Complete Guide to Non-Drowsy Anxiety Supplements

Although marketed quite differently, many of the same exact supplements or medications can be used appropriately to treat either sleep problems or anxiety.  Think of benzodiazapines like Valium or Xanax – they are both routinely used to treat either insomnia or anxiety.  And if a medication can potentially be used as a sleep aid, it’s obviously going to make you “drowsy” when you take it during the day.

The opposite is of course true with something like caffeine.  A large cup of coffee will certainly make you feel more awake, but you imagine wanting to drink a coffee to treat your anxiety?

It’s pretty hard to fall asleep if you aren’t drowsy.   It’s also quite difficult to feel anxious if you are incredibly sleepy.  So it certainly makes sense that many anxiety supplements would have a tendency to cause drowsiness.  When we’re anxious, our brains are overactive and there is too much neural firing.  It’s often a similar situation when we can’t sleep.  But when we slow down the extra brain activity to alleviate our anxiety, we often go too far and become sleepy as well.

The problem is, however, that while we do want our daytime anxiety to go away, we also want to remain awake so we can face the day.  This is why a great anxiety supplement is even more difficult to make than a great sleep supplement. Because while we do want an anxiety medication that doesn’t make us tired, but I don’t think anyone has ever requested a sleep medication that doesn’t reduce anxiety!

This guide will focus on natural anxiety supplements for daytime use (non-drowsy), but the concept with medications is quite similar.

Fortunately, despite all their similarities, sleep and anxiety are not the same.  And there are many supplements which do not cause drowsiness, or at least they don’t make people anywhere nearly as sleepy as other ones do.

Non-Drowsy anxiety supplements

L-Theanine

L-Theanine is an amazing amino acid found naturally in green tea.  People take it to reduce anxiety, to help with focus and concentration, to improve mood, and to improve sleep quality.  Even though it does help improve the quality of sleep, for most people it doesn’t cause drowsiness – especially when taken during the day.  It’s also synergistic with caffeine, so it’s great to take with your morning coffee or tea.  It works quickly and is an absolutely wonderful supplement to try – here is our pharmaceutical grade L-Theanine

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is a remarkable adaptogen.  An adaptogen basically helps our body function better – the way it’s supposed to.  It brings the body back to homeostasis.  It gives us energy when we’re sleepy during the day, and it helps us fall asleep at night.  There are countless benefits of ashwagandha.

We have sourced an awesome anxiety reducing ashwagandha extract.  It’s certified organic and non-gmo.  It’s a full 5% withanolide root extract.  It has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, reduce stress, increase sex drive and sexual performance, and improve memory and cognition.  Learn more about our specific organic ashwagandha.

We also use this same aswhagandha as an ingredient in our anxiety reducing supplement – Zen+

5-HTP

5 HTP is also an amino acid.  It is known to increase serotonin levels in the brain.  It works on a different mechanism than an SSRI like Prozac, but the effects are somewhat similar.  Many people take 5 HTP for depression.  But “depression medication” like SSRI’s, are often also prescribed for many types of anxiety disorders because they can be effective for both.  Generally speaking, anxiety medications which work on the serotonin system cause less drowsiness than ones which work on the GABA system.  It’s important to note that some people do take 5 HTP to help them sleep.  The dose of 5 HTP seems to be very important as too much can certainly cause drowsiness.  We include it, in different doses, in both our outstanding anxiety supplement, and in our natural sleep aid.

Passion Flower

Passion Flower is a well-known herbal supplement which can be effective both as an anxiety supplement and as a sleep aid.  The doses again do matter.  Some people take it for its alleged pain reducing properties and some take is as a natural muscle relaxant.  It can be taken as an herbal extract, in tincture form, and as an herbal tea.  Many people find it quite calming when taken during the day and don’t find it to be as drowsy as some of the other herbal supplements like valerian.  We have sourced a very pure and potent passionflower extract with 20% flavones.  It’s in Zen+, our anti anxiety supplement, and in SleepX

Magnesium

Magnesium is a mineral which is essential for over 300 reactions in the human body.  It is said that up to 90% of the population is deficient in this mineral.  Magnesium supplementation has been shown to help with anxiety.  Magnesium is necessary for the body, so supplementing with magnesium could help in a myriad of different ways, especially if you are deficient.

Not all magnesium supplements are created equal.  Many of the common ones on the market don’t absorb very well at all – so be very careful when choosing a magnesium supplement.  We use only the highest absorbing magnesium – magnesium bisglycinate. We use it in both our herbal anxiety supplement and in our natural sleep supplement.

Rhodiola Rosea

Rhodiola rosea (or just rhodiola), is another adaptogen.  Like ashwagandha, rhodiola is used for many things.  It’s actually often used to increase energy levels.  It’s one of the rare herbs which can possibly increase energy while reducing anxiety.  In high doses, rhodiola can potentially increase anxiety.  It also depends on which strain of rhodiola you use.  We use a premium grade potent form of rhodiola extract – grown at high altitudes in the Tibetan plateau.  We use a small but very useful dose in our anxiety supplement.

Vitamin B3 and B6

Vitamin B6 is directly involved in the production of serotonin.  Tryptophan, which increases serotonin levels, also is a precursor to vitamin B3.  So people who are deficient in vitamin B3 will “use up” all their tryptophan to make B3 and won’t have enough left over for making serotonin.  It’s important to get enough of both of these vitamins.  When supplementing with vitamin B3, make sure to use niacinamide instead of niacin (the commonly used form).  We use niacinamide in both Zen+ and SleepX.

Of course, supplements are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to alleviating your anxiety. We highly recommend you check out Anxiety Gone for some excellent information as well as an awesome Anxiety Box delivered to your door.