Valerian Root?

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Darcy45
Darcy45 Member Posts: 55
edited March 2020 in Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment
Been dealing with some mild insomnia, you know, waking up at 2:00 a.m., falling back to sleep and 4:30, alarm goes off at 6:00!

On occasion I've taken valerian root (herbal calming/sleeping supplement) What do all my well informed sista's think?
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  • Lhunhen
    Lhunhen Member Posts: 96
    edited June 2007
    Hi Darcy, Have you checked out the Melatonin thread here? I use that and have no trouble going to sleep or waking up and not being able to get back to sleep.

    I did't know that Valerian root would help you sleep. Good to know.

    Cathy
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  • saluki
    saluki Member Posts: 2,287
    edited June 2007
    Darcy,
    I'm taking a homeopathic sleep lozenge called Moon Drops which contains Valarian and Chamomile among minute amounts of other things. I find it is much more effective for me than using melatonin alone.

    When I took the melatonin by itself it would take me about 12
    to 15 mg to work and that amount was giving me crazy dreams
    and made me sluggish the next day.

    What worked for me was taking 3 melatonin lozenges (2 1/2 mg) and two moon drops lozenges. Between that and taking
    my femara before bed I find that I don't waken till morning.
    It has turned out to be an effective routine for me.

    I also found a sleep mask very helpful.
    I've started to buy the moon drops ten boxes at a time so I can get a good price break.
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  • althea
    althea Member Posts: 1,595
    edited June 2007

    I used valerian root for a while to help me sleep. By the end of the bottle, however, it didn't seem to be helping anymore. I've tried melatonin and it does nothing to help for me. Valerian doesn't seem to have anything undesirable as a side effect, and it has the added bonus of helping to lower blood pressure. I think I'm going to try valerian again. It's been 3 or 4 months since I used it.

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  • julel
    julel Member Posts: 50
    edited June 2007
    I have researched valerian, and unlike many herbal remedies, it has no nutrient/drug interactions, to my knowledge and is known to be quite safe. It is a mild muscle relaxant and I read, has similar properties to valium.

    I have taken 2 capsules at bedtime for mild sleep problems, now and then. - It really helps me. I would take it a couple of hrs before bedtime, as it seems to take that long for it to kick in.
    Julie
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  • rubytuesday
    rubytuesday Member Posts: 2,248
    edited June 2007

    Saluki, Where are you getting your Moon Drops? I have used them too and like them but didn't know about a discount on them. I got mine from Historical Remedies. TIA!

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  • roseg
    roseg Member Posts: 3,133
    edited June 2007

    I tried the tea. I went to sleep but had a headache in the morning so it's not my preferred thing.

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  • Blundin2005
    Blundin2005 Member Posts: 1,167
    edited June 2007
    Hi Darcy,

    I've used valarian and it is calming but the tablets leave me with a headache and sometimes a rapid heart beat. The salad is one of our favorites .... light and great with fish meals. I found binco spino and rodiola helpful and gentle.
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  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited December 2018

    Valerian drops me like a plugged buffalo. But after I started on letrozole, I heard it's one of those herbs/foods that occupies the same metabolic pathway (CYP450 group) as aromatase inhibitors, particularly letrozole (other no-nos with AIs are grapefruit, pomelo, Seville oranges (e.g, in English or Scottish marmalade), undiluted pomegranate juice and anything more than an occasional glass of dilute cranberry juice. Trying to find current evidence for this, but nothing yet. So in the meantime, I'm sticking with melatonin, CBD oil, and a tiny bit (one-eighth) of a 25mg indica THC gummy (yes, I have an MMJ permit). More THC than that gets "trippy." (Indica is more sedating and gives less stimulating a high than sativa).

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  • ChiSandy
    ChiSandy Member Posts: 12,133
    edited March 2020

    I recently re-checked the MSKCC herb database--and the entry for valerian has been revised to show a contraindication for its use with tamoxifen but no reference to aromatase inhibitors. I've dug deeply into various articles & charts from Mayo Clinic and NIH, and similarly found no letrozole-valerian contraindications (whether inhibition or potentiation). Lavender remains a no-no, however, so still avoiding my beloved Earl Grey tea.

    So in order to reduce or eliminate any benzos & THC from my drug list at bedtime (and enable a lower dose of melatonin), I will be switching to a CBD gelcap from Receptra Naturals called "Serious Rest," which does contain trace amounts of valerian root. Receptra recently discontinued its plain-CBD "legacy" line of tinctures (Prime, Plus), and now sells a plain-CBD gelcap called "Serious Relax" (same potency as "Plus" tincture).

    Update on CBD & THC: recreational THC is now legal in IL. But I was placed on a no-sugar diet back in June due to letrozole-fueled weight gain--thus far I'm down 50 lbs. and free of joint pain. Unfortunately, there are no sugar-free THC edibles available: the closest it gets is a 73% cocoa-solids indica dark chocolate, which has no more sugar than the plain dark chocolate my diet allows. It's either that or the foul-tasting & pricy RSO concentrates. And there are only two sugar-free CBD edibles (both are gummies) on the market: JustCBD and DiamondCBD.

    I have pretty much dropped THC of any kind as a sleep or pain aid, due to the sugar issue. (As I am a singer with asthma, of course, smoking and vaping are out of the question).

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