Benzos Benzos and Ashwaganda = Dangerous Combo?

[Mighty-oak]

I was asking my Dr for something to ease benzo withdrawal and said I had read about Ashwagandha is meant to help. He said to take Ashwag' whilst on benzos is incredibly dangerous and prescribed me Gabapentin. Anyone else heard of Ashwag' and benzos being a very dangerous combo?

 

[kleinerkiffer]

Ashwagandha seems to have GABA-mimetic activity, so the only problem I see would be that it'll increase the effects of benzos (this possibly could lead to something like increased respiratory depression) but imo if you start really low and take it during withdrawal I don't see any problem. Ask your doc why he thinks it's a dangerous combo

Did you try the Gabapentin ?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252722/

Ashwagandha induced a calming anxiolytic effect that was comparable to the drug Lorazepam in all three standard Anxiety tests

The investigations support the use of Ashwagandha as a mood stabilizer in clinical conditions of anxiety and depression.

Sounds like a great drug

 

[EphemeralOutlet141]

I mean I don't have a PhD or anything but it sounds like he just wanted to prescribe you more meds. I've taken the two concurrently for weeks and never noticed anything out of the ordinary.

It's best to keep the doses low just to be on the safe side though.

 

[ovo1024]

Would love to know more about this stuff.

 

[kleinerkiffer]

Any updates ?

 

[bingey]

Your doctor is an idiot

It does potentiatethem but think on the scale of valerian root without falling asleep

This is from my own experience experimenting with ashwaganda.

Doctors don't now shit about plant medicine generally speaking

 

[llamer]

Your doctor is an idiot

It does potentiatethem but think on the scale of valerian root without falling asleep

This is from my own experience experimenting with ashwaganda.

Doctors don't now shit about plant medicine generally speaking

Basically this. Doctors err on the side of caution and that is to say ignorance. He's trying to help based on some webmd article but he doesn't know shit. ashwagandha is an adaptogen, meaning it can either tonify you to become more energetic if you tend to be chronically fatigued or mellow you out if you're chronically stressed and your body tends towards exertion. this has been studied for decades.

ashwagandha is very safe for nearly everybody and it won't do anything unpredictable when taken in combo with a taper dose of benzos or gabapentin. i've personally been taking this herb for several years in direct combination with a very large variety of depressant and stimulant drugs. if anything it has helped kept me sane.

it doesn't work the same on everyone tho so don't expect the world of it - just know that it's safe. the current defacto formulation of an extract of this, ksm-66, used in most contemporary clinical trials the science journals publish, is sold with the recommended maximum daily dose being somewhere around half a gram to 1 gram: I took 2-3 grams per day for a month, while half the time i was wasted on X,Y and Z, and I was hanging in there. It's brain food. Thanks for reading my rant.