It’s kind of expensive, so I want opinions from people who’ve actualy tried it.
I don’t want something that’s going to make me drowsy, I don’t have trouble sleeping. But I need something that’ll take the edge off of my occassional bouts of anxiety and depression.
I’ve tried it, and it didn’t seem to do anything. I’ve read that the strength of the herb is different from producer to producer and even within batches made by the same producer. I’ve also read that it can cause liver damage if too much is taken.
If you want to try it, I’d recommend tea rather than capsules. The capsules are filled with the herb and made me burp “green” for hours afterward. Also, the warmth of the tea might help to calm you. If you do try the capsules, make sure they say “standardized,” which is supposed to mean there is a certain amount of product in each dosage which does not vary from capsule to capsule, but I don’t think this is regulated, so you have to take their word for it.
Some herbal remedies used to treat anxiety include catnip, chamomile, ginger, ginseng, hypericum, kava, skullcap, valerian, yohimbe. Be careful with valerian as it can be fatal in large doses (although that’s probably one of those, “if you eat 6 lbs. a day for a year”).
I don’t know if you’ve tried it, but I have found that yoga and meditation go a long way towards helping with anxiety.
I use kava kava off and on not only to take the “edge” off my everyday free-floating anxiety, but also to sleep. Through trial and error I’ve found that taking just 1 capsule helps with the “edge” and doesn’t make me tired…anything more than that, and I’m dead to the world, so to speak…zzz…
AlaItalia’s right about the standardized formulas and the dangers of taking a large dosage for a long time. For some, kava’s pretty potent stuff…it depends on your body chemistry. I would start with one capsule or one cup of tea and see how my body would react…
But to answer if it helps me, the answer is YES! It definitely takes the “edge” off and makes me feel more human than a simmering human mass of anxiety,. But, as I said, the dosage would depend on your chemistry…
My wife and I had kava-kava on our honeymoon in Fiji (talk about going straight to the source). The upshot? It tasted like dirt, and it made our tongues numb. Period.
I’ve tried Kava Kava, and it did absolutely nothing for me. I’ve used Valarian root on and off, for years though, and it works great, at least for me. Catnip tea is also real good for anxiety.
~V
I have generalized anxiety disorder, so I have to take a prescription tranquilizer (clonazepam, aka Klonopin®/Rivotril®) every morning. It doesn’t make me drowsy or loopy, seeing as it’s a long-acting benzodiazepine and takes a while to kick in, unlike benzos like Xanax®.
Anyway, it’s not the ideal solution, but given what I went through before all of this, I came to see it as a Godsend. I asked my doctor if he had a problem with my taking it. He asked me if I took more than I was supposed to. I said no. He said, “Then what’s the problem?”
That’s my story, at least. Occasional anxiety is normal, but the idea of living with the hell I went through every day would be quite another thing.
And I am not soliciting either well-meaning advice or some kind of scolding. I get more than enough of that here, thank-you-very-much. 
- s.e.
I have used Kava occasionally. It is a great sleep aid for me, especially if you have some anxiety over something or other. If you just want to get to sleep, I wouldn’t recommend it. Also, if taken daily for more than a couple of days, your tolerance builds up swiftly. Plus it can cause liver damage over time.
AlaItalia, are you sure about Yohimbe for anxiety? Yohimbe is a CNS stimulant, and can be dangerous.
I have most of a bottle at home. I used it a few times for insomnia and it seemed to help. I stopped using it when reports like this appeared. Having had infectious hepatitis as a kid and drinking as much as I do I chose to err on the side of caution.
I tried it and it made me feel funny for a time but did nothing much else. I read an article where, in some foreign land, men drink Kava Kava all day instead of booze because they liked the effects and figured that they must be drinking a tea made from some other type of Kava Kava. I certainly was not happy with the effects.
Now it is on a list of herbs that you have to be careful about taking but I never even finished that first bottle. I tried different dosages but never liked how it made me feel. I guess I thought it would be like taking a drink of booze, but it apparently did not work that way for me. Mostly, after the initial first buzz, it seemed to do nothing.
Thanks everybody. I guess I won’t try it. I might try some of the other things mentioned though.
I have used it, with good success, for panic attack situations and only on those days I knew I was going into a situation that might produce a panic attack.
It’s not 100% because just like anything else, your body describes how you will react to certain “chemicals” you take in.
I personally hadn’t heard of any of the side effects until recently but I also am realistic in that everything in moderation. If you don’t do things in moderation (as I am well known not to do with certain things) then you will suffer from the concequences of over doing something. I drink and had taken Kava Kava for about two years (but not every day) and did not see the side effects that are 'sposedly documented.
It did not help me sleep, Melatonin is the only “natural” substance that aids that for me but it did help me considerably.
If you are concerned that it is toxic or will not aid you, I would suggest talking to your physician about it. It helped me a lot and I would rather use Kava Kava than some prescribed medication any day.
The Kava I had in Fiji was dirty dishwater and did nothing for me.
But Fiji bitter on the other hand…yum.
(See my web-page for photos of kava drinking - in Fiji Links…)
A friend of mine brought a bag of kava kava back from Fiji. He made it into a tea, which I found to be tasty – kinda reminded me of Japanese green tea. I had a couple of cups and found it a very refreshing drink, even though it was 104° at his home in Las Vegas. I didn’t notice any effects, other than I found the tea refreshing.
Would I drink it “for effect”? No. But it’s a nice alternative to Lipton, beer, coffee or soda.
OK. First off, IANAD, but I have had more than my fair share of experience with anxiety and depression.
How often do you experience anxiety? How long are your bouts of depression?
I’m not touting pharmaceuticals (although they’ve done wonders for me), but if you’ve been depressed every day for three weeks or longer - I think that’s the criteria - you should see a doctor.
However, I wouldn’t recommend getting an Rx from a GP if you’re actually depressed and suffering from anxiety. In my experience, GPs just rattle off prescriptions for whatever without determining what kind of depression you’re having. That’s why it’s better to see a shrink. (It’s easier in Canada, because shrinks are covered by Medicare.) They’re better at prescribing the right drug(s) for the condition.
In any case, like I said before, I don’t know how bad it is for you, but keep your options open. Just because it’s Kava Kava doesn’t necessarily make it “safer” or more acceptable than a prescription.
IANAD. IANA pharmacologist. YMMV. Standard disclaimers.
- s.e.
Not even a decent placebo effect from the stuff.
No, I’m not sure about Yohimbe; I got that off an Internet site. Obviously before taking any of these “herbal remedies” I would do some more research and maybe ask my doctor. This proves you can’t always rely on Internet info to be accurate.
Are you sure it was safe? Did you put a condom on it? Ever hear of AIDS!!!
- s.e.
I used placebo condoms.
I’ve tried it-didn’t do shit for me. I have to take the heavy stuff!
Just out of curiousity, why would you rather use Kava Kava than a prescription medication? I don’t have a major problem with KK, but it’s safety has been called into question recently by a number of medical bodies. Yeah, they do tend to be somewhat “anti-herbal”, but the fact remains that (a) you need to take a large amount of KK to have an effect, and (b) the active ingrediant in KK hasn’t, to my knowledge, been isolated. If there’s truly a chemical in this herb that reacts with the human brain in such a way as to promote relaxation, this should be readily provable through clinical studies.