1st day on RR/anxiety/hopelessness

[Reenee]

Hi. A couple of hours ago I took 300 mg of Rhodiola Rosea. Although I've taken a couple of 5-htp or SJW in the past, I never stuck to either of these. For some reason, I'd change my mind...fear I guess.

I'm going to try and stick to the RR, however, as I'm going through some difficult things in my life. Also I have a pattern of obsessing and have anxiety over a lot of things. Basically, I can't take feeling like this anymore. I exercise, eat healthy food, read self-help books and have recently started meditating but it's not enough. Both life circumstances and quite possibly a chemical imbalance are taking their toll, and I don't want this to impact other areas of my life.

I've decided to take RR because it seems to be lauded for its anti-anxiety effects...Also, from what I've read, it seems to start working sooner than some of the other herbs...

If anyone has tips or has experience using RR for anxiety, worry, etc. I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks.

[txmt]

Hi! I just started taking Rhodiola about a month ago, and it's the best thing I've ever found! I have anxiety & depression, not really major depression but just worry/sadness, etc. I tried SJW, 5HTP, and SamE -- they helped some but nothing to write home about... The 5HTP did help me sleep better, helped my mood a little, but seemed to irritate my anxiety. The Rhodiola is in a league all its own though! I feel happier, calmer, more normal again, but also more motivated to get up, get out, and get things done. And I also seem to sleep just as good at night as I did with the 5HTP. I've been taking one 300-mg Natrol in the mornings, and I also switch around and take Ameriden's ClearMind sometimes. I wish I'd found this stuff years ago!

[echelon]

I've been taking RR for about 5 months now and it's great. My chronic fatigue/exhaustion is gone and I no longer feel depressed and irritable.

I also take 50mg of 5htp at night, but it's the RR that's had the greatest effect. I wouldn't be without it now.

If I start to get tired at work (I do 12 hour nursing shifts), I just take one and I'm back on track within half an hour.

I feel better physically as well........less stressed and more at ease with myself.

[txmt]

Echelon: Do you ever take time-off from the Rhodiola where you stop it briefly to cycle it? I've read where some do that & was wondering since you've been taking it for 5 months how you handle that -- how often you do it & how many days you skip it? I hate the thought of going without it, but I don't want it to lose its effectiveness either.... Thanks!

[Newgirlintown]

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Echelon and Txtm: I am intrigued by what you have said about RR. I have been taking sjw for the past few weeks and although I feel it has helped some, I am still feeling depressed and fatigued. I get home from work and I am completely drained. Months ago, before this depression set in, I used to be able to shop, run errands, go the gym..make dinner..etc. Now, I am to tired to make dinner so I just don't eat. It's awful and I am losing too much weight and I need to get control. I would like to try RR, but I have been taking sjw three times daily - is it ok to just switch and tomorrow start taking the RR? Or, do you think I should give the sjw a little longer?
Thanks for your input!
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[DreamGirl]

I believe it's okay to take RR as well as SJW. Anyone else?

I purchased Amoryn online, which contains St. John's Wort, RR, and 5-HTP.

[txmt]

Newgirlintown: If you've only been on SJW for a few weeks, I wouldn't think there would be any problem with withdrawal or switching over to Rhodiola. I know everyone's different, but I tried SJW & it helped me some, but nothing like Rhodiola does for me. I don't know really how long it takes SJW to kick in, but if you feel it doesn't do the trick, I'd definitely give Rhodiola a try. I felt so much better the first day even. I gave my mom some to try & she's ordering some now too! :smile:

[DreamGirl]

txmt, are you still taking St. John's Wort along with Rhodiola? Or just Rhodiola by itself?

[txmt]

txmt, are you still taking St. John's Wort along with Rhodiola? Or just Rhodiola by itself?

Now I'm taking just the Rhodiola. Some days I take a 300-mg Rhodiola, and some days I take a ClearMind instead, which has a couple more ingredients in it too with the Rhodiola (Rhododendrum caucasium & Rives nigrum according the label). The ClearMind is good for the really stressful days as it seems to have a little more of a calming effect on me, but I like the straight rhodiola in general for most days. Good stuff ;)

[DreamGirl]

Right now I'm doing all three-- St. John's Wort, RR, and 5-htp!

After a while I may eliminate one or two, but I just started four weeks ago and I want just want to feel better. I don't know which will work for me and which ones won't, so I'm taking them all.

