Herbs for Healing

[attempt4]

After a post by Triputory Headicine detailing a particular herbal supplementary regimen he is about to embark, it got me back into herbs and suchlike.
I've always enjoyed herbs and their power, but upon questioning my previous sources and forms of herbs from tinctures to standardised extracts which I personally believe generally to be nowhere near as powerful as pure whole form, I decided to make this thread with your recommendations for what herbs to use for my purpose, and perhaps everybody could take a little something from it.
We can discuss herbs and their power at large

Basically, I wish to withdraw myself from Kratom use and plan on taking:

Ashwaganda - I see 90 caps priced higher than 120 caps but can't find a reason why! Anyway, does anybody recommend this root? It sounds promising, but I need hard, solid herbs that really will make an overall difference in my mentality, depression, anxiety and general cognitive function as my memory is absolutely awful since my seizures.
Would powdered root, tinctures or the capsules (caps is what I was going to get) be jst as effective as whole root do you think

Kava - Heard great things about. Would anybody recommend it? Would it perhaps pose a risk to seizure-prone people? Any warnings on it? I'm intrigued about it, but wary if it's too stimulating.

Theobrama Cacao - 25x extract of Theo Cacao from a reputable and quality vendor is fantastic. It's very, very relaxing and will ease any w/d's nicely.

Chamomile and Valerian - both do help with sleep, albeit not terribly strong. I haven't tried the following...

Melatonin - Ok, not a herb, but a healthy relaxing supplement all the same which is in keeping with the thread.

Does anybody have any more herbs to help ease anxiety and aid cognition?
Let's discuss experiences and anecdotes and recommendations

 

[Ds]

hey thar,
for kava, i had made a mega thread back some time ago.
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=457192
has lots of useful information about dose's, effects, etc. and yes i'd recommend it.. only take for 30 days at a time though and take a 2 week break. shits not good for your liver.

Chamomile is a good tea, never taken the herb alone unless brewed up, tastes pretty good. helps aid sleep, Valerian root works better imo for sleep (compared with Chamomile).

Melatonin is a good one, like you said its not a herb, its a naturally occurring chemical in your brain that tells you to sleep, don't want to get to attached to this stuff because then your brain wont make as much as it used to.

Don't know if you know anything about Kratom, but it gives you a really nice calm and relaxing feeling. They don't sell this stuff in your average health food type store, have to look a little harder..

If I can think of anything else I'll add to it.

 

[attempt4]

Don't know if you know anything about Kratom.

You could say that

Man, the whole issue I'm having right now is battling a several year addiction to Kratom. I have spent literally THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of pounds on it, lost count of how many kilo's I must have gone through and upon realising this, I have decided to try and give it a rest. I can't keep spending so much money on it, alas I also hate having to rely on something to get me through the day.

I made a thread in HL called "Victory Over The Voice" on pg 1 about my dilemma with it.
Do I suffer daily with anxiety and have my pride in being able to not rely on something? Or do I continue with it and live as happily as everybody else seems to but being ashamed of having to rely on it?

The cost is the main thing I need to revise. I can't save for my goal of travelling the world if I continue to spend all my wages on it. I cannot exercise self-control when I have it around me so it's case of all or nothing. Always has been - I used to be what can only be described as an alcoholic (unable to leave the house without a drink, horrible w/d's, seizures) but I managed to beat that. I have found solace in Kratom now - a healthy, non-invasive and benign herb that helps me get through the day. Why should I take that away from myself?
Fuck sake man. I resent myself for these choices I made. There was a time when I was actually quite content in life, I vaguely remember. I just desperately want to be able to attend work, job interviews, go into town, meet new people without having to rely on Kratom

Sorry though, I have gone askew from the primary point of the thread.

Im definitely gonna get Kava. You can't ask for sources on BL can you? Never mind, if you can't. I question some sources of herbs, which is one of my main issues with herbalists though. I'm not asking for sources btw.

But I often wonder how fresh they are, degradation can easily occur in many herbs, thus negating their therapeutic value. I should like to grow more, as I am a gardener by nature and have grown many plants for this purpose, however Scotland's climate doesn't provide the most suitable conditions, to say the least. Hell, it's July right now and thunder and lightning, grey skies and pissing rain.

Anyway, kinda off topic.

 

[tiggerific]

chamolmile and lavender are both good plants to have and take them as you need it. I always grow lady's mantle as well. Great for easing bloatedness, stomach upsets, womens problems and hormone imbalance.

