Guarana confusion

[brydee]

I am wanted to take some of the guarana that i have, but im unsure about the measurements, how much is a safe amount to take.
The only measurements i can find are in american, could anyone tell me in say teaspoons,tablespoons etc. i only work with these measurements:confused:

Thanks:)

[Revvell]

I'm curious as to why you wish to take something that contains more caffeine than coffee beans and is so dangerous to one's health.

I have guarana confusion meself here. :confused:

Side effects of guarana:

Although rare, serious side effects from guarana have been reported. Stop taking guarana and seek emergency medical attention if you experience
a serious allergic reaction including difficulty breathing;
closing of the throat;
swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives;
or irregular heartbeats or chest pain.
Other less serious side effects may also reported with the use of guarana. Talk to your doctor or health care provider if you experience
heartburn;
upset stomach;
loss of appetite;
constipation or diarrhea;
nervousness, irritability, or anxiety;
sleeplessness;
irregular heartbeats; or
headache.
Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome.

[brydee]

Im wanting to take it to keep me awake on some days and also because i have agrophobia, panic attacks,anxiety, i took it once and it REALLY helped, i thought it would be much healthier than taking the medication i was on before.
I know about the side effects and thats also why i wanted to take a low dose to be safe.
Also im finding it hard not drinking alcohol and was looking for an alternative for when i go out.

All bad reasons really:(

[Revvell]

Well, they're not exactly good reasons. A raw food lifestyle will help with the first two... staying awake and the anxiety. Much healthier? I don't think so. What happens is, you'll become immune to it's effects and keep needing more and more to do what you want it to do.

Guarana as an alternative to alcohol? Ummm, well, same answer as above... plus, caffeine and alcohol are both drugs, they're both poisonous to the system and they'll both damage the adrenal system.

Sorry, can't help you here. Thank you for your explanation though. Maybe someone else here can assist.

Oh! Have you considered kombucha? Might do a little research on that and see how/if that works for you.

Revvell



Im wanting to take it to keep me awake on some days and also because i have agrophobia, panic attacks,anxiety, i took it once and it REALLY helped, i thought it would be much healthier than taking the medication i was on before.
I know about the side effects and thats also why i wanted to take a low dose to be safe.
Also im finding it hard not drinking alcohol and was looking for an alternative for when i go out.

All bad reasons really:(

[brydee]

I think its quite a statement to say that raw food lifestyle will get rid of my anxiety because its caused by the agrophobia that iv had for over 4 years. i think it will take much more. i still cant leave the house with it.

I agree with you. But in extreme cases like mine, sometimes i think its ok to take things like this because they might help while i get over a few hurdles.

I agree with you about the alcohol, but i got my guarana off a leading detox website and the woman who runs it has been raw for a long long time, if its so bad, why would she promote it?

[brydee]

Thanks for the reply though, il have a look at kombucha:)

[deberaw]

...Hey there...Guarana is a stimulant, so that wouldn't be good for anxiety...when I lived in South America as a kid, it was in a soda...must have been the equivalent of american Cola!

In any event.....something brought you to this site...and it sounds like a part of you is exploring or thinking about Raw...why not more fully explore what it is all about instead of wondering what to take in place of alcohol when you go out? If clear and healthy, you'll have more energy than those drinking...and alcohol is a depressant...also not good for anxiety.....remember to enjoy your friends and not the partying if that is what it is....if they don't respect you for your choices, maybe you need new support/friend...or maybe some of your friends will join you on your Raw journey! Good Luck!

[Revvell]

... if its so bad, why would she promote it?

If it's so good, why wouldn't more people promote and use it?

People promote their own addictions. Makes 'em feel better. Heck, I don't know why she promotes it. :confused:

[justinesmith]

PLEASE don't take guarana. I also suffered from EXTREME panic attacks and anxiety attacks. I MEAN EXTREME. Stimulants and alcohol make these problems worse, never better. I also struggle with leaving my house ~ there are days when it just isn't an option. Alcohol and stimulants make this condition worse too. I am begging you, pleading with you to go raw instead. It absolutely, 100% works for these conditions ~ I am walking PROOF of it. I've also been free of depression meds for almost 18 months now. I am working on the adrenal exhaustion that these conditions caused me. I am healing and you can too. Good luck and prayers to you.

[brydee]

Thanks for the replies again.
I shall lay off it then, i was raw for 3 weeks before christmas and plan on being 100% raw forever!im not doing it as a diet or anything. i havnt drank any alcohol for the past 12 days and i dont plan on drinking again. im waiting for councelling, because iv been stuck in the house for most of the past 4 years apart from trying to start two colleges twice and working. it really has wrecked my life up to now. and drinking allowed me to at least go out sometimes, which is hard to understand why someone would do that, unless you've had agrophobia/panic attacks/depression etc.

Thanks justine, its brilliant to get an opinion off someone in the same boat, hopefully you will understand more, i just get sick of being stuck in 24/7, iv tryed self help books/cd's/ forcing myself to go out, and none of them have worked, hopefully concelling will but i could be waiting for a long time.
Does anyone know of any alternative therapy that could work for me?
Bearing in mind that going out the house alot of the time is not an option.
Iv looked at reiki a few times but never had it, also bach flower healing etc?
Iv started doing yoga but without a teacher its hard to know if im doing my breathing correct etc.

