herb- rhodiola ???

[sick and tired 47]

Hi! Is anyone  familiar with the herb Rhodiola?? I starteted taking from homeopathic nutritionist for high cortisol/ some anxiety issues.
First week, great... but now into 2nd week and I feel like I am on caffine. Very wired, TONS of energy yes but today noticed my heart rate and BP are really up!!! I decreased dose ( 3 pills to 2) earlier in week to see if that helped but it hasn't. The product I am using is called Purecalm PRT by neuroscience.
   The nutritionist says taking  3 pills a day is the usual dose, but I am taking two, considering stopping for a day... I do not like this feeling. I have SVT of the heart so I want to be careful... my PCP approved the herb before I started taking it.
I am at a loss, I have read that sometimes it causes this problem as your body gets used to it... but I don't want to feel this way.... its like I drank a GIANT espresso.... and could go and go. Advice/ help with this is appreciated.
Thanks all.

[deepdiver]

have you tried Qigong? it's like tai chi

[sick and tired 47]

Thanks.. I have a moment to give you the ingredients of cortisol manager... the other product the nutritionist has suggested instead of holy basil.
ashwaganda, l theanine, magnolia,phosphaidylserine by intergrative theraputics. I may try this.. the holy basil is working but I do feel a little shakey at times if I don't eat enough.. thanks again... maybe this would help you too.

[Paxiled]

Sorry, don't know what phospheline is.  Okay, just looked it up, it phosphaline, seems to be a product, not a substance, it's phosphatidal choline.  Choline is a nutrient, part of the Vitamin B complex, that helps with brain function.  I take it, in vain unfortunately, because I read part of the problem with Paxil withdrawal is that it greatly affects choline receptors.  But it's good for you in general.  It usually goes along with phosphatidal serine, another brain chemical, and inositol, which one study showed that in extremely large doses reduces anxiety.  It's never worked for me, but I still take it, to keep it in balance with the choline and just because.  

There's no reason not to take holy basil with eleuthero.  Keep in mind that herbs are generally used in combination anyway, since no one is that strong.  You might want to go slow if you ever mixed American ginseng with holy basil, since they both reduce blood sugar, but eleuthero doesn't do that.  So you're fine.

For anxiety and insomnia a pretty large universe of possibilities exists, which is why a naturopath, for example, would just start experimenting.  For example, passionflower and hops are very good for both anxiety and insomnia, but that doesn't mean they'll do that for you.  Since my Paxil experience, things tend to do the opposite to me of what they're supposed to (but no, anxiety provoking herbs don't help).  So there are many relaxants.  The best is kava, but there are some questions about its effect on the liver.  I don't think it's a problem unless you take the standardized form, and even then, only five people out of the millions who use it were found to have the problem.  If it were a drug, it would be considered irrelevant.  But it does have to be considered.  Magnesium also helps with relaxation.  There are also homeopathic remedies.  I use Calms Forte by Hylands, sometimes it works for sleep, sometimes it doesn't.  A homeopath would try single remedies until he found the right one.  

Natural medicine is trial and error and admits it.  Allopathic medicine is trial and error, but doesn't admit it.  That's the story.

[sick and tired 47]

?? can you take holy basil and Eleuthero?? Or nutritionist had suggested cortisol manager ( ashwaganda and phospheline ? spelling).
I have to ask her next time... if you can take cortisol manager and holy basil... don't want to mix to much. but the cortisol manager helps you sleep at night.
Thanks.

[sick and tired 47]

paxiled
Any other natural remedies you can think of... especially for sleep. I take only 1 mg of melatonin and it usually works but sometimes I wake with heaviness in chest which goes away by lunch, but not much fun in the morning.
   What have you tried for your anxiety?? Maybe we can all help you here.

Sassylassie,
And what works  you for anxiety/insomnia ( if you have it?) And you mentioned how you lowered cholesteral,, but you said you had cortisol (yes??) Did you ever get that lowered and did you feel better once it was lower? Dr/nutritionist says that is why I feel anxious sometimes- my cortisol is SO high all the time.
Thanks all. Have a super day!

[Paxiled]

Actually, mine comes from customers, but also from a ton of reading in 18 years managing health food stores, so it is a lot from books.  It's what happens when someone with two graduate degrees gets panic attacks, can't travel, and so ends up managing health food stores so he can still contribute something.  Now, I just write fiction that doesn't get published.  Eleuthero used to be called Siberian ginseng, but it isn't in the ginseng family at all and so won't energize you.  That's why they can't call it Siberian ginseng anymore, somebody sued, so now they call it eleuthero something or other, it's botanical name.  It's what's called an adaptogenic in chinese medicine, of which there are a ton, rhodiola being one, but some are very energizing, like maca and rhodiola and Chinese ginseng, and some aren't, like American ginseng and eleuthero and ashwaghanda and astragalus.  They help the body adapt to stress, which is why they help with cortisol levels.