I have read about an herb called valerian root. It is supposed to help with anxiety and insomnia. I wondered if anyone has tried it and if it works? Sometimes I get anxious and I would like to take something natural as opposed to potentially addictive drugs.
The efficacy of valerian root is highly debated. Of course, someone that swears by natural remedies will swear by this root, too. Others won't experience positive results in treating their anxiety or insomnia. It never did a thing for me, but I'd recommend you give it a shot if you're trying to deal with insomnia/anxiety. It's generally considered safe, so it can't hurt to try it before relying on prescription drugs.
Better for insomnia than anxiety, unless that anxiety is what is keeping you up. Valerian root is just a natural sleep aid, so it can help with that, but don't take unless you're trying to sleep.
I have heard lots of people swear by it, but be careful. It interacts with various medications like birth control so if you take anything else currently, check with your doctor first. Also, I would say a lot of anxiety medications have a drowsy effect to them so it may work wonders for insomnia, even if it doesn't help with actual anxiety attacks.
I've tried it and it knocks me out! I can't imagine trying to stay up after having taken it. It's almost painful to try and fight it. It does stop racing thoughts in their tracks though in that it makes it hard to focus on more than one thing at once. I say give it a try! It is the most used medicinal herb in the world and the worst that could happen is you go to sleep!
I have heard of valerian root but never have tried it as a sleep aid. I have the problem with the racing mind not wanting to stop and before I know the alarm is going off. I will give valerian root a try.
I have taken valerian root in tablet and tea form for many years. It has helped me with my chronic back pain, insomnia, anxiety, and so much more. The root has a very strong smell and might not appeal to everyone. I like it very much, it smells medicinal to me. At times, I have taken a double dose of 4mg to really make me sleep and totally relax. The really good thing about this medicine is that it is natural, and it will never make you feel groggy or disorientated like with pharmaceutical relaxants.
Well, I have at home both pills with valerian root extract, with some of melissa herb added to the mix. I also have an aromatheraphy spray that includes those two ingredients, as well as tangerine and lemon balm. The spray seems to have worked better than the pills (helping me to sleep). I think those valerian root pills are more like a placebo to me tho.
I've tried it and it made me sleepy...but I read somewhere once that Valerian will start helping with anxiety if it's taken on a daily basis. I attempted it, but just couldn't get through the sleepiness (I was starting a new job at the time though too). It does mess with the birth control pill! Don't count on that as only method of protection if using it.
It works. I never thought about it for anxiety. It is kind of a tranquilizer. I use gaba for anxiety or magnesium. Valerian I was drinking it all the time when I was in a bad relationship. I need it to deal with his BS. I think he thought I carried it so I could fall asleep at someone else's house. This was not why I carried it. I did this because I couldn't stand being around him. He was always doing things to irritate me or to hurt me. This calmed my nerves. Valium was designed on the same makeup of valerian. So it is along those lines.
I've heard the benefits of it too, though I've never tried it myself. I'm not sure whether it does have any sort of scientific backing that it works, or it's more just something that assists in managing anxiety - or perhaps it's even a placebo, that makes people feel like they can manage their anxiety better. I would probably want to do more research on it before I tried it. If anyone is taking any sort of medication already I'd check with your medical professional before trying it - just to make sure there's no sort of interactions that could occur with existing medications.
I tried it and all it does is just making me bery tired! I felt like I could sleep for days, but no I don't think it helps against anxiety, my anxiety is pretty high most of the time at night, when I end up overthinking everything but all the root does is knock you straight to sleep and that's it. Maybe that's why people think it helps with anxiety? I'm not sure.