Thanks for everyones concerns again, i will lay off the guarana:)

[brydee]

Thanks debe,
i have one friend who is about 90% raw, but he also takes guarana and drinks:( iv had a word with him and hes going to try and stop drinking, im worried about him because hes really going to damage his body if he keeps detoxing then drinking

[justinesmith]

Brydee ~ I TOTALLY understand. I am going to tell you what has worked for me.

Meditation ~ it's easier than people make it out to be. I just sit comfortably and repeat in my mind: "Peace ~ be still" and allow my thoughts to go. I view my thoughts objectively without assigning "good" or "bad" everything is just neutral.

Exercise ~ I try to exercise everyday but especially when I start to feel "it" creeping up.... I do jumping jacks. FAST. I dissapates the adrenalin. Obviously, this is not done in public which leads me to....

Just Breathe ~ when I am out in public and I feel an anxiety/panic attack coming on, I breathe long, deep and slow. I repeat in my mind "peace be still" It works everytime for me.

Read ~ books on spirituality. NOT RELIGION. There is a difference. Once I learned that Source/God is always with me, I never feel alone. The fact that because I am one with Source/God, my potential is limitless. Deepak Chopra is a great author and I love James Arthur Ray.

Just say NO! ~ to drugs and alcohol. Caffeine is a powerful drug and a neurotoxin. So is MSG. So is guarana....;)

I really hope this helps ~ we manifest our reality so whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. The universe is always working for our greatest good.... tell the universe what you WANT not what you don't want. For example: if you tell yourself (the universe) "If I don't have a drink, I can't leave the house" Guess what? You won't be able to leave without a drink. If you say "Today will be a great day" (start simple, don't expect everything to change overnight ~ it didn't happen overnight, it won't change overnight) and watch how beautifully your day unfolds. YOU CAN DO THIS! :D

Best of luck to you.... and I would definately do Reiki. It's simply amazing.

[brydee]

Thanks justine:)

im learning to become an animal communicator so i have to be able to meditate etc.
I also do yoga when i can and i go on my trampoline, i use to run with my dogs but that went out the window when i got agrophobia. because im housebound at the moment.

It wasnt just panic attacks, i get terrible stomach ache it feels like its going to explode sometimes then my palms go all sweaty then my eyes black over(like just before you faint or when you wake up from a faint) so i cant see where im going, i got a grip of my panic attacks but then this started happening instead.

When im a little better i'll try reiki.

Just bought another book on anxiety and phobias, so hopefully this will be the one that works:)

Iv been asking about raw wine, i will only be having one glass socially etc. i am not going back to were i was before. maybe i will totally give it up one day, but while im getting use to being raw im going to have it.

[Revvell]

Hi Brydee,

Thank you for this thread. Gives me a lot of food-for-thought for my blog, about how we, as humans are and how I, for one am. Most appreciated.

Revvell

btw ~ I worked with an agrophobic for quite some time. We did a lot of work mentally/emotionally as well as physically and, he found that noni juice, yoga and getting to the root of the problem through sentence completeions helped him a LOT.

Also, I'm thinking, if you drop the alcohol and maybe substituted cranberry juice and sparkling water, it will look like wine and, what I've personally found? Many people will join me in drinking something non-alcoholic. They often feel as though they've got to have something alcoholic in their hand to "be sociable"... yet, when they see someone doing/being different, they feel a sense of relief and will often follow my lead.

Best to you,

Revvell

[justinesmith]

Revell is right..... there is something to be said about substitution. I mix kombucha and orange juice and it helps with my desire for alcohol. You need to do what is best for you and you will find a solution when you are ready to receive it. Good luck.....

[brydee]

Thanks again:)

Im trying yoga at the moment, and i feel more relaxed,body wise but other than that no other improvements mental wise, and the body wise is probably going raw, maybe that will come with time though with the yoga.
I will try and find some noni juice.
It would be very hard for me to just stop drinking and its not the 'having something in my hand' problem, because alot of the time i drank before i even left the house just to be able to go out to peoples houses, college etc, not just social events.
I did have a problem i guess but i know why i have this problem, so im half way there, some people iv talked to dont even know how or when they got agoraphobic, unlike some people mine was actually caused by a few events, iv know friends who have gotten panic and anxiety attacks for no reason then they have gone and i sometimes think that is more to do with whats going on inside peoples bodys not their heads, im waiting to see someone professionally which is much needed but shes quite booked up, so until then i just have to keep trying to go out in little bits.

[justinesmith]

Believe me when I tell you that I understand. At one point, in order for me to go to work I would have to have a few drinks because I was involved in an armed robbery where I worked. It was violent but luckily no one was hurt. We were held at gunpoint and put in a walk-in cooler at 12:30 a.m. at the Pizza Hut where I was a waitress.

I have two small children and there are days when I CANNOT leave the house. If there are reports on the news of a mall shooting or a crime in a public place ~ I completely panic. I am only telling you this so you understand where I am coming from. My alcoholism stems from childhood abuse from many different sources so lucky me, I have a hard time feeling safe anywhere including my own home. I substitute now only because I was an alcoholic for more than 20 years so the habit is pretty ingrained still at this point.

That being said, my journey has been amazing and I wouldn't change my life for anything. I would not be learning what I am learning now if not for the dark things that have happened. As I am finding peace, I hope for peace for you as well.

[brydee]

Thankyou so much justine, thats terrible:eek: i cant imagine what that must of been like.
I agree with you though, about the journey, im a great believer in that everything happens for a reason to make us into stronger people and to set us up for the rest of our lifes.
Im just thankful that im still young and iv found out about the raw lifestyle sooner, because the way i was going, i dont think i would of been around for many more years.
Thanks again;)