gotu kola for social anxiety? +5 replies [Archive]

Kelly

3rd April, 2006, 01:15 AM

4 May 2004

Topic Title: Gotu Kola
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Jessie Burnett <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/faces/LilacCrownedAmazon.gif" border="1" width="32" height ="32" ></td><td align=right> </td></tr></table></td><td width="74%" bgcolor=#dddedd> <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/icons/posticon.gif"> "Gotu Kola" , Tue 4 May 12:49<HR SIZE=1> Hello Everyone, I have read a lot of your posts about Gotu Kola and I am very interested in taking it to help my Social Phobia. I would love to hear from someone who has taken it for S.C./Anxiety and had a good result. What I am wondering is, what brand to order and whether I should do the tincture or the capsules? Could you please respond with your experiences and brand choice. Thank You so much Jessie

<HR SIZE=1>Posts: 0 | | Registered: Tue 4 May 2004 12:38</td></tr></table> </TD></TR><TR><TD bgcolor=></TD></TR><TR><TD bgcolor= >
<table width=100% cellspacing="1" cellpadding="5" border="0"><tr> <td width="26%" bgcolor=#eeeeee valign=top> <table width=100% cellspacing=0 cellpading=0 border=0><tr valign=top><td align=left>
soar2thaclouds <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/faces/sun.gif" border="1" width="32" height ="32" ></td><td align=right> </td></tr></table></td><td width="74%" bgcolor=#dddedd> <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/icons/posticon.gif"> "yerba mate" , Wed 5 May 22:28<HR SIZE=1> I am interesting in this also, since social phobia is probably one of the worst things to have, and I have it. But I don't think its necessarily that I fear people, which I may, but also that I can't verbally formulate stuff sometimes. Yerba Mate is an interesting tea that for me helps with social phobia. Its something to try, I'm not saying its a cure. But, when examining an herb, its interesting to look at the situation people use it in. In south america, they have Mate circles, where everyone gets in a circle and passes the Mate gourd. It makes sense that yerba mate helps with social phobia, since its used in social situations. SAME with alcohol. I've actually heard about people drinking yerba mate at a party instead of alcohol, and feeling good. Check out guayaki.com, or there is a good brand called Nativa too. So, this might be something to try. Gotu Kola DOES sound interesting. This link talks about what Gotu Kola does in mice: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11106141&dopt=Abstract Investigations of the pharmacologic profile of medicinal plants have revealed that a number of plants with purported anxiolytic activity bind to cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors. This finding is intriguing in view of the proposed involvement of CCK in the pathophysiology of fear and anxiety. This double-blind, placebo-controlled study was undertaken to evaluate the anxiolytic activity of Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica) in healthy subjects. Gotu Kola has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Recent studies in the rat have shown that long-term pretreatment with Gotu Kola decreases locomotor activity, enhances elevated-plus maze performance, and attenuates the acoustic startle response (ASR). In this study, the authors evaluated the effects of Gotu Kola on the ASR in humans. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either a single 12-g orally administered dose of Gotu Kola (N = 20) or placebo (N = 20). The results revealed that compared with placebo, Gotu Kola significantly attenuated the peak ASR amplitude 30 and 60 minutes after treatment. Gotu Kola had no significant effect on self-rated mood, heart rate, or blood pressure. These preliminary findings suggest that Gotu Kola has anxiolytic activity in humans as revealed by the ASR. It remains to be seen whether this herb has therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of anxiety syndromes. Since I don't have money, I'm going to wait to see how you guys fare with Gotu Kola...its nice to know there is at least something else to try.

<HR SIZE=1>Posts: 68 | | Registered: Tue 11 Feb 2003 10:6</td></tr></table>
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peggy </td><td align=right> </td></tr></table></td><td width="74%" bgcolor=#eeeeee> <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/icons/posticon.gif"> "Re(1):yerba mate" , Mon 31 May 03:03<HR SIZE=1> hi, I have had panic attacks, but no depression for 13 years and occassional attacks going back to my early teens. I am very interested in CCK and the research they are doing with this an panic. Do any of you suffer from gastric reflux, sinusitis and hay fever? This seems to being related to panics and cck. The increased bile seems to aggravate the sinuses and thus make me more inclined to hay fever. There was a study done last year relating hay fever to Panic. I think its all interconnected. I am very interested in gotu kola and have taken small amounts on odd days to just see the affects. Would love to hear from other panic attackers who have been on it for a while.