I met with my doctor yesterday and showed her my bottle of Amoryn. It has a mix of all three. She said there wasn't enough SJW in the two capsules recommended to do me any good. So I went out and bought seperate bottles of SJW, RR, and 5htp.

[txmt]

Right now I'm doing all three-- St. John's Wort, RR, and 5-htp!

After a while I may eliminate one or two, but I just started four weeks ago and I want just want to feel better. I don't know which will work for me and which ones won't, so I'm taking them all.



When I first started Rhodiola, I still took 5-HTP at night to help me sleep because I was also having pretty bad anxiety & not sleeping well. I think I waited until the first weekend to try the Rhodiola alone in case it gave me insomnia, but I sleep just as good now with only Rhodiola & feel I don't even need the 5-HTP. But I don't take the Rhodiola late in the day either.... I may use the 5-HTP later to cycle & take a break from the Rhodiola if it ever starts feeling like it's losing its effectiveness for me, which so far it hasn't at all! I was going through a LOT of personal stuff, major job stress, recovering from a broken leg, etc. -- when it rains, it pours -- and this stuff has been a lifesaver for me. Hope you have as much luck as I've had with it!

[analea21]

Does RR help with anxiety? I took it for a week and it seemed to aggravate it. I need something to cycle with 5HTP. Does RR make things worse before it gets better? Perhaps I needed to taper off 5HTP better when adding RR.

[DreamGirl]

Yes, for me the RR helps with anxiety. And it gets rid of my sluggish, depressed, sad mood.

[Nintendo Master]

DreamGirl, how long did you have to take RR before you noticed a big change?

[echelon]

Hi hunny. The SJW did nothing for me apart from giving me palpitations and a funny head :wobblyeyes:

I switched onto 5htp and I'm feeling so much better. I take 50mg each night then a RR each morning and one in the afternoon if I feel tired - such as before my period.

5htp has also helped my pmt - I take 50mg each morning and it helps to keep me calm and not irritable. The tearfullness wasn't there last month either - I normally bawl my eyes out before I come on each month.

You just have to experiment I guess.

The SJW works in a different way from the 5htp though. I found that 5htp started working almost immediately!

If you suffer from anxiety - try cutting caffeine too. I've struggled with palpitations and irritability for years, but I cut out ALL caffeine (even in tea) for the last 8 weeks and I feel so much better.

[echelon]

Echelon: Do you ever take time-off from the Rhodiola where you stop it briefly to cycle it? I've read where some do that & was wondering since you've been taking it for 5 months how you handle that -- how often you do it & how many days you skip it? I hate the thought of going without it, but I don't want it to lose its effectiveness either.... Thanks!

No, I haven't ever stopped it apart from when I run out and I'm waiting for the next delivery because I order it over the 'net. I do feel a bit tired if I don't take it.

It hasn't stopped working yet and I've been taking it virtually daily for the past 5/6 months now.

[nhgirl]

Renee, I hope you feel better very soon. My son is having a problem with stress, anxiety and depression recently and had gotten VERY low. Last Fri I went to whole foods and got RR and he started taking it twice a day. Taking it at night gave him insomnia, so he switched to taking 2 tabs in the morning. The improvment is amazing! He says he feels very focused and upbeat. It really astounds me. I hope it works well for you too!

[DreamGirl]

DreamGirl, how long did you have to take RR before you noticed a big change?

Well, let's see... Maybe a month or so. I take one RR and one SJW after breakfast and one more of each after lunch.

When I cut out the RR and took only SJW, I noticed the effect the next day. I felt sad, unmotivated, got that pained look in my eyes, etc.

I stayed off the RR a few days just to see if what I was feeling was due to the absence of RR, and it was.

So then I started with the RR and felt the good effects within hours after taking it again. I hope I never grow immune to it.

[Nintendo Master]

Thanks for the reply, DreamGirl.

I'm on my 2nd week of RR. 1st few days my memory was crap and felt kind of spacey all day. Very hyper also.

Now I'm feeling better and I think my blood pressure even went down.

Need to read more about RR, but so far very happy with it.

[RUSS.W.]

Have also started RR 3 days ago and feeling odd/spacey...hope it will improve. Going to stick with it.... :smile:

[DreamGirl]

Good luck to both of you! Reading your posts brought something to mind. During my first week or two I felt extremely cranky and was losing my cool even more easily than before. I was annoyed at this, but continued on.

