289744618881/

 

[Andreas Andersson]

Any warm drink is good against anxiety. Warmth and heat is soothing and helps you relax.
I find a hot cup of tea (with as little caffein as possible in it) with a spoon of honey and a warm blanket feels great.

I buy a lot of different tea, mostly mixed bags, so I can choose how much I use myself.

But if someone is on medication, like I am, you should avoid supplements. There are even some supplements that my doctors have outright forbidden me from taking, because of how they can interact with my medication or that interactions are unknown so that it's inadviceable to mix medication with supplements.
So just drink a cup of tea.

 

[Wastinglight]

Thanks for posting this thread! Im always looking for alternatives to meds for my anxiety. I really can't stand green tea but I might give L-theanine a go after what you guys have said here. :-)

 

[K.A.]

I have PTSD and find I can no longer indulge in my favorite beverage: tea (black, green, white, jasmine, oolong)! I hypothesized that the mechanism of action is that PTSD sufferers have pathologically LOW levels of cortisol chronically in spite of their heightened stress responses. It seems to me that giving a dog with Addison's would then be the worst thing to do when it's stressed, as it needs additional cortisol shots to manage times of stress, not a tea supplement that would LOWER it! Glad your dog seemed okay though!