Today I got some ginseng extract, and I was totally amazed by the effects. I took 1g of the extract that contains 13.5% ginsenosides, twice the recommended dose. It was stimulating, anti-depressive, anxiolytic and actually quite euphoric! I didn't expect that at all, at least not after only one dose.

I have seen other people say that high doses of ginseng is a bit like MDMA, and I can certainly see what they mean. I don't agree that it is like MDMA neither in intensity nor the loved-up effect, but it is really, really good! I think I'm going to take ginseng every day for a few weeks and see the results.

What's your experiences with ginseng?

Red Ginseng liquid extract was taken for 10 days recently.
It is very potent just shame when there is no more.
I don't see it as a mdma sort of thing but always take a good dose but not double or triple.
It's a very good superfood.

I wouldn't call it a superfood, far from it. I eat superfood everyday, maca, goji, blueberries, cacao, hemp seeds, spirulina, etc. No superfood I have tried can even be comparable to ginseng, at least not this extract. I think higher dosages will prove to be a very nice social drug.

I agree it's not like MDMA, but some of the qualities are there.

Yes I've tried the 25x Ginseng extract from iamshaman and WOW. I tried it on the suggestion of Robert Anton Wilson that ginseng is an effective herb that can be used in place of cannabis for some of the experiments in his books, and was shocked at how effective it was. It had me giggling for hours, just very up and happy. Now that you mention the MDMA connection, and now that I've sampled that family, I can see it's actually closer to the MD* effects than cannabis effects in how stimulating AND euphoric it is. Cannabis leaves me feeling lazy in the body and mind, but ginseng extract is completely stimulating. I gave it to an acupuncturist friend who commented that it contains the Chinese element known as Fire. Iamshaman warns against using it nasally!

According to this site, ginseng is normally taken in the dosage of 100 to 200mg a day of herb with 4-5% ginsenosides content. That is 4 to 10mg of ginsenosides. As I took 1g of extract with 13.5%, I took 135mg ginsenosides. That is 13 to 34 times the normal dose, if the linked article is correct on the dosage.

No wonder I got so wonderful effects! Everyone that have tried only low doses, I strongly suggest you dose higher once. I felt no adverse effects whatsoever, and ginseng is considered extremely safe. I think it will prove to be great for social settings. I wouldn't take that high a dose each day though.

Ginseng is just wonderful!

I must say that I really enjoy it as an oneirogen too. It can make you lucid in your dreams. But you have to have the right kind of extract / the right kind of ginseng.

Fourth day on the ginseng, every day beside the first one on 0.5 grams of the extract, and I must say it is really wonderful. It provides me with physical as well as mental energy I have never encountered on substances that doesn't kill my intellect and intuition. It also provides me with a really great warm feeling in my chest, acting on my heart chacra like I have only experienced mescaline to do. GREAT!!

But I must say, I find it hard to go to sleep. I may be tired in my body and my consciousness, but my subconscious keeps spinning! I guess I should give it a week or so more to see how it feels then, and if the trouble continues, I will have to decrease the dosage. I have not experienced the oneirogenic effects, but that may very well be because I am too tired to be active in my dreams when I actually fall asleep.

From a norwegian source, you got a PM.

I tried some pretty good Korean Ginseng once for ADHD symptoms. It did help a bit with concentration, but way less than ritalin or even caffeine. (And caffeine isn't that good for ADHD since it stimulates too many things other than the prefrontal areas, and tends to make hyperactivity worse.)

I might have considered using it anyway if it didn't also make me irritable as fuck. =(

Glad you guys had better experiences, though! And for the record, ginseng makes a great ingredient for herbal tea. It's nice and earthy, and it has the very faintest hint of ginger-like spiciness. It's delicious when you add honey or brown sugar to counteract the bitterness.

I've been using a supermarket Korean ginseng extract (75mg extract) for the past 3 days. Haven't noticed any effects so far apart from last night having a very realistic and detailed dream about everyday routine which I remembered quite vividly. Although I was woken up quite quickly in the middle of it so that may be why it seemed so clear.

