Can anyone advise which form & brand of holy basil to take?
This past couple of weeks has been an extraordinary stressful time coping with a very unwell family member.
They are getting lots of support from various friends, other family members & GP.
I seemed to coping with the situation well up until 2 weeks ago but I've been tipped over the edge & not coping at all. Everyday for the last 2 weeks has left me with this "flight or fight" tight, vibrating feeling in my chest and shakiness.
I'm frustrated & angry, if I'm honest, as I had been doing well on NDT and feeling like I was getting back on track then this bl@@dy situation arises and feels like I'm back to square one in some respects.
Having read Holy Basil can help, I wondered if anyone can recommend a brand & best form of taking it, would there be a whole good version of it?
Wishing everyone here a good weekend.
Many thanks peeps
Written by
Paula101
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
1) People with low cortisol usually find it hard to cope with stress, particularly long term stress.
2) People with high cortisol usually find it hard to cope with stress, particularly long term stress.
3) Symptoms of low and high cortisol have quite a lot of overlap, so it isn't possible to guess which you have (if either), you would need to test.
4) Holy Basil lowers cortisol. If someone with low cortisol took it they would make themselves feel a lot worse.
To test cortisol, doctors do a blood test. Sometimes they do a random cortisol which is a waste of money and everyone's time. Cortisol varies throughout the day. Look at this graph to see what I mean :
If you had a cortisol blood test at 9am the result would be totally different to one done at 3pm.
Blood tests should be done between 8am and 9am to show cortisol at its maximum. But even if the test was done then it won't show you what the cortisol is doing at noon or 3pm or 10pm. They could be anywhere - really, really high or really, really low or perfectly fine. But a 9am blood test won't tell you.
So, people on this forum use saliva testing which involves spitting into a test tube four times a day (people sometimes pay for more tests to be done in a day, but there is no obvious benefit to doing so, and it costs more of course). The test tubes are sent back to the lab in the post (guaranteed next day delivery by 1pm) and they are tested for cortisol. It is essential to test for DHEA as well.
The only companies I know that do the appropriate four times a day testing and also include DHEA are Regenerus and Genova. Personally I'd go for Regenerus because they are easier to deal with than Genova. Some links :
Another thing you need to be aware of is that lots of supplements and medicines affect the results of cortisol testing - either by raising cortisol or lowering it. See these two lists :
Whether or not you stop taking one of the things on the list is up to you. But don't ever stop taking something essential to your health and wellbeing just for a test you are doing for your own benefit. (Doctors generally pay no attention to saliva tests, they are always done for our own benefit - although one person on the forum did finally get investigated for and diagnosed with Addison's Disease because she used her saliva test results to persuade her doctor to do "official" testing.)
To answer your original question about Holy Basil, this is the supplement I take :
Thanks so much for your response, it's been very helpful. I know the saliva test you speak of, so I do need to do this again. Thanks for the links too I'll certainly take a look.
Do you know of anything else you could take instead to give some instant relief & dampen the stress. I've tried rescue remedy, but it's no good.
The only things I've found that help me personally, other than Holy Basil, are
1) Restricting my sugar intake and keeping my carbohydrate intake low, while also raising my protein and fat intake. I'm not very good at doing this though - I'm a total carb and sugar addict.
2) I also find that if my iron levels drop low in range then I feel jittery and my heart rate becomes erratic and/or much too fast. I would never take iron unless I had tested my levels properly first though.
3) I have found that taking 5-HTP helps a bit. But it's main effect is to raise serotonin, and it acts as an anti-depressant, rather than specfically reducing anxiety. And one side effect of 5-HTP is to raise cortisol, which isn't super helpful. I've been taking 5-HTP for about 7 years now, and certainly for the first few years I thought it was a life saver. I only take 50mg per dose. If someone is already on anti-depressants then taking another one (of any kind) isn't a good idea - it could lead to a condition called serotonin syndrome and it is very dangerous, possibly fatal.
Great suggestions/advice from humanbean. Rescue Remedy doesn't do anything for me either or for my dogs. I have high cortisol & essential oils help me chill. drericz.com/essential-oils-.... He has others for stress on his site. Of course, don't use an essential oil whose scent you don't like. Dr. Z also has info on how to dilute properly. You don't want to put directly on skin without diluting. Some work for me just by inhaling. I put combos of drops on a cotton ball & put the cotton in a small, dark glass bottle & inhale. Or, just put drop combos in a little, dark bottle.
Know how you feel being too stressed to think. Hope the oils help you. I enjoy Dr. Z's site & like that he's not selling essential oils.
vibrantblueoils.com/about/a... is a good one. Hers are organic or wildcrafted. Jodi has one called Calm you might want to look at for another combo of oils. I've found that combos work better for me. She suggests applying it to the heart, wrists, nape of neck & outside the ears.
Aaah, a sunny room. Lovely. Nothing like the sun to heal us. Wishing you many peaceful, sunny room days.
Yes, be as kind to yourself as you are to others. As women, we're thoroughly indoctrinated that the needs of others come first & our mental & physical health take the toll.
Really, how many times have you said to someone, Yes, I can do it, when inside you're screaming no? We just automatically say yes because, heaven forbid, it's taboo as a woman to say I can't. We're enculturated to be nice to be liked & accepted. Raising Ophelia was an influential book I read as a young woman.
I've never tried meditation but will make the effort. That's also reminds me, I have a reiki cd I can listen to.
Trouble with me and also with being a woman, I'm trying to keep things as normal as possible and trying to put others family members at ease that I'm forgetting about myself.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Anxiety & depression overwhelm after NDT & stress
Saliva cortisol results I am hyPOthyroid 
I've only taken T3 for the past three days
Hypothyroid for 14 years and in a quandary. I have been trying T3, but I have high cortisol and DHEA and poss RT3. So I am not feeling the 
