An outstanding reddit comment, all anecdotes doe:
"not shocking I have extensive experience with most, if not all, of these...at least at some point in the last 6 years
Personal experience anecdotes:
Borage: mildly antispasmodic flowers, but hard to cultivate bug-free and takes a lot to work. Not worth it otherwise, for anything. But I grow it every summer because it's beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful herb. Also I doubt anyone goes through the pest-ridden madness and organically extracts the phytoconstituents that make borage an effective "antidepressant" as this graph states. That would be a lot of well-timed gardening and labor, for those little indigo star flowers. Edit: if anyone finds this to exist, or even the essential oil, then show me plz.
Lavender: The burps make it not my thing. Deal-breaker.
Korean/Panax Ginseng: Blocks opioid properties of kratom so I don't really use it. But when I tried it, it did seem to have a good impact on my energy levels. Very balancing/stabilizing. If you get it, make sure to try out the sampler pack from NootropicsDepot - it's the shit! You get all types of Ginseng extracts and he even has an explanatory article explaining their usage and differences, along with many explanations from MYASD on reddit.
Mimosa/Albizzia: No perceived effect, tried for a month cycle per bottle (alcohol extract) instructions. Almost think it made me less calm, because I was expecting something more tangible/subjectively perceptible.
Rhodiola: My top nature-noot recommendation. Best adaptogen for stress and fatigue at the same time. My favorite BY FAR is by New Chapter "Rhodiola Force 300." Many have had great luck with this form. Hand that to someone with fatigue problems when they don't believe in herbal medicine, and you will SHOCK the daylight out of them.
Saffron: Excellent, and barely takes any (like maybe 80-100mg) for antidepressant and feelings of utter satiation (so it's great for a spice if you're on a diet especially!). Makes you feel saturated. Nice feeling. Understandable why it's so expensive. I wish NootropicsDepot made a refined Saffron extract.
St. John's Wort: Medication interactions beware, Hyperforin is a triple monoamine and GABA reuptake inhibitor. And Hypericin is a powerful SSRI, not to be underestimated IMO. Then again I have extreme responses to SSRIs, from Prozac to Kanna. And they're rarely positive experiences..
Vitex: never tried, this is the only one though; I had thought it was primarily for female hormonal balance, not circulation... I didn't want to mess with my hormone level balance.
Hops: Taste like SHIT but if you can get NootropicsDepot's Hops extract you may find it to aid you in your sleep stack (not too effective alone, though, I'm sorry to say). GABAergic, too. Not sure why they didn't mention that. Also it's a potent source of Beta-Myrcene, which releases endogenous opioids (endorphin/enkephalin) in your body. Other great sources of Myrcene: Cannabis, Thyme, Lemongrass, Blue Tansy, Juniper Berries (Gin), Mangoes, Bay, aaaaaand that's all that's on the top of my head at the moment but I'm sure I'll add more.
Sour Date/Jujube: No acute effects except mild sedation. This was undesirable and not worth a long trial because I don't want to be tired all the time.
Valerian: Night sweats in large amounts, sometimes effective in smaller amounts. Tastes worse than Kava kava and Kratom combined. It's some nasty shit.
Skullcap: FINALLY something worth mentioning that deserves more attention. It's amazing for anxiety, inflammation, depression, you name it. Skullcap is like an extra skullcap on yo head. Always makes me feel protected. I've tried many forms, but non-alcoholic (glycerin-based) tinctures have always provided the best luck. Great to combine with Lavender (if you can resist the burpage) and Chamomile, and Gotu Kola.
Bacopa: No acute effects and the heavy metal toxicity concerns made me not want to dose over a long period of time. Plus most people say, while gains are there, they are minimal (in the memory area). Doesn't seem totally worth it.
California Poppy: Great to mix with phenibut or neurontin (gabapentinoids in general), acutely sedating, but interacts with kratom in too much of a synergistic way--so I had to discontinue, because it's just another reason "VicoZen" shots are so much more addictive than Kratom per se.
Chamomile: Watch out if you have a ragweed allergy. It works, to a point, but for me to achieve adequate anxiolysis with chamomile alone, I always end up with a headache that accompanies it. I'm very sensitive to apigenin (a constituent of chamomile), having tried it in its raw form many times. It's ridiculously sedative and not recreational whatsoever, so don't go from xanax to chamomile thinking it's all going to be downhill from here...
Gingko: Careful, kids. If dosed for over a month or so, Gingko starts to act as a NRI (Norepinephrine reupake inhibitor) and this can be an effect that creeps up on you (you'll wonder why you're starting to be mean to all your good friends for no reason, etc). Just...be wary of the potential to get edgy. That being said, in college, it was a lifesaver vasodilator for adderall comedowns and helped me retain information with minimal sleep (but still getting at least 4 hours). Oh finals weeks.
Gotu Kola: This is another one that's worth mentioning. It's a GABA adaptogen of sorts, and I've always found it to be mostly synergistic with Ashwagandha (KSM-66 especially) extract, more-so than any other herbal extract. I think, like skullcap, it's most pronounced in glycerin (non-alcoholic) extract form.
Kava: I don't touch this anymore. I used to before I was prescribed benzos, but results were always so variable that I couldn't rely on it as a consistent anxiolytic measure. Sometimes it would set me off in tantrums, too.
Lemon Balm: as they say, it's great for stress, anxiety, and depression. Just remember to dose it every day; that way you can reap the full GABA modulating benefits.
Passionflower: The only thing that helped me get through my period of my life where I wasn't able to smoke weed. I was utterly depressed and anxious from this drug testing program (had a DUI), and daily dosing 3x/day made life much more bearable. And I was working a high-stress fast-paced job at the same time as going to Purdue. So it wasn't easy to manage, drug-free. But I KNOW passionflower made a noteworthy difference for me. Likely due to harmine/harmaline (w/e) alkaloids and their respective MAO inhibition. I think I was just fiending for the dopamines.
Withania (Ashwagandha): An amazing plant (especially standardized as KSM-66, from NootropicsDepot) that has had consistently positive effects on my friends--the kind of effects you would expect from an antidepressant. Greater awareness, calmer generally, and more focused, with better sleep. Just stick to a dosage and don't forget it every day for like 3 weeks' cycle. And again, it goes great with gotu kola extract, which you can use about as liberally as you want. Personally I don't find that I need it because I don't exhibit that sort of anxiety that calls for ashwagandha (anymore).
HOPE THAT HELPS ANYONE WITH SOME CURIOSITY OR DESIRE FOR ANECDOTES! - - sorry if you disagree with anything (different meds for different heads, this is n=1, so I'm by no means a standard benchmark response! I've just tried a lot of things in this last decade and sometimes I wanna share my experience).
TL;DR - Gotu Kola extract, Skullcap extract, Chamomile extract (a bit), and Lemon Balm will get you calm. Add Ashwagandha and you'll be sleeping nicely again, too. Add Rhodiola Force and you won't have excessive daytime sleepiness on the combo stated above.
If anyone has questions lemme know. I've been studying this stuff for a hot minute. But some answers even I don't know, yet. More research needs to be done."
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(1,255kb) downloaded 36 time(s).A second chance? Huh... I thought I was on my fifth.