Posted by Agomelatinehope on September 11, 2012, at 18:03:58
In reply to Re: Natural pills to treat depression and insomnia, posted by bleauberry on September 11, 2012, at 13:39:24
> Cool. Hey, I know these real well.
>
> Rhodiola, probably one of the best plants on earth for medicinal value over a long list of symptoms and conditions. It is tricky though....the size of the dose changes its mechanism and changes the feeling. Generally it is more activating at lower doses, more calming at higher doses, but can do the opposite as well. Anyone I know who starts rhodiola, I tell them to take half of the smallest dose for a few days to start with. Ignore whatever it says on the bottle. This herb is very personal to each body, so it takes a personal approach not a blanket approach, to find the right dose. At the right dose for you, it should help with every symptom you listed. And even though it is sometimes categorized as a stimulant, you should feel some greatly improved sleep within a few days without even any of the other herbs. Overstimulation, nervousness, butterflies in the stomach, disturbed sleep....these happen commonly on rhodiola during the first few days regardless of the dose size, so expect that and if it happens do not let it discourage you.
>
> Maca....be careful. I know, I know, the internet makes it look like a magic plant, and indians supposedly eat it like potatoes. I'm telling you, this is one friggin powerful bizarre plant. It somehow interacts with the pituitary gland, which sends out all the signals to all the other glands....adrenal, thyroid, etc. So the outcome can be all over the map with no predictability. While one person may find it to be tame and sexual, another might find it induces a severe reaction of some kind. Me, it immediately helps my mood on the first day, followed by an almost as immediate plunge into one of the darkest depressions I've ever known. Real scary. Another elderly lady, past menopause, began uncontrollable bleeding on maca and all the menopause symptoms came back full force. Just know, this is a very unpredictable herb, and mileage varies. Could be good, could be bad, I doubt it will be just neutral. Even tiny amounts, like literally dust on the end of knife, caused me bad mood problems.
>
> Gaba might be helpful. They say it doesn't cross the bloodbrain barrier, but I don't know, maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. All I know is that yes it can calm things down. However, there are some herbs I think do a better job. They would include Skullcap, Lemon Balm, Passionflower, Valerian, usually a combo of 2 or 3 of them. With rhodiola however, you might find you don't need any sleep assistance. If you do, my experience points to the herbs being more helpful than gaba.
>
> Another suggestion. Even though it is not specific for any of the symptoms you mentioned, I highly support the use of resveratrol. It just covers a lot of bases, stuff we can't see and don't know, and lays a good base for anything else we do to work better. It is a miracle chemical, one of the few true ones, with so many benefits to improving any illness, entire books can't even cover everything it does. It must be, however, derived from polygonum cupsidatum (japanese knotweed) not derived from grapes (more common). Good brands are Source Naturals, my favorite is Paradise Herbs brand. It also has as one of its mechanisms some built in nervous system calming, which I've never really felt that from it, but could be helpful for sleep. Everything else it does should help just about every symptom listed.
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> Since you mentioned an interest in sexual desire, the one herb I found did a great job at that was Cordyceps. I was taking it for energy, endurance and mood. It did not help my energy or mood, but yes definitely gave me more endurance and yes my sexual desire got very strong. A nice unexpected discovery.
Very helpful reply. Thank you so much :)
poster:Agomelatinehope
thread:1025213
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120830/msgs/1025415.html