Posted by Patient on July 17, 2004, at 14:50:36
Hi,
I've never been to this board before. I see there's lots of great information.
I wanted to give my experience with valerian for insomina which includes awaking about 2 or 3 in morning and not being able to go back to sleep-toss and turn and feel awake. I am currently taking 250mg Epival E-C (divalproex sodium)mood stabiliser in mornings, and 40mg Celexa (citalopram) in evenings for borderline persoanlity disorder with anger discontrol, depression, and extreme anxiety. I have been taking this since Feb. '04. I recently started taking very small amnt. trazodone, or sm. amnt. lorazepam to help me sleep, but I often found myself sleeping in late, or feeling groggy for a while after arising. Also, a bit of imbalance a few hours after getting up if I took loraz at bedtime. I decided I didn't want to rely either of these two medicines to help me sleep. I've tried 1.5 and 3mg melatonin hormone, but most of the time it didn't help me sleep. I've taken calcium, magnesium, vit. D. supplement combo to help me sleep, as well as l-glutathione, and these work better than melatonin, but not as good as the two prescription drugs. This time I thought I'd try valerian, Kroger's line, each caplet contains 100mg valeriana officinalis (root), with serving size 2 caplets. In the past two weeks since taking it I've slept all the night through! No grogginess in the morning, no side effects. One time I took 3 caplets and it worked just as well, with maybe a slight bit of grogginess after awakening, but still was able to get up at a decent hour. I'm extremely pleased that the valerian is working for my type of insomnia. I've taken trazodone to counteract insonmia from SSRI AD's in the past, and I first started at 50mg. I couldn't breath through my nose due to extreme stuffiness in my sinuses for two or three hours after taking it at bedtime, that it kept me awake! I reduced to 25mg. and that still had the stuffy nose effect, though not as bad, then tried 12.5mg with good results, but I'm at the point where I'd like to have just one less prescription than what I'm already taking. I truly like the valerian better than the prescrip drugs for insomnia.
A question I have is about a product that contains the ingredients listed below. I am interested in threonine for I have read that it can help with anger discontrol/irritability, which is one of the main reasons I take Epival and Celexa. If I ever decide to go off of these medicines, or stop taking one or the other, or reduce the dosage, I'd like to know there is something I can take that can help with my anger discontrol, besides depression and anxiety. If anyone has any comments on the following "nutraceutical", than I'm all eyes. I tend to avoid products that have a label claiming it will do all sorts of things, and also multi-ingredient products (worried I'm wasting my money on over-processing and certain ingredients that shouldn't be taken together). I'd also like to know if I can name this product, or is that a no-no at this site? On the safe side, I'll simply list the ingredients.
Note: I've noticed it contains two types of lithium salts, but not lithium orotate (which is available through nutritional supplement sources), which I have read can be more harmful to the liver than lithium carbonate. I've never tried lithium. I'm doing well on the celx and divalp with no weight gain or loss of hair-just a bit of lethargy/fatigue which can be easily remedied with a dose or two of Kroger's line of Saint John's wort caplet. This product claims it helps with depression, anger, bi-polar mood disorder, and I think anxiety.
Here are the ingredients:
Folic acid
200 µg
50%
Proprietary blend:
665 mg
*
DL-Phenylalanine (DLPA)
Hypericum Perforatum (St. John's Wort)
Scutelleria Lateriflora
Verbena Officinalis
L-Glutamic acid
L-Glutamine
Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA
Calcium Pantothenate
L-Alanine
L-Aspartic acid
5-HTP (5-Hydroxy-L-Tryptophan)
L-Threonine
L-Tyrosine
L-Lysine HCl
Micro-nutritionals:
Avena Sativa
Cimicifuga racemosa
Humulus lupulus
Ignatia amara
Kali bromatum
Kali phosphoricum
Lithium bromatum
Lithium carbonicum
Natrum muriaticum
Hypothalamus
*Daily Value not established.
poster:Patient
thread:367176
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040613/msgs/367176.html