Magnesium vs Phenibut for anxiety
Short answer: For anxiety, users rate them about the same: 89% report improvement with Magnesium (226 reports) and 87% with Phenibut (297 reports).
Magnesium has 82 meta-analyses and 210 randomized trials on PubMed; Phenibut has 3 and 1.
Based on 1,893 reports about Magnesium and 740 about Phenibut. Not medical advice.
| Magnesium Supplement | Phenibut Substance | |
|---|---|---|
| User score | 51 | 50 |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mixed |
| Positive of reports that state an outcome | 72% | 44% |
| Reports | 1,893 | 740 |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | BResearch: Moderate |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 82 / 210 | 3 / 1 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Appetite % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | — |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 77% (39) | 69% (36) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 75% (73) | 79% (28) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 87% (331) | 84% (64) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 89% (226) | 87% (297) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 80% (99) | 89% (131) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (7) | 50% (4) |
| Performance % reporting improvement | 87% (15) | 100% (5) |
| Recovery % reporting improvement | 96% (24) | — |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 91% (33) | 50% (2) |
| Digestion % reporting improvement | 83% (29) | — |
| Libido % reporting improvement | 62% (13) | 81% (16) |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | 91% (22) | — |
| Blood sugar % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | — |
| Heart & lipids % reporting improvement | 95% (22) | — |
| Skin & hair % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | — |
| Immunity % reporting improvement | 86% (7) | — |
| Longevity % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | — |
| Common side effects | diarrhea, drowsiness, stomach issues, vivid dreams | withdrawal, addiction, tolerance, dependence |
| Typical dose reported | daily | every 3 days |
This review confirms that the quality of literature is substandard for physicians to make well-informed recommendations on usage of oral magnesium for older adults with insomnia. However, given that oral magnesium is very cheap and widely available, RCT evidence may support oral magnesium supplements (less than 1 g quantities given up to three times a day) for insomnia symptoms.
BMC Complement Med Ther, 2021 ↗“after supplementing with 400mg of Magnesium daily. Winter blues hit me hard and my multivitamin wasn't doing any justice, but once I began supplementing Magnesium, everything changed.”
Phenibut withdrawal appears to have a range of severity. It is important to recognize that patients undergoing phenibut abstinence may have progressive symptom worsening during early withdrawal. All published cases of abrupt phenibut abstinence were admitted inpatients for symptom management. Benzodiazepines or barbiturates with adjunctive baclofen appear to be the most commonly used drugs for moderate to severe withdrawal. Outpatient management via slow phenibut tapers with or without adjunctive gamma-aminobutyric acid agonist therapy may be successful. However, there is no standard treatment
Clin Toxicol (Phila), 2023 ↗“Phenibut every 3 days. Hands down most effective I've tried. Plus you wake up feeling amazing.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate