Eon, the usual doses for Lysine and arginine to have an effect is around 1.5 gram each, that its nothing to worry about arginine at that dosage, although I agree that the main reason for the positives some people report from this combo is probably from Lysine.
I have tried all the pharmaceutical MAOIs including phenelzine and has many side effects, reading about its chemical profile I believe Phenylethylidenehydrazine would have very few side effects if any. Selegiline does not compare at all with stronger MAOIs like Nardil or Parnate.
A different approach to fear is fear extinction / post from reddit. I have read many articles in the past that D-cycloserine is helpful with fear extinction also but we should find something even better.
I would say that anxiety is a emotional state determined by our neurochemical makeup at a given moment. Fear on the other hand is a conditioned response formed through association between a conditioned stimulus and a punisher. Certain contextual criteria elicit a fear response that is intended to help that organism avoid a punishment.
Anxiety is a symptom that can be alleviated through neuro-chemical manipulation. Fear on the other hand is a programmed response that must be abolished through the process of extinction.
In the process of extinction an organism is exposed to the fear eliciting stimulus WITHOUT the concurrent administration of the punishing stimulus. Repeated exposures cause the organism to learn that the fear stimulus no longer signals oncoming danger and thus the fear response is extinguished.
Certain nootropics that alleviate anxiety can actually INHIBIT extinction learning by reducing the fear response during extinction learning. Beta-blockers for example can cut out the physical symptoms of a fear response, however, it does so at the expense of inhibiting fear extinction.
Remember, one of the factors that determines the strength of our memory formation is the intensity of one’s emotion during learning. In essence if one reduces the intensity of their anxiety during extinction training they will not learn to not be afraid as efficiently.
A couple supplements that I’ve been researching recently can be stacked together to increase the rate of extinction learning as well AND increase the retention of extinction memories. These two supplements are Yohimbe and Magnesium L-Theronate.
Yohimbe can help facilitate fear extinction by raising NE levels and in turn INTENSIFYING one’s neurochemical response to fear stimuli. Numerous studies have demonstrated that administration of yohimbe during extinction training can reduce the number of trials till extinction is achieved.
Magnesium L-Theronate on the other hand can work acutely as a mild anxiolytic by raising brain magnesium levels and antagonizing NMDA receptors. It’s voltage NMDA antagonism can ENHANCE NMDA function by preventing calcium leakage and thus increasing signal to noise ratio. Furthermore Magnesium L-theronate raises neural concentrations of Magnesium differentially across different brain regions. Of particular interest is the fact that it raises Mg levels in the Infralimbic-PFC, and hippocampus, two areas involved in the learning of fear extinction and preservation of extinction memories, without affecting the amygdala which is responsible for conditioned fear expression.
If you want to truly eliminate fear, your brain MUST learn that the object of your fear should no longer be associated with danger. The supplements above can help with that process, but to eliminate fear takes exposure to the object of your fear. Anxiety is a symptom that can be alleviated through neuro-chemical manipulation. Fear on the other hand is a programmed response that must be abolished through the process of extinction.