Topic Title: Gotu Kola
| |  "Gotu Kola"
, Wed 3 Mar 04:31
Hi everyone,
I've been taking gotu kola for about two weeks now and have had very good results, so I thought I'd share what I've found.
It helps me sleep at night (cured my winter insomnia) and helps me concentrate during the day (I can focus at work without getting bored!). I also feel better able to express myself, and more open and cheerful when talking to people. It's calming and energising at the same time.
I've been taking SJW for a while now for social anxiety and it fixed about 80% of it, but I've been looking for something else to reduce a kind of brittle, incomplete, nervous feeling. I think this could be "it". I'm still taking SJW, and the gotu kola seems to magnify its effect.
I take it at night because it's so good for aiding sleep (much better than valerian). The effects seem to last 24 hours, but the strangely the daytime effect isn't a sleepy one.
The only downside is it was giving me headaches to begin with. I had to stop, and then start on half a 250mg tablet a day. I'm now taking 250mg without any headages, so I guess my body is used to it now.
Seems like a cure for the anxiety while taking SJW is a holy grail... this is definately worth a go. Has anyone else here tried it?
Sara
Posts: 16 | | Registered: Sat 10 Jan 2004 13:11 |
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| |  "Re(1):Gotu Kola"
, Wed 10 Mar 04:52
Cici, what brand and dosage do you use. I think this is what I'm after as well. I'm like you the sjw is doing 80% of the job, but I'm looking for something to complement it. Will try to buy some today :) I'm in Australia so it might be a bit harder for me to get hold of it.
You're a legend :)
Posts: 6 | | Registered: Sun 29 Feb 2004 20:51 |
| | | "Re(2):Gotu Kola" , Wed 10 Mar 15:53
chief I'm in australia n I got the natures own brand of gotu kola, with 500mg capsules. Its pretty easy to find, I got it from a health food store.
Posts: 2 | | Registered: Tue 17 Feb 2004 21:4 |
| | | "Re(3):Gotu Kola" , Wed 10 Mar 16:52
Will go out and buy some today. How many 500mg tablets do you take joe joe and when do you take them? Is it still working ok for you?
I found the natures own brand on the web, it's quite cheap :)
Posts: 7 | | Registered: Sun 29 Feb 2004 20:51 |
| | | "Re(4):Gotu Kola" , Wed 10 Mar 19:36
its workin like a charm! I take 2 in the mornin with one sjw pill and one in the arvo with another sjw pill. I find I'm much more relaxed during the day this way. I also find I am much more focused and can concentrate heaps better. tis good stuff!
Posts: 4 | | Registered: Tue 17 Feb 2004 21:4 |
| | | "Re(5):Gotu Kola" , Fri 12 Mar 16:06
jus an update on how gotu is workin for me, its still goin strong! I'm thinkin a lot more about what I havta do rather than jus having negative worrying thoughts all the time. I've jus up'd my b vitamins as well which seems to be workin, I'm feelin the best I've felt in ages! I'm only taking 2 sjw wort pills a day at the moment to see how this will go, but will go back up to 3 if need be.
Posts: 7 | | Registered: Tue 17 Feb 2004 21:4 |
| | | "Re(2):Gotu Kola" , Wed 10 Mar 09:19:
Hi Chief
I'm in the UK. I'm using Holland & Barratt brand. (This is a chain of high street shops that seem to dominate the health food market here, mainly sell their own-brand products, recently took over the local GNC shop... grrrrr....On the other hand, if *they* sell it, it's likely other mainstream places in Australia do as well). I take a 250mg whole-leaf tablet a day. Standadised extract is supposed to be better, but I searched on the internet and hardly anyone is making it! But the H & B stuff seems to work OK. You may need more, but cut back if it gives you a headache.
Cheers,
Sara
[this message was edited by cici on Wed 10 Mar 09:28]
Posts: 22 | | Registered: Sat 10 Jan 2004 13:11 |
| | "Re(1):Gotu Kola" , Tue 9 Mar 23:37
I started takin gotu kola today and lemme tell u, I feel great! I also take sjw too and the two seem to be workin well together. Thanx for suggesting this cici its the bom! I jus hope it lasts
Posts: 1 | | Registered: Tue 17 Feb 2004 21:4 |
| | | "Re(2):Gotu Kola" , Wed 10 Mar 09:26
It's good that it's it's working for you! I was starting to worry it was just me. I hope it lasts too. (I was having some vivid dreams to begin with, but they have gone now, so things are "settling".)
