Comment · Tue, January 26, 2021 · ND Owner
Herbal GABAergics and dependency
Original post in this thread
bejaq · 20 points
It seems that it's generally assumed that herbal supplements that work on GABA like gotu kola, skullcap, lemon balm, magnolia are not prone to causing dependency and withdrawal.
However there have been (relatively rare) claims to the contrary.
To be honest I am a bit concerned with the lack of information on this subject, and my intuition is that in the absence of contrary evidence, it should be assumed that substances that have similarities in receptor-action to benzodiazepines, alcohol, phenibut (if only by working on gaba) might be prone to inducing dependency and withdrawal.
Personally I like the feeling of benzos a lot and if there is safe alternative I certainly would like to take it more than occasionally.
It would be awesome to have a substance that helps the GABA system regulate itself better, and the complex pharmacology of herbs might be better suited to that?
But I feel it might be a little bit naive to believe that unless there is actual evidence for that.
It should be noted that when it comes to benzos and opiates, it took a long time and many people using them for the understanding of their true addictive potential to become clear, so that also seems good t…
What they were answering
bejaq · 3 points
Very interesting, thanks for your take, especially sharing your individual experience!
It's kinda strange medicine has focused so much on dependence-forming compounds, although it does seem there is a certain relationship between dependence forming and strength of effect, so perhaps that's the reason.
Maybe benzos short-circuiting the bodies natural regulatory systems makes them so powerful and reliable but also dangerous🤔?
So far I haven't found anything that compares to benzos in how they reliable stop anxiety and ease any sort of overstimulation, but I suspect that even though I am not dependent on them by any stretch, they contribute to dysregulation (same with opioids like tianeptine).
I definitely feel more confident about it now, although as you say everyone is different, after all we all know it's possible to have really bad reactions to usually perfectly harmless products.
Being in tune with your body is probably quite important in finding out what is really good for you (as opposed to alleviating symptoms temporarily), I think it's underrated and discussed too little, given that there is often just no "scientific" answer to this.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
Benzos change the conformation of the GABA receptor complex and fuck with the mesolimbic reward system. That's the real issue. Read this study:
Hooked on benzodiazepines: GABAA receptor subtypes and addiction