Kava, Gaba & withdrawal

[Panthau]

According to this list, Kava influencea Gaba levels and should therefore give withdrawal effects after prolonged use.
According to users, thats not the case. What am i missing here?

http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/54028-treating-anxiety-safely-effectively/

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

The kava calm is believed to have something to do with decreased sodium ion channel activity and an increased ability for gaba to bind to it's receptors. (Among other things)

I think that implies an increased usage of your body's endogenous gaba...rather than a flood of new gaba coming in.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

here's what another member has written about it:

The pharmacological activities of kava resin and pyrones do not appear to be explained by any significant interaction with GABA or benzodiazepine binding sites. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1332016 In fact, most of its sedating properties come from blockade of voltage gated sodium and calcium channels, by doing this it sort of indirectly blunts the effect of glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain (gaba is a metabolite, and opposing neurotransmitter of this system), as glutamate effects sodium, calcium, and potassium through voltage gated channels. It does this however, without affecting long term potentiation (how memories form), which is why no matter how krunk you become you always can remember it, never black out etc. This is why it's the only sedative on the planet that won't turn you into a complete idiot in large amounts.

 

[Panthau]

After reading it again, it seems that the leafs are mainly responsible for gaba receptor binding. So i guess i made some alarm for nothing. lol

 

[Ligermeat]

After reading it again, it seems that the leafs are mainly responsible for gaba receptor binding. So i guess i made some alarm for nothing. lol

Yeah. Kava certainly doesn't feel very gaba-ish al all.