r/herbalism

so today I tried Damiana as I heard many ppl say they used it to replace nicotine or even weed. