GABA & Ginkgo Biloba for OCD?

[flowerforever7]

Hi,

I have read about excess glutamate production in the brain resulting in OCD. I have been reading how ginkgo biloba extract works to reduce all the neuronal firing, excess glutamate production and cell death. I am interested in taking it. The only thing however, is that ginkgo is supposed to be an antagonist of GABA which is huge when it comes to calming the nervous system. I am aware that GABA is frequently recomended to OCD suffers. What I want to do is reduce the excessive glutamate production in my brain resulting in all the rapid firing going on in my brain, and increase my GABA levels to calm my nervous system.

Does anyone here know if Ginkgo Biloba Extract and GABA are safe to take together? Or what the effect would be of doing so? I am thinking if I take ginkgo and add gaba I will reduce the glutamate production in my brain, and restore and increase any GABA that is in a reduced state normally and because of supplementing with ginkgo. I am not trying to get medical advice, I just want to know if anyone knows if it is known for being safe to do so, if anyone has tried it and what the effects would be?

Also, has anyone supplemented flaxseed meal (omega 3s) with either ginkgo or gaba or both?

Thanks

 

[Danny34]

I highly recommend the Omega 3s, but not the Ginko Biloba or GABA. Both of these work like medicine, they work for a month or even more but then you will need more amounts of it until your body gets used to taking it. I say this because I used to take it and well... it came out like medicine, but Omega 3 and Fish Oil helps ALOT.
I won't discourage you, take the chance and see what will happen, everybody doesn't have the same body system so your experience may be different. God bless!

 

[flowerforever7]

Danny, thanks for the input about your experience. Did you take the ginko and the gaba together or did you try one and then the other?

Thanks.

 

[Sasha37]

I had heard that about Omega 3s, but does it really have that big of an effect? Do you know which is better, flaxseed oil or fish oil and how large of a dose?

 

[justpassingthrough21]

Fish oil is better, because your body uses EPA and DHA forms of Omega 3. In certain fish, this is present, you need about 1 gram of EPA and DHA every day. Flaxseed doesn't have EPA or DHA in it, it has ALA. Your body will turn the ALA into both EPA and DHA, the only thing is that your body doesn't do it very efficiently. So you have to consume close to 10 grams of Flaxseed oil, to be able to get 1 gram of EPA and DHA.
I still prefer flaxseed because it is yummy and nutty tasting, and way cheap. I take 2 tablespoons a day, pour the powder in my mouth and then drink it down with water.
Also I heard that taking therapeutic levels of Inositol, can improve or even completely eliminate OCD symptoms. You have to take up to 18 grams a day, but what it does is cause your body to produce serotonine. Some sources say it is more affective then medication, and much more natural to your body.

 

[Danny34]

Danny, thanks for the input about your experience. Did you take the ginko and the gaba together or did you try one and then the other?

Thanks.

Yes I took both Ginko and Gaba together, I do not remember the exact amount for each though.
Your welcomed!

 

[Sasha37]

Thanks for all the info! Do you know anyone personally who takes Inositol? I just looked it up on webMD, and it seems to be pretty new. It doesn't appear to be a prescription med either.

 

[justpassingthrough21]

Inositol isn't a med because it is actually vitamin b. Thats the nice thing about it, it causes your body to produce serotonin in a natural way. It has virtually no side effects and is almost impossible to overdose on. I don't know about webmd, but from the research i've done online I was able to find quite a few double blind tests and other kinds of tests and in some of these inositol outperformed SSRI's. Also if you do a little google research you can find literally hundreds of personal testamonies of people with OCD and bipolar disorders to were either able to greatly reduce or completely elimate their symptoms.
I never took it because by the time I found out about it I was already 100 times better and I really didn't need to take something like that. I take omega 3s and magnesium which is plenty fine for me. I also don't know anyone personal who takes it, mainly because i don't know anyone who is OCD or bipolar. Also Grantly Morris from the huge Christian website net-burst endorses inositol big time. The only real downside is that taking it in large doses, 10-18 grams a day could get expensive for someone who doesn't have the money. But you can also find websites where you can get gigantic tubs of it on the cheap.

 

[Sasha37]

Okay, thanks for all the information. Do you know any specific websites where you can get it in bulk like that? You also mentioned magnesium...how does that help with your OCD symptoms?

 

[flowerforever7]

@ justpassingthrough: do you reccommend any type of fish oil? I was taking inositol, and it did help reduce my OCD symptoms and helped me some with feeling less anxious socially. unfortunately i had to stop taking it because my hair started falling out massively. i would touch it and it would come out, my hair really thinned out, i had to stop. i understand that inositol is purported to help hair grow, but i think i had an odd adverse reaction to it, so i'm not taking it. i hear magnesium is really good for ocd

 

[justpassingthrough21]

Magnesium is called the "calming mineral", because scientists say that one reason people may experience anxiety is in the american diet their is much more calcium than magnesium, like 10 to 1, or maybe even more. Magnesium and calcium are like best friends, they go hand and hand in your body, and actually when you have too much of one, you body will actually begin rejecting the other. Which makes an already large gap even larger, and throws your body into an anxious wreck. They say the optimal ratio is like 4:1 or 2:1. With calcium being 2 parts and magnesium being one.

Personally, I just pop a 500mg capsule of magnesium every morning, it was the largest dose i could find in 1 pill. I'm sure that is plenty to get me to that optimal ratio.

With inositol you want powder. In pill form 1 pill = 1 gram. In powder form 1 tspn = 1 gram. So to hit 16 grams you only need 4 tablespoons, instead of 16 pills. It is really sweet tasting, almost like sugar. I could lick it right from the spoon, lol. It's been a long time since I looked up prices. But at the time, I was able to find a huge tub of it somewhere, and I figured if I wanted to take the maximum amount(18 grams) it would cost like 2-2.5$ a day.

I don't recommend any certain type of fish oil, mainly because I dont take fish oil. I prefer flaxseed because their is such a massive amount of Omega 3 in it. If you buy the ground up powder, it has like 3,500 mgs per tablespoon. But if you buy pure oil, it has insane amounts in it. All you need is a tiny bit to get a ton of it. I already eat fish so I probably wouldn't need to fish oil anyways.

Just as a note I just started flaxseed and magnesium only about 1-2 months ago. I can't really tell if I see a difference or not, i'm sure I am more relaxed now because of it. But for the first 12 months of my OCD attack, I didn't take anything or see anyone. All I did was keep reading my Bible, praying, praising every day, and I improved 10 fold over those 12 months. So when I do see improvements I don't know if it is strictly from the nutrients, or just my constant keeping my eyes on God and refusing to believe the lies that my mind tries to tell me.

 

[Sasha37]

Thank you again for all the helpful info. I had heard about the calcium/magnesium buddy system. I take magnesium for migraines. I used to get them horribly, and it practically stopped them completely. Anyway, I had heard to do a 4:1 ratio (calcium 1000mg with Magnesium 250mg). So that is what I have been taking. Maybe I heard wrong?

I hear you about not being sure if the minerals and flaxseed are making the difference as much as one may think because of how the Lord has been moving in your life toward realizing your freedom in Him. It is probably a combo I'm thinking, but mostly learning to renew your mind daily and even moment by moment in the Lord. You are such an encouragement to me I cannot tell you. Thought I should let you know that as you are probably getting a bit sick of me by now

 

[nekoisi]

Ok, my exp. with Omega and/or Ginko for OCD. First sry for my bad English.
Just hell x2. This things make you think more, but the problem with OCD is too much thinking. I tried once and never again.