valerian as antispasmodic

[Meleber]

Hi, has anyone tried successfully valerian as an antispasmodic recently ? If so, what dosage do you take and how often during the day? If I should have a spasmodic Ileocecal valve valerian could be of help reducing my IBS symptoms.

[xjrs]

I haven't tried it as an antispasmodic, but I did take it many years ago as a sleep aid. It did help with that, but as a cautionary note long term use can have side effects such as depression. I believe that in the end it did make me depressive, so I came off it. I found some further info here:ascopost.com/issues/decembe...

I always try to look for natural solutions, but some can be quite potent. I can see why you are thinking of it, since anything that relaxes you is potentially going to help with spasms. Since it is also used as a sleep aid, you'd also need to watch drowsiness. Good luck.

[Meleber in reply to xjrs]

Thank you for your feedback. I started (again) with Rhodiola instead of valerian. I remember that rhodiola did help me in the past but don't remember if it had also a positive effect on my intestines . I now have to find out what it exactly did do with my body. The idea is that it will relax the chronically tense muscles of the body so hopefully also the intestines. I will be taking 500mg daily on an empty stomach and started yesterday.

[xjrs in reply to Meleber]

I've just looked Rhodiola up on healthline.com. It does seem to have some good benefits. Good luck with it.

[Meleber in reply to xjrs]

I took Rhodiola last week but found out the hard way that you can overdose. I should have known better. Anything can be toxic when you take to much of it. So 1000mg Rhodiola with 5% Rosavin is too much. After some days without taking Rhodiola I started again and now followed the advice on the bottle. The idea behind taking Rhodiola is that your stress system is being balanced and this can have positive effects on the intestines. My theory for the moment is that I'm genetically predisposed with very sensitive nerve systems. My father, grandmother and some aunts and uncles are/were also nervous, anxious persons. So it could run into the family. I also will have a new appointment with the gastroenterologist, he once again wants to measure the transit time because there is an indication that it's too slow despite an earlier transit test. But as he told me, that was a one time test so you can't conclude anything yet. Hopefully the gastroenterologist and I will in the end find out what is causing all symptoms I'm suffering from. Till the appointment I can test if rhodiola really offers me some relief, than we have another clue (nervous system).

[Kimberly99]

I never tried Valarian for antispasmotic, but have used it in tea form, one or two cups a day, for cramps. It works pretty well for that so it could be of help. I did find relief to some degree for spasmotics by using melatonin. I took it for a sleep aid and realized it also helped my spasms. But what stopped my spams all together was giving up caffine.