in the past, i used to spice a lot of my food with turmeric.  turmeric contains curcumin.  looking back, i felt a lot healthier back then.

a little bit of light reading about folk remedies for nerotoxin envenomation led me to curcuma longa(turmeric).
got me thinking...

well, i decided to start eating it again to see if i felt better on it, kind of like i do with D3. 

i mixed a teaspoon with milk about two hours ago and my anxiety level (normaly low but constant) has dropped to zero.  right now i feel a little wired but stress free. 

im going to continue taking it while im in the field for the next few days and see how i do on it.   i have read about a lot of benefits of consuming turmeric and i would like to see for myself.  one such benefit was decreased anxiety.

anyone else tried this?

  im not trying to treat cluster headaches here, this is more for anxiety and digestive issues.  the verapamil makes me feel anxious, maybe because of the heart palpations i feel.  it also makes me tired but at the same time gives me insomnia(again, heart palpations).

ill post my results next weekend.

Interesting!

Ok, I am definitely going to stock up on turmeric.  I haven't felt the slightest touch of anxiety since I started taking it.  The downside is a little heartburn, which I can prevent by taking it with food.  I did have a slight headache (normal kind) for the past few days, but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was running around in 70 lbs of gear in 90 degree temps all day than it did with the turmeric itself.  It may give me gas, but I was was eating MRE's too, so it could have been that...

Overall, I feel more relaxed, alert, and I actually feel more confident as a result.  For me, in my situation, this stuff is a godsend. 
I still get the heart palpations, but they are not as noticeable.  Ill post more in a week or so.

I'm excited about this,  I feel like it is giving me the rest of my life back, like it was before I almost died from rhabdomyolisis.

the more i look into turmeric, the more it seems that my situation is a little unique.  since it is a stimulant, logic tells me that i should feel more anxious while taking it, but then again, what i am calling anxiety may very well be a couple of side affects from other medications.

i dont recall feeling anxious much before i started taking verapamil...

Verapamil is also a blood pressure med, it should lower your pressure. In time you will adjust to it. How much are you taking? 480mgs here.

Don

The possiblity of anxiety of a side affect gives me pause.  .. It's on my list of things to read up on today though!

Please keep us posted here about yoiur experiemnts and findings please!

Results so far:  no anxiety since I started taking it.  The only down side I am finding is that it gives me heartburn,  but that is easily manageable if I take it with food or drink water.

I suppose it could be an effective placebo, especially if I stop taking verapamil and find the anxiety staying with me, but i really don't want to know if it is.  I'm going to try to get my mother to try it and see if it helps her.  So far I am loving the stuff.  I haven't felt this relaxed since before I almost died from rhabdo, and certainly not since I deployed. 

Because I started on verapamil just a couple weeks before I deployed, I can't really say if I was experiencing anxiety as a result if deployment stress or if it was just the verapamil.  Maybe both...  it would make sense.  There were a few heartpounding moments in Iraq, and the heart palpations I get kinda remind me of those times.  If that is the case, I'm still going to take it for a month and then go off it.  If the anxiety comes back,  ill know that it is not just all in my head.  I just have to find a way to avoid breaking a potential working placebo...

I think it is time to have my wife prepare it for me in gell caps.  She can make the switch without me knowing. 

If it is a placebo, and the anxiety never comes back when she switches me to a placebo, I really don't want to know...

That is a great idea - having you wife switch on you. Please let us know!