Chemical support

Have you thought about ssri’’’s? Or spoken to your doctor?

I have been taking things like passion flower extract, and that dulls some of the anxiety, but it doesn't stop my mind wandering into places that are distressing to me.

It always saddens me to hear about people suffering from some form of imbalance in their life. It seems to me you need to exam what the distressing thoughts are and what may be the triggers for instigating them. Our daily lives are full of stress triggers and your solution may be as simple as avoiding the external stress trigger rather than immediately looking for a chemical suppressant. This may or may not be a brain chemistry problem. The #1 antidote for a number of minor psychological conditions is surprisingly...physical exercise. Exercise (combined with a good diet) helps bring the body back into chemical balance and can mitigate some emotional conditions influenced by poor brain chemistry.

I ditched alcohol and tobacco a long time ago, but if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd like to hear them.

That's great that you are now avoiding the poisons of alcohol and nicotine . First, I'd recommend you steer clear of SSRI's, the emerging evidence of their negative side effects outweighs their limited effectiveness (please see this short video though addressed to women is equally applicable to men). Mother Nature has been providing human beings a cornucopia of useful compounds since the dawn of time. I believe if you do some research you will be able to find some additional natural substances which will help alleviate your discomfort.

You may not have the availability of cannabis where you live but CBD containing products (no THC) are increasingly becoming available even in areas where cannabis is illegal, you may wish to try one of those products. Good Vibes to You !

As always rumel has offered up some good advice. Meditation has been a big part of my journey.....there is plenty of info on the interweb but keep it simple. Breath meditation is pretty easy to learn but much harder in practice. Try meditation without the aneros and then when you the hang of it you can incorporate it into your sessions. Good luck.

First, I'd recommend you steer clear of SSRI's, the emerging evidence of their negative side effects outweighs their limited effectiveness

@rumel has great advice as always.
As someone who has been on multiple types of SSRI's Id like to add some weight to this statement. I would only recommend them if you suffer from heavy existential depression that you can't get out of yourself and even then you have to live with the side effects that are mentioned in the video and more. Back in my day, this information was not available and I had to learn this the hard way.

As an ex-daily pot smoker for more than 10 years, I would also like to add something on cannabis. While this can work on taming your anxiety it is actually a double-edged sword. For some reason, it is as much an amplifier as it is a suppressant. It differs greatly in what it will enhance and what it will numb per individual, duration of use but also on your mood. I know this because it is actually legal since forever where I come from (the Netherlands) and I spoke to a lot of smokers over the years. From my own experience, it can go either way. So I would not recommend it as a way to deal with anxiety.
I have no experience with products that contain just CBD so I do not wish to say that Rumel's advice here is wrong and it might be worth it to look into this.

Meditation as @brucemarkland mentions is excellent advice. The benefits will show over time though, so don't expect much right away if you are to try it.
I would like to add mindfulness as well. If you are looking for a way to get into this that is not that floaty and not tied to any religion or system I would like to recommend Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now (just ignore the cringy title and the Oprah book club sticker).
I have dismissed stuff like meditation and mindfulness for years thinking it was stupid but at least it doesn't have any side effects and it's quite easy to fling a book away if it turns out it's not something you are into.

I also swear by chamomile tea in the evenings.

I was just looking for feedback from people who've used herbal supplements like valerian or whatever. CBD stuff is overpriced, and the only meds i'm on is a norepenephrine reuptake inhibitor. It stops panic attacks, but leaves behind a fatalistic depression. I won't go into the details of that here, but I would like to get back on topic.

Has anyone taken any OTC herbal stuff that helps?

I have taken valerian root. It did nothing for me.

is there anything you *have* taken that works for you? That's what I'm asking.