Interestingly, my herbal medicine book has barely any warnings or mentions for american ginseng but for siberian ginseng: "It is not suitable for people who are suffering for insomnia, high blood pressure, nervous tension, obesity, heart palpitations and benign breast disease." , "hyperactive, schizophrenic or manic individuals should avoid it", "It is described as being beneficial for maintaining a good health rather than treating illnesses per se, and is reputed to be a tonic for all organs of the body. The root has been shown to stiumlate the central nervous system and the adrenal gland"
Implying that it is a form of stimulant, and I've heard anecdotal reports from friends that 'ginseng chopped up and put in vodka for a month makes 'legal speed' '
Been meaning for a while to get a load of nice fresh whole ginseng root and try it out, probably the korean or siberian ones are the types worth trying.

I used to work for my friend's dad when I was in high school. Fall/winter we harvested christmas trees, but in the summer we worked the ginseng gardens. Friend's dad used to keep a dish of fresh ginseng root on his desk, and we would basically just chew it up and hold it in our mouths for awhile. There's some sense of euphoria, albeit little, but it seemed to make heighten cognitive response and just put everyone in a great mood all day. It would be blazing hot, we would be sunburned to hell and doing manual labor in fields of dirt, but somehow the days just flew by quite smoothly. I haven't tried extract much, but I would recommend sourcing out some fresh organic root and trying that out. We never measured any sort of dosage, just pull a small but decent sized chunk off and just chew on it for awhile (30 minutes to an hour), then spit it out.

"I'm like a sniper, hyper off the ginseng root"

Just remembered that I had some ginseng seed oil hanging around (randomly found it in some bins) so tried a good lick of it and definitely seems to put me in a nice sort of empathogenic flow state, helps with tiredness a little as well although could still definitely go to sleep on it.

Not by any means an expert on the matter (but it helps to have a Korean spouse) ... plenty of info on the web, tho some of it is misleading:
in Asia, red ginseng is a cooked and steamed variety, and is heating to the body and has been used medicinally for a very long time for many conditions, including, for men, Bob Dole Syndrome, but also as a general health tonic. It is avaiable as cooked roots, a powder, or liquid forms.

Personally, I don't need more heating things in the body - I wear T-shirts and shorts even in the winter - and prefer white ginseng, which is uncooked and cooling to the body. It's generally available as dried roots or as a powder. It is also used as a general tonic and used to treat many medical conditions ... I know people who just chew it (they are really hard!) and it is meant to increase overall stamina as well as sexual potency.

Because red ginseng is cooked, the two forms have different chemical profiles and uses.

That said, there also is a spiritual side to white ginseng. A friend who has practiced meditative/martial arts with a Chinese "master" for years invested $5000 in an ancient ginseng root that had been preserved in alcohol (I belive he used the extract). In retrospect, I wish I'd asked him if I could partake, but it's like asking somebody if they'd give you "just a piece" of their Ferrari or something, maybe not so cool, but anyway, he said that it took him to meditative depths that he had never reached.

Just remember that there is some misleading terminology out there regarding ginseng color: some call ginseng from Asia "red" ginseng, and ginseng from the US "white", as if it's a geographic thing. However, in Asia, the color is only used to identify the kind of processing it did or did not have.

thanks, i ordered

Although it may be safe enough to take 30 times the recommended dose of ginsenocides/ginseng extract, is it dangerous to take 30 times the amount of the other ingredients that appear in ginseng tablets?

E.g. Dicalcium Phosphate, Cellulose, Korean Ginseng Extract, Cross-linked Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose, Maltodextrin, Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, Magnesium Stearate, Silicon Dioxide, Glycerol.

I presume someone will tell me that these tablets aren't proper ginseng extract if they contain all these other ingredients.

I've received a free batch of ginseng extract once. I still have it lying around. Sounds like a good thing to start the day with.

BTW, is it contra-indicated for anything, like MAOI's (ayahuasca) or mescaline?

Anything that is stimulating makes me crash really badly afterwards. I don't take ginseng, because it makes me feel unbalanced. Maybe occasionally though, because it it such a neat root!

An herbalist trained in Chinese medicine I know was telling me that ginseng actually is considered a negative for people with a specific energetic imbalance that many Westerners have. She recommended an alternate that I can't remember off the top of my head. I'll see her this Saturday, so I will ask then.