Basil I use for anxiety and calming, and as a foot bath.

Peppermint I use for headaches and as a little pick me or for nausea.

Dandelions for urinal problems.

Fennel for expelling wind and to distract me from snacking in between meals.

Rosemary as a muscle relaxant and stimulative.

These are the ones I grow myself but I also buy them in. It might be cheaper to buy in a few plants and use when you need them than buying them prepackaged.

 

[modern buddha]

Now, tiggerific, how do you ingest or consume these herbs you currently use? Is it usually through a tea, or do you do something else?

 

[tiggerific]

^^^ depends, i use some of them as a tea basically pour over hot water let it infuse for 10-15 minutes then drink it. You can cool down the drinks and fridge them and have as a cold drink, e.g. peppermint for when travelling.
Some of them I use in food daily.
Lavender and chamomile I press so much, and dry some and use it in soap making.
I will eat the leaves from the plants as well and mix a few in salads such as dandelion petals, and basil.
Fennel I eat as well as let it go to seed and use the seeds.
Rosemary I mix in a tea, I also soak it in water and use it in baths rather than putting the leaves in, although my friend uses a soap powder bag and puts the leaves in and hangs it from her tap.

 

[Mehm]

Pau de Arco as a tea is a great anti-fungal/bacterial. For all of the candida believers out there check this one out.

 

[headfuck123]

rhodiola rosea! i take one capsule every morning before breakfast. it give me constant energy throughout my day without making me feel wired, it promotes 5-htp, im generally in a more posative mood and i sleep well at night. On the down side, my appetite has decreased but thay may be to do with me not smoking cannabis as much.

 

[Audlington]

I agree that there are herbs that really work wonders in healing the disorders in the human body but when they are mixed with artificial materials to enhance the effects then over taking the dose would result in the addiction.

chicago personal trainer

 

[nonnihilnitoris]

Hello fellow Bluelighters! (this reply has been crossposted into another Kratom addiction thread)

I've been using expensive and potent Kratom extracts daily for over two years, equivalent to between 10-20 grams of fresh leaf. Prior to yesterday, there was no way I could forestall SERIOUS withdrawal symptoms. But against my own will, I ran out this past weekend and suffered immensely painful withdrawal. In fact, I would still be shitting gallon after gallon, farting uncontrollably, etc.. if it weren't for a couple of OTC herbs I discovered which work miracles for withdrawal.

Fennel and Black Seed Oil control the gas and bloating.
Holy Basil and Tumeric reduce the soreness, anxiety and depression.
Pure Chamomile and melatonin to sleep.

I also found that ginger, marijuana, apple cider vinegar and garlic helped, although not as much as the aforementioned herbs.


The timeless events runs like this.

>Friday: No usual morning or evening kratom doses. Feeling shitty, mild withdrawal sets in.
>Saturday: Feeling miserable, I take a gram of ground leaf (not enhanced) but it does nothing. Suddenly I have to shit badly. The runs continue every 30 mins accompanied by tons of painful gas.
Apple cider vinegar, ginger and marijuana slightly reduced my symptoms but I was still getting weaker. I take another gram and it seems to stave off the withdrawal until morning.
>Sunday: The same symptoms appear the next day, early on, shitting gallons again and again. I'm sure I've lost 5 lbs already, 5 lbs I can't afford.

I make a trip to the health food store and pickup some herbs. Within an hour of taking the herbs, my symptoms disappear one by one. As hours pass, I announce to my wife that my experiment has been a success and my withdrawals have been conquered through health!


The fennel and tumeric (with black pepper for absorption), holy basil and chamomile are all you should need I think.

I ate nothing but smoothies, fruit and salads the whole time. I feel awesome now. My kratom arrived at my door finally, but I really don't feel like I need it.

I woke up early this morning (still in withdrawal, mildly, so I couldn't sleep past sunrise) but instead of laying slumped somewhere in my apartment, I went for a spontaneous morning run, which is unusual for someone who is in withdrawal, don't you think?

 

[bit_pattern]

Nothing wrong with the right kind of herbs but don't be fooled into thinking just because something is a herbal treatment that it is going to be harmless. As a precautionary tale: I saw this in the paper the other day. Stick to the evidence, don't buy into the whole "alternative" medicine sham. Herbal treatments CAN be efficacious.They can be bloody adangerous too. Assess the evidence and don't accept treatments that the real medical world rejects just because some "altternative" authority says it's OK. There is no such thing as "alternative" mdeicine. There is medicine that works, then there is quackery. If the evidence says something is bogus, it probably is.

