Is there an over the counter anti-depression or anxiolitic med that you all use?

L-theanine and magnesium help mildly with anxiety

If you're deficient in vitamin D (quite common), taking a vitamin D supplement might make you feel somewhat better

Some people see some benefit from supplementing 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan, precursor to serotonin in the body)

Sadly not a whole lot of options tbh :(

lithium is available as an over-the-counter supplement but be quite careful with it if not getting regular blood work to test levels

Sunlight, flintstone vitamin, and a big glass of water? I don't really think there are many OTC anti-depressants, the prescription ones are already garbage enough, I can't imagine random supplements will do much good.

ashwaganda does something but I wouldn't say it actually helps (for me anyhow, others have different experiences). Vitamin D feels like it does something for seasonal depression. And L-Tyrosine feels like it does something for adhd-like symptoms

The closest OTC thing to that is DXM (yeah, the cough syrup drug). Auvelity is a new prescription antidepressant that is a combined formulation of DXM and Bupropion. Unfortunately it is crazy expensive and unlikely to be covered by insurance, so a lot of people just try using DXM this way without the Bupropion.

I've seen a lot of success stories using this method, many also claim it's a great anxiolytic. But tread carefully, always do your own extensive research when using an OTC med for chronic off label use if you don't have access to a doctor. Like most antidepressant drugs, DXM has withdrawal symptoms. Nowhere near as bad as opioids, but definitely worse than a heavy caffeine habit. It's also very addictive to a small subset of people, so exercise extreme caution there as well.

I've been getting into herbal teas lately. Tons of chamomile and lavender to keep me calmer. I have a pitcher which I prepare a strong batch in and like to keep in the fridge for iced tea.

Edit: Some people will get super tired and fall straight asleep from the lavender.

Not exactly OTC but there's a lot of evidence for psychedelic therapy. I get ketamine injections at a clinic and take mushrooms regularly to try and spread out the super expensive k injections. I'm going for my next shot tomorrow, seeing as I've become an emotional trainwreck while the estradiol starts to take hold. If you can get your hands on it, 4-ACO-DMT is the closest you can get to psilocybin. I would 10/10 recommend. Nothing has ever made me feel better.

There's an interesting meta-analysis of the antidepressant effects of endogenous neuromodulators that I have read. I'll spare you all the details but it found a number of supplements that appear to have good effect as antidepressants. Of them, the most readily available ones they mentioned were Vitamin C and creatine.

For vitamin C, you're looking at a dose of around 500-1000mg per day although you could go higher on this with minimal concern. At high doses you might have an upset stomach especially if you go too hard too soon on it but aside from that there's little else to worry about.

For creatine you're looking at a dose of around 5-10mg per day. The same applies as above. There's really no need to go higher than 10mg though and you'd probably just waste money by pushing the dose higher than that.

While N-acetyl cysteine is not endogenous nor a part of this study, there's some evidence that around 1000-2000mg per day may also have antidepressant effects. This is another supplement that has the same caveats as above.

For OTC anxiolytics a few stand out: kava (I'd recommend against taking kava whole and instead preparing an extract in water especially if you're planning on using it regularly and making the most of the potential reverse tolerance effect), L-theanine, valerian (I'd veer away from taking this daily and it's something that would be better taken occasionally or for a few consecutive days here and there). I'm really partial to damiana but that's a bit harder to get and I have ADHD so the effects of it on me may be less common. Kratom has an anxiolytic effect at higher doses and I am extremely partial towards it although I'd recommend some caution with it as it's possible to develop an addiction to it so it's another thing that would be best used occasionally rather than daily if you did opt for this.

Supplements are better than nothing, but if you want anti-depressant or anti-anxiety stuff w/o prescription you'll be looking more under the table than over the counter.

Kava is pretty dope if you can stand the taste.

I had pretty good results with CBD for anxiety. Not as good as the lexapro I take now though. That isn't OTC, but really easy to get from an online doctor like callondoc.

Kanna