It could be worth taking a break every so often, cycling it with something else - chief has had good results with SAMe and SJW. I might do that...
Good luck,
Sara
Posts: 21 | | Registered: Sat 10 Jan 2004 13:11 |
| | | "Re(3):Gotu Kola" , Wed 10 Mar 17:03
cici, are the positive effects wearing off? SAMe is good to take but I am not getting the kick I got out of it that I had when I first started on it.
SJW puts my mind at ease and makes me think less negative thoughts, and when I first took SAMe it really gave me a kick, made me more talkative, sociable, humerous etc... It was like I was a different person. (Reminded me of the nutty professor and Buddy Love lol).
I haven't been able to replicate that feeling, but the sjw has made me more positive.
I'm going to try Gotu kola, if it works it would be alot cheaper than the SAMe (which doesn't seem to be working as well now).
To its credit though, I haven't been on the sjw SAMe combo for the full 4-5 weeks when I first tried it and got the results, so I'll stick it out and let you know how I go. Meanwhile I think I'll try this Gotu Kola stuff :)
The Chief
Posts: 8 | | Registered: Sun 29 Feb 2004 20:51 |
| | | "Re(4):Gotu Kola" , Sat 13 Mar 01:43:
Positive effects are still there! It's only been about three weeks but so far so good. Will have to wait and see what happens long-term. Have you tried it yet? I actually waited two weeks before I sent my post, just to make sure that the effect was stable and there was no fade-out. I had a disappointing experiment with rhodiola where that happened.
I've taken a break from it today because I had a slight headache yesterday and felt the effects were starting to build up a bit too strongly. It is a slight diuretic so maybe it's easier to get de-hydrated. Just monitoring how I feel and trying not to over-do it. This happened before when I first tried it so I'm not too worried, I still think the stuff is great. Taking short breaks from it every so often is probably a good idea.
cici
[this message was edited by cici on Sat 13 Mar 01:56]
Posts: 24 | | Registered: Sat 10 Jan 2004 13:11 |
| | | "Re(5):Gotu Kola" , Sat 13 Mar 23:28
cici, I'm taking 3 50mg tabs a day as per the directions on the bottle I take... It seems to be working pretty well. I feel more verbally fluent, more socially confident and find it alot easier to talk to anyone about anything!! something I couldn't do that easily before.. I'm also more interested in people.. and I have noticed more people want to talk to me, and notice me.
I am not as self concious as I used to be as well around people....
I also find it makes me want to get up and get active, and makes me relaxed but alert. Very good stuff indeed.
I found though, that taking the tablets at night makes it hard for me to get to bed, even if I'm tired, and I don't sleep that well on it. I wake up wired, alert but tired if you know what I mean... So I've started taking it during the day now, in the morning.
It gives me a slightly different feeling to what I had with SAMe when it worked really well for me... With the SAMe I became very confident and had a high self esteem... with gotu kola, I feel very neutral... still very nice though... and don't care too much about what people think of me, I'm happy...
So I'm still taking the SAMe, I'm on week 3 with the SJW second attempt.. and also taking gotu Kola... isn't it fun experimenting :)
Take care
The Chief.
Posts: 10 | | Registered: Sun 29 Feb 2004 20:51 |
| | "Re(1):Gotu Kola" , Mon 8 Mar 06:43
Thanks for the information. I've had great success with St. John's but also sometimes feel a slight edge, as you described. I'll definitely try the Gotu.
As a side note, L-theanine, a derivative of green tea, is also excellent for its relaxing properties (prompting alpha waves in the brain) without drowsiness.
Posts: 41 | | Registered: Mon 8 Dec 2003 10:23 |
| | "Re(1):Gotu Kola" , Thu 4 Mar 13:04
Hi Sarah,
I did actually try it. It was mixed with my gingko that I bought from GNC. I hear it can assist with blood flow and *cellulite* (woo hoo!). Unfortunately I had a bad reaction to it after a while... somehow all the benzos I used to take sensitized me to anything with sedative properties, and I think gotu kola must fall under that category. (I was taking some Chinese herbs and had the same problem with another root that has the same properties.) In any case I think it's a really good addition to SJW if you need a little anxiety relief.
Posts: 26 | | Registered: Mon 15 Dec 2003 17:52 |
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