Valerian building up in system / toxic
D'OL NERIC
Re: Re: PAXIL induced insomnia...help!
> My preference is to take Hops & Chamomile. It's safe and dosn't
> build up in your system as a toxin like Valerian.
Where did you hear of this? I'm curious. I know that Valerian can
depress the CNS. However, i've never heard of it building up in your system.
Can you refer the source of this info, please? Much appreciated. ;)
D`'
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Callie
d...@alexus.cts.com (D'OL NERIC) wrote:
>Re: Re: PAXIL induced insomnia...help!
>> My preference is to take Hops & Chamomile. It's safe and dosn't
>> build up in your system as a toxin like Valerian.
Also quite effective - linden flower.
> Where did you hear of this? I'm curious. I know that Valerian can
>depress the CNS. However, i've never heard of it building up in your system.
>Can you refer the source of this info, please? Much appreciated. ;)
Try "Materia Medica and Pharmacology" by David Culbreth, M.D. (1927)
pp 594-597
"if used continously, may produce melancholy, hysteria"
and another source from the early 1900s referred to the
"valerianosis" caused by chronic use.
and it can be pretty rough on you if you overdose ... nausea,
diarrhea, CNS symptoms. You'll feel like roadkill.
Callie
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Scotty
d...@alexus.cts.com (D'OL NERIC) shared:
>Re: Re: PAXIL induced insomnia...help!
>
>> My preference is to take Hops & Chamomile. It's safe and dosn't
>> build up in your system as a toxin like Valerian.
> Where did you hear of this? I'm curious. I know that Valerian can
>depress the CNS. However, i've never heard of it building up in your system.
>Can you refer the source of this info, please? Much appreciated. ;)
>D`'
>d...@alexus.cts.com
>ųSupport KRUEL Maga'Zineų
>Silverlake Computer Services Public Access BBS - (619) 224-1264
"CAUTION: Large doses or extended use of may produce symptoms of
poisoning. Take the tea twice dauli for no more than two to
three weeks at a time."
Reference "The Herb Book" by John Lust Copy 1974, Bantam Books
----------------------
"CAUTION: Use Only as prescribed by a qualified practioner as
Valerian may cause headaches, muscular spasm and palpitations.
Avoid large doses and prolonged use.
Reference "The New Age Herbalist" Copy 1988, dist Macmillian Pub.
----------------------
As far as I can remember looking up Valerian in any reference
material, I have always seen warnings to prolonged use. I
pessonaly don't know the mechanics of the toxins, just that
Valerian is presented as not being a herb for prolonged use,
but rathar to help an acute problem.
If you check out the local book store I'm sure you can find
a multitude of publications that can be a guide for finding
the right herbal recipie to help insomnia when taking SSRI's.
Good Luck, Scotty
_ _
{~._.~} Scotty - Atlanta Georgia, USA
( Y ) low stress web
()~*~() http://www.crl.com/~swift/
(_)-(_)
Howie Brounstein
>I was told by an herbalist friend of mine that the ingedient in
>Valerian which induces sleep is not water-soluble, so making a tea of
>it would do nothing for sleep....not to mention the fact that Valerian
>root (which is where the sleep stuff is) is notoriously odorous - I
>think it smells like sweaty socks from a gym locker, personally :) So
>if you take it - and I know nothing about the toxicity or the build up
>of it in the liver, I would take it in a capsule form which are
>readily available. It didn't do much for me, tho, I had to take about
>four of them to help me sleep. YMMV, Consult a professional herbalist
>or homeopathic physician.
>
Funny, just last month I was sitting round the campfire with a group of
students. We had spent the day digging Valeriana sitchensis, dodging
helicopters carrying water to the fires burning around the area, botanizing,
and other herbal-type stuff. Most of the roots were to be washed in the river
the next day, but some of it we washed after dinner, chopped and ran through
a hand crank wheatgrass juicer, and made some fresh Valerian juice. While the
guest speakers talked of Valeriana chemistry, we tasted the fresh juice. The
results, not unexpected as I do this every year, was that everyone felt the
smell, the taste of the Valeriana, throughout their bodies. As one student
starts renaming the constellations to reflect teapots, tincture presses, and
popular herbalists, I think of how complex herbs really are, the closer we
look, the less we know. Some folks were strongly stimulated, others quieted.
Valerian acts differently on different people, depending on dosage and
personal constitution.
I beg to differ opinions with your herbalist friend. The water extract of
valerian is unquestionably effective, from years of first-hand experience. In
fact, I believe fresh root tea to be the most effective way to ingest
Valerian. But, there are constituents that boil away at relatively low
temperatures. If you boil the valerian root, as you generally do with roots,
than you loose much of the effect but leave most of the smell. This is
probably why your friend has heard that Valeriana tea in useless.
Therefore, steep your valerian root in luke warm water for a day.
I grind the fresh root in a blender, cover it with water to form a mush, let
sit a day, squeeze it through some muslin cloth, and viola (or should I say
Valeriana) --- musky earthy tea fit for the heartiest of taste buds. But a
small cup will impart a strong sensation throughout the body.
And, to top it all off, current research trends indicate that the main active
constituent is not what it used to be. In fact, even though valerian
chemistry is one of the more studied, the experts are no longer sure what the
active ingredient is. Another reason to use the WHOLE PLANT, not some extract
from dead material standardized to a certain percentage of some possibly
active ingredient, ignoring the other constituents, destroying any
possibility of natural synergistic effects from the WHOLE PLANT'S complex of
chemicals, perhaps even filtering out truly important components.
I personally do not like dried valerian, and will always go with fresh root,
or fresh root tincture if the fresh root is unavailable. They differ
chemically, but the choice is indeed personal.
Howie Brounstein
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"It's easy to harvest wild plants, the hard part is not harvesting."
Jacob's Well
kcs...@echo.sound.net (Starr) wrote these amazing words:
snip
>I was told by an herbalist friend of mine that the ingedient in
>Valerian which induces sleep is not water-soluble, so making a tea of
>it would do nothing for sleep....not to mention the fact that Valerian
>root (which is where the sleep stuff is) is notoriously odorous - I
>think it smells like sweaty socks from a gym locker, personally :) So
>if you take it - and I know nothing about the toxicity or the build up
>of it in the liver, I would take it in a capsule form which are
>readily available. It didn't do much for me, tho, I had to take about
>four of them to help me sleep. YMMV, Consult a professional herbalist
>or homeopathic physician.
I have taken valerian extract in tea form, and yes indeed! It DID help
me to sleep! My friend took it and it helped him to sleep, but it
makes him go to the bathroom so many times at nite...he won't take it
anymore...<wg>
I take a combination from NOW brand called NiteTime Herbs...this stuff
is fantastic!
J
June King
>I was told by an herbalist friend of mine that the ingedient in
>Valerian which induces sleep is not water-soluble, so making a tea of
>it would do nothing for sleep....not to mention the fact that Valerian
>root (which is where the sleep stuff is) is notoriously odorous - I
>think it smells like sweaty socks from a gym locker, personally :) So
>if you take it - and I know nothing about the toxicity or the build up
>of it in the liver, I would take it in a capsule form which are
>readily available. It didn't do much for me, tho, I had to take about
>four of them to help me sleep. YMMV, Consult a professional herbalist
>or homeopathic physician.
>
tea diminishes quickly after three or four times. The taste is
tolerable, but ground root smells and works better than chopped up
stuff.