I don't know if it was due to the fact that I was constantly monitoring my mood and emotions to see if the RR and SJW were working, but I remember thinking, "I'm feeling worse than ever!" I was sick of thinking about how I was feeling!

But by then end of a month, I wasn't obsessing about how I was feeling any more, and when I did think about it, I realized that I felt pretty darn good and the constant dragging fatigue was gone.

An added benefit is that I'm actually propositioning my husband now. That never used to happen!

I've been depressed and anxious my entire adult life. Sometimes worse than others. And I used to think about death all the time--sometimes (especially on birthdays) I'd think, "I can't believe I've actually lived this long." I never thought I'd get through my twenties.

I wish I'd found RR years ago.

[echelon]

Yes, I take it for anxiety and my anxiety attacks have now gone completely. The 5htp might be helping with this as well, but the RR makes me feel more confident, stronger and more laid-back. I don't worry or obsess about things anymore.

Give it a go and see how you get on. It does start to work pretty quickly. It got rid of my chronic fatigue within the week! I couldn't believe it! :dance:

[RUSS.W.]

Hi....does anyone know if taking RR daily and one Fluoxetine pill (20mg)? per week is ok? I'm afraid of stopping the Fluoxetine totally as I want a back-up if RR doesn't work. It does appear to be working though (only been on it a week ). Will stop Fluoxitine if I notice a marked improvement.

I am aware of seratonin syndrome.....any advice / experience appreciated.

Many thanks.

[echelon]

Yeah, taking SSRIs and RR together is fine. If you do manage to stop the Fluoxetine and you find the depression returning then you can always start taking either St Johns Wort or 5htp - either way, the RR is good stuff!

SSRIs suck big time! I came off mine due to the side effects and have never looked back! :dance:

[RUSS.W.]

Thanks Echelon :smile:. I too hate the side-effects. Thanks for the advice.

Russ

[markiegloomie]

I've taken RR with mirtazapine (Remeron) and tramadol. At one point I was on 30 mg of mirtazapine and 600 mg of tramadol daily, along with 1650 mg of RR. So if RR was to cause serotonin syndrome I'd at least have had some symptoms, but I had none. My experience points to RR working differently to SSRIs and SJW - RR seems to level out serotonin levels to 'normal,' not just increase them.

[echelon]

Yeah, my system is very sensitive to changes, but I've never experienced any side effects with Rhodiola Rosea either. It's very well tolerated.

[VariableImage]

Today was my first day on RR. It has been a wonderful experience. I have been taking 900mg SJW for about 8 weeks, but reduced that to 600mg last night because of beginning the RR. I purchased the New Chapter Force 100 and the Force 300. I had planned on just beginning with the Force 100(100mg) caps and taking one my first day upon getting up. I did that....NOTHING! About 4 hours later, I took a second one. WOW!!!! Like out of nowhere, my fatigue vanished, my mood shifted way to the positive side, and the anxiety was nearly non-existent. Even when an unpleasant thought crossed my mind...whether it was some past unpleasant experience, or the DREAD of future unknowns, they almost immediately fell to the wayside. Many of you know of those thoughts that just seemingly flash across your mind, and you get that very physical "angst" that settles right into your stomach. Well, they would vanish as rapidly as they appeared. For months a couple of times a day I'd feel like I was just going to uncontrollably burts into tears over nothing.....NOT TODAY! I actually felt MOTIVATED for the first time in months! Everything in the world was suddenly more manageable, and that feeling of being overwhelmed by the most miniscule of things just lifted. Even my long walk in the mountains on a cold overcast day was uplifting. My dogs were happy to see me back. I have decided that this is definitely for ME! Though I am going to take the 600mg of SJW again tonight, tomorrow I am going to start the day off with 200mg of RR and see how that works. I am greatful to everyone who has shared their experiences with RR here on Kelly's forum. Hopefully this was not just some trick of nature that today was so great. As I move through my experiences of reducing SJW, increasing RR, and the times of day I am taking what I'll try to keep everyone posted. Maybe it was just that minimizing the fatigue is what lifted my overall sense of well being. And, if that's the case, so be it. All is SO MUCH BETTER today than I can last recall. I had no urge at all to grab for the Clonazepam. Tomorrow, I'm actually going to venture out into the world! Wishing all well!