Phenibut isn't anything like phenobarbital, it's a gabapentinoid (like gabapentin, pregabalin) and a GABA-B agonist like baclofen.
Rhodiola is weird stuff. First time I've used it was with some methylphenidate (prescribed) in my system and it led to a jittery but not too uncomfortable feeling of overstimulation, so I put it aside for a while. Years later I've acquired some again, they sell it here in pharmacies in standardized quality so I doubt that it's a quality problem - I feel absolutely nothing from it. Not from one, not from three or four capsules (recommended is 1 per day). Never had maca before but it's on my extended list of to-try drugs and herbs. Ashwagandha was another one which did have absolutely zero effects on me, even from 8-10g which should be an overdose. Possible that it was bunk quality but I'm not so sure, wouldn't be the first drug which affected me very differently than supposed.
@emkee_reinvented On which salt of valproic acid are you, sodium or magnesium, and instant or extended release? They put me on VA sodium XR some years ago when I entered the psych ward with taking memantine, which they said they couldn't give me because offlabel and not-wanting-ism so I got first 100mg IR, then some days later 400mg XR. The effects were indeed not too bad, smoking cigs on it gave me an unforgettable rush, and overall did it have some anxiolytic effects without affecting my mood otherwise. Upped that to 600mg after some weeks. I think I was on it for maybe 4 months, at the end of this period I began to feel physically sick and lost a good part of my hair (read later that it depletes biotin in some people and should be supplemented with). Eventually I stopped it and my body recovered slowly.
Time later I was desperate for something legally prescribable to help me and I agreed to try valproate again. This time they started me with 300mg IR magnesium salt and this hit me like a hammer. My whole digestive tract began to hurt like a motherfucker, inflammation and hell knows what. Diarrhea too. So bad that I've lowered the dose and stopped eventually after a few days. This stuff is definitely nothing to take lightly, but I wonder if my reaction was either because of instant release and/or the specific Mg salt.
Do you have experiences with ginseng, mace and/or other adaptogens? Would you mind to give a short report about? I'm currently interested in this stuff but so far most of the herbs were a disappointment, the latest one was polygala tenuifola. a putative triple reuptake inhibitor with good reviews on Reddit etc. but I dosed up to 6x the recommended capsule and got, again, zero effects