Anyone ever use Valerian Root (not a medical advice thread)

[NightWatcher]

boy does it smell like rotten cheesy ass

[suninvited]

1. It is good for insomnia or pain, though

now I turned it into a medical advice thread

[Sugar Smack]

3. Where can you get it? Whole Foods?

Now I turned it into a product-placement thread.

[kentauros]

4. Sure, WF has it

as do many health food stores. If there are any herbalists in your town, they would have it, too, as it's a common herb/plant and commonly used. As with the suggestion for insomnia :)

[Sugar Smack]

5. Oooh, good to know. I don't really have trouble

falling asleep these nights- hot cocoa, my cat & a book will do it. But just in case, I'll keep in mind your good advice below. :D Thanks.

[kentauros]

6. You're welcome :)

Kava kava tincture also tastes particularly nasty, and it is also used as a sleep aid. Its other "side effect" is that it gives you epic-length dreams. However, some (myself and a friend) have reported those dreams can be "disturbing". Not always, just sometimes

[Sugar Smack]

9. OK, scratch that, then.

I have an awful time with vivid dreams. Here's one I've posted here:


Too vivid for my comfort. I shot Eminem. My "dream friends" and I were standing 8 yards away from the outdoor stage on which he was performing. He wore white tennis shoes, blue jeans and a red hooded sweatshirt. Well, he drew the string on the hood so tightly, only his nose was visible (like Kenny in South Park). He turned his head toward me, leapt off the stage and came at me!

Suddenly, there was a gun in my hand. I raised it and shot. Boom, right in the chest. He fell right there. I couldn't believe I had so swiftly defended myself against an attacker.

The music stopped. One of my friends said, "You shot Eminem." I said ,"He was going to kill me!"
She said, "You. Shot. Eminem." She shook her head while people stared silently.

Suddenly, I was in my bed with the remote aimed at the TV. All the news footage had a highschool picture of me next to a picture of Eminem. There was lots of footage on Eminem's brilliant career, his friends and family, the books he wrote, his interviews, movies and videos, interviews with his fans. Then, there was footage of me, getting stuck in traffic. Crumpling up a resume I'd written and throwing it in the trash. Lighting the wrong end of a cigarette. Tripping over my cat on the way to the bathroom.

The second time, the video footage of me only gets more embarrassing.

I think I may just stick to Cocoa. Thank you anyway.

;-)

[kentauros]

21. Only kava kava does that with the dreams,

other than already disturbing thoughts and imagery (like the "End Day" BBC documentary clip I just watched again about strangelets sucking up the Earth...) ;)

Cool dream...well, maybe not ;) Makes me think of the ones where I've done harm to another, all the while apologizing for doing so!

Valerian won't do that to your dreams tho. One thing you can do with it, is make a cup of tea with some valerian and pour out half an ounce or so in a saucer for your cat. It's like "catnipzilla" and is perfectly safe :) (put the saucer on a towel or the carpet or the saucer may get turned over in a pawing frenzy! :P)

[kentauros]

2. I only use the tinctures

and put it in a tea with stronger flavors, like licorice or anise and a little sweetener. Just drink it as fast as you can and follow with a normal cup of tea, like chamomile :)

Rooibos is supposed to be a good "tea" to have before bed, too, since it isn't from the tea plant at all, so no caffeine or theophylline.

[RadiationTherapy]

7. Hm. I like it. It smells like feet.

just kidding. The extract is especially hideous; but equally effective.

[Canuckistanian]

8. Lemme give you some free medical advice.....

Stay away from bad things.

You're welcome.

[REP]

10. My cats love it

It smells awful, but cats luuuuuuuv it.

[Redstone]

11. Trust your body. If your body tells you, "Hey, that's disgusting, don't put in in me,"

you probably shouldn't put it in you.

Example: I am spectacularly allergic to shellfish, and my body is smart enough to remind me of it by not letting me be in the same building where shellfish is being cooked without telling me, "go away from that smell or I'm going to make you hurl, and right now."

Trust your body.

Redstone

[Sugar Smack]

12. (not a sex thread)

What?:smoke:

[Redstone]

14. Sugie. Call me. NOT now. Tomorrow after 11 AM, or over the weekend, but call. OK?

(PS: that was funny, thank you for the chuckle.)

Redstone

[Sugar Smack]

15. OK!!

:bounce: I will call you. You & I have to catch up. :D It'll make my day.

[begin_within]

13. Valium is a synthetic analogue of compounds in Valerian Root

Valium is not made from Valerian Root but it is chemically similar.

[grasswire]

16. bob_weaver, I swear you must know everything.

Really. What an interesting tidbit.

[begin_within]

19. The magic of the Internet is that it puts billions of tidbits of misinformation at your fingertips

but that one is true, about Valium.

[pitohui]

17. yes i did back in the day

didn't care for the smell but i would have put up with it if it worked, for me, it just didn't do anything

:-(

wishing you better luck

[BuddhaGirl]

18. It does stink, but it works well for me.

I take it in capsule form, by Eclectic Institute.

[TreasonousBastard]

20. Not yet, but it's got a good...

reputation at NIH:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/valerian.asp

Say what you like about Shrub's government, but if the NIH people have something good to say about an herb, it's likely even better.

BTW, I get most of my supplements from Puritan's Pride, and their 5 for three sale is pretty good:

http://www.puritan.com/pages/iq.asp?xs=88B4A06CCBF04E7AAFB57F0B46300C05&SearchText=valerian&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0