<HR SIZE=1>Posts: 0 | | Registered: Mon 31 May 2004 2:57</td></tr></table>
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soar2thaclouds <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/faces/sun.gif" border="1" width="32" height ="32" ></td><td align=right> </td></tr></table></td><td width="74%" bgcolor=#dddedd> <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/icons/posticon.gif"> "i just bought some gotu kola" , Thu 6 May 19:39:<HR SIZE=1> Well, I just went to the store and bought some Gotu Kola leaf and root extract. Its amazing how this social phobia can reak havoc with your life. It plain sucks. Everywhere I go, when there is a person, I get anxious. I live in a house with 4 roomates, and they constantly have friends over, new people all the time. Its hard to feel comfortable because I have this fear. Sometimes I wonder if the fearfulness stems from the fact that I don't perform well in social situations. So, naturally I would fear that situation. However, I think its more complicated than that. A few years ago, I actually started forcing myself to talk to people, and conversate. I got so good that I could even conversate on ANY topic with a random stranger, and have a conversation. Yet, I still wasn't comfortable, and it didn't feel right. So, onto gotu kola. I'll let you know what it does for me...

[this message was edited by soar2thaclouds on Thu 6 May 19:41] <HR SIZE=1>Posts: 70 | | Registered: Tue 11 Feb 2003 10:6</td></tr></table>
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soar2thaclouds <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/faces/sun.gif" border="1" width="32" height ="32" ></td><td align=right> </td></tr></table></td><td width="74%" bgcolor=#dddedd> <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/icons/posticon.gif"> "Update" , Mon 10 May 00:08<HR SIZE=1> Well, its been a few days now taking the Gotu Kola. I'm taking the liquid extract by Gaia herbs. I take 40 drops 3 times a day in a glass of water, however I haven't been good about taking it on an empty stomach (which is dumb because it might effect absorption). To be honest, I went into taking this gotu kola stuff with little hope. I feel like I've taken so many herbs that how could this possibly make my life better. However, I have been noticing effects. Its only been a few days like I said, and I'm about to go on a week long vacation, so I will be better able to tell then. However, I have been catching myself not going into "fear" mode when out in public, or in certain situations. I remember when I had social anxiety really bad before, and started taking Paxil. It started changing me, but it took awhile for my brain to "relearn" how to be normal and not in fear mode. Its like it got rid of the fear response, but it took me awhile to go back into social situations, to gain confidence that I didn't have to be afraid, or whatever. So, if this Gotu Kola stuff works, I suppose it will take a good few weeks before I can really say whats going on. But if it does, then THANK GOD. I hope it helps, we'll see. I'll update this thread again in a week when I get back from vacation.

<HR SIZE=1>Posts: 71 | | Registered: Tue 11 Feb 2003 10:6</td></tr></table>
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cecile <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/faces/Frogger.gif" border="1" width="32" height ="32" ></td><td align=right> </td></tr></table></td><td width="74%" bgcolor=#eeeeee> <IMG SRC="http://www.sjwinfo.org/forums/graphics/icons/posticon.gif"> "Re(1):Update" , Wed 19 May 08:33<HR SIZE=1> Hi soar2thaclouds, hope your vacation was good. I'm pretty new to this forum and wanted to know how you're doing on the gotu kola. I just heard about it today reading the other posts. I was taking sjw for social phobia/anxiety, but had to stop because of birth control pills. Bummer, I really think it was helping, so now I'm in the process of finding something else. When you actually get a glimpse of what it feels like to walk into a room and not feel that panic in your stomach it's a good feeling and now I know I don't have to live like that. I've been taking 5-HTP the last couple days and don't like it much. Have you tried it? It's giving me a foggy feeling and I can't concentrate. I just can't afford the sam-e, so I haven't tried that. I also take a good B complex and even bought some fish oil and took that for a few days. I think the fish oil was helping, but that was when I was still taking the sjw, so it's hard to tell. If you have any info to pass on, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

<HR SIZE=1>Posts: 3 | | Registered: Thu 29 Apr 2004 16:15</td></tr></table>
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