Natural anxiety relief?

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Hi all. Since moving towns and having to start a new school my 9 year old aspie has been very anxious. She is not on any medication and I have brought some St. John's wort but she hates the taste and is refusing to take it. I am using lavender and melatonin to help her sleep (which has also been affected by moving) but was wondering if anyone has used any effective herbs or vitamins that have helped relieve anxiety that a child will actually take. I want to avoid pharmacy medication if possible but will use it if we can't find a natural alternative.

I have made very good experiences with theanine, an amino acid that naturally occurs in the tea plant. Theanine is the reason that green tea calms the nerves despite its caffeine content. I take St. John's wort too, but mostly as an antidepressant. It didn't help much with my social anxiety.

Aside from theanine, there is hops, passion flower and valerian, but I've found all of these remedies to be a little tiring and dampening (as is St. John's wort btw). Theanine is the only natural anxiolytic I've found that doesn't cause tiredness or affect cognitive function.

I take these and they help a bit, though I don't know if she would swallow them since they're in the form of a gel cap or even if they're meant for her age. http://www.bulkapothecary.com/product/supplements/mental-fitness-and-mood-support/mood-support-90-vcaps/?gclid=CO_hndn6s7sCFcY7Mgodt1kA4w They have Valerian in them which would be the main thing for anxiety, but they also have a bunch of other stuff in them to balance her out mentally/emotionally. Hope this helps! I can tell you from experience, this won't completely take her anxiety away by any means, but it may ease it a little, and it sure beats pharmaceuticals(which I've personally had bad luck with), though they're a life saver for others. Another thing that you might want to try is called Calm. It's a powdered magnesium supplement and tastes really good. This would probably help more with anxiety than the other one, as I think the other one may help a bit more with depression, and it's a powder so she wouldn't have to swallow it. They can be ordered in individual travel packs too to carry on the go, but I wouldn't do more than one a day, as too much magnesium, as with anything, can give an adverse reaction. Here's the link for that: http://naturalvitality.com/natural-calm/ I've only ever tried the raspberry lemon flavor, without the calcium added and it tastes wonderful! Just like a berry flavored lemonade. Also, I know that Rudy Simone had mentioned some sort of supplement that you can order online in her book Aspergirls, though I'm not sure if it was for anxiety or just depression...I think mainly depression, but that may be worth a shot too.

Hi, my dd10 has found great help in a computer program (Ipad/samsung tablet etc) called Smiling Mind. You can access the app from the website (hopefully) linked below. It is 5-10 minute meditation doses aimed at children and is lovely and relaxing. My girl turned her nose up at first but has very quickly found it helpful when she is overwhelmed, stressed, anxious or over tired. She will do 1-2 of them every night before bed to help also and often falls asleep before the last one finishes. She also has it at school and can take herself out of a stressful situation and use it to refocus and calm herself before re-entering class.

Might work as a natural alternative for you?

http://smilingmind.com.au/

You may need to make a login profile but it is usually free to access. Good luck.

Thank you for your help, I'm going to try some if those vitamins.

I don't know about a child, but I've had anxiety and tried those natural things and they don't do squat for me.

I tried calming my kids down with lots of natural things and those didn't work either. They didn't have anxiety they were just UP THERE.

I've had some luck with massive-- and I do mean MASSIVE, like 500-1000% of the USRDA-- doses of B-complex.

I'm fighting both the usual ASD anxiety and what a lot of people around me think (and I'm seriously starting to believe too) is PTSD. It's-- NOT PRETTY. To say the least.

I think it's working. Sort of. It hasn't solved the problems, but I have more good days than the last time I went through a round of this (which was, like, from this time last year to about the beginning of spring). I'm able to talk myself back from more bad days than I used to be. Could be B-complex, could be time.

I'm crediting the B-complex. But I don't think I'd chance mega-doses like that on my kid, even if B vitamins are water-soluble and thus pretty freakin' hard to OD on.

My husband has a lot of anxiety and takes St. John's Wort and B vitamin complex. For a while he was taking niacin, but stopped it due to the flushing and said it made him feel jittery like too much caffeine.

St. John's Wort is one to be very careful with, though if you take any prescription medication. What I have read about it is that it is proven to be effective with depression/anxiety, but it interferes with more medications than grapefruit juice, so anyone wanting to take it who already takes a prescription should discuss it with their doctor, and it should be listed as something you've been taking if you go for any sort of prescription.

I take prescription doses of B-12, and over the counter folic acid (just in case of pregnancy) and B6. For some reason I am chronically deficient to the point of mild B-12 anemia. It is really weird all the mild, but affecting neurological issues that come up with B-12 deficiency. Depression, memory problems, apathy, fatigue, anxiety, short temper, balance and coordination problems. It's wild how much effect it can have even when in the very mild range of deficiency. If I don't take my pills, especially for a few days everyone around me can tell.