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http://www.theage.com.au/national/s...gus-black-salve-treatment-20140410-36epv.html

A bogus cancer medicine has left an Australian man with a hole burnt in the side of his head, prompting renewed warnings for cancer patients to avoid alternative therapies.

NSFW:

A 55-year-old man recently presented to a Brisbane hospital with a black hole in his temple after applying an unproven alternative medicine known as "black salve" to a lesion on his face, which he believed was cancerous.

Writing in the Med-ical Journal of Australia, doctors from the Princess Alexandra Hospital said the man had been applying the unlicensed product, which is sold online as an alternative skin cancer treatment, to his face for four months.

The doctors, Natalie Ong, Eric Sham and Brandon Adams, said black salve preparations often contained an alkaloid derived from bloodroot and zinc chloride which could both eat away at tissue, leading to significant scarring and disfigurement.

"In the absence of a biopsy, some patients may commence alternative treatment before attaining a diagnosis of skin cancer, and a very real risk of recurrence and metastasis (cancer spreading) remains. As a consequence, there may be delays in diagnosis, and it may be difficult to identify the primary site of malignancy," the doctors wrote.

"It is imperative for health professionals to recognise that these unlicensed products may lead to adverse outcomes, and for consumers to realise that alternative therapies that have been described as natural are not necessarily safe or, by any standard, risk free."

President of the Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australasia, Gabrielle Caswell, said it was disturbing that black salve was being promoted on the internet in a scam that could cost lives.

“Skin cancers are a widespread and increasing health problem, particularly in Australia. The use of black salve has the potential to cause many problems including delayed diagnosis and treatment of cancers, with potentially fatal results,” Dr Caswell.

In 2012, the Therapeutic Goods Administration warned people to avoid black salve, which is also known as red salve, Cansema, or Bloodroot.

"The recent use of products marketed as containing 'Black salve' in Australia has resulted in serious harm to the skin of three Australian consumers who used the black salves for various skin conditions including the treatment of a skin cancer," the TGA statement said.

"The TGA is not aware of any credible, scientific evidence which shows that any black or red salve preparation is effective in treating cancer."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/skin...e-treatment-20140410-36epv.html#ixzz2yZWU9mPy

 

[Foreigner]

^ What he applied to his face was not even herbal. It was an alkaloid derivative combined with zinc chloride.

I agree people should be vigilant, but such extreme stories don't lend more credibility to modern medicine either. Most properly trained herbalists agree that modern medicine combined with herbalism and other body-balancing therapies is better than either system alone for cancer.

 

[ilikestims]

There's a tea shop near my house that is siqwitit. Has literally dozens of fresh herbal teas to choose from.

I hardly know where to begin. But it's cheap enough, and aligns perfectly with my interests, that I want to dive head-first into this new world.

Any recommendations? Only rule is it must be caffeine-free.

 

[flyhighk]

I find chamomille quite relaxing. I also enjoy anise tea and mint (fresh leaves) tea. There's this mix of herbs and flowers called zhourat, it's very common here and I love it. You can find it online, or just get raw ingredients and make your own.

 

[ilikestims]

He doesn't have anise. He has chamomile, but I want to try more exotic stuff; I've already had chamomile before, including some at home with Valerian root and the like.

He has mint, but I'm not a huge fan of mint, so I probably won't try that for another couple of weeks. He doesn't have zhourat and I've never heard of that either.

I ended up having a concoction coined 'Diarrhea' during my fast -- great decision! On my immediate to-do list include rooibos, St. John's wort, and then the mint.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

It's not a herb but....

Ginger- Absolutely superb anti-nauseant and good for general digestive health. Grate a load into a pan of water, bring it up to the boil then take it off the heat annd let it steep for 10 minutes. Make it strong so it's fiery as fuck and filter out the solids. Then add honey and lemon to taste for sweetness and acidity, and a medicinal tot (you decide how big!) of either rum or cognac. Works superbly for settling the stomach.

Add chili and it works to clear out your sinuses etc really nicely if you have a common cold or even sinusitis. Fresh mint is a nice addition too. Add them when you take the pan off the heat and filter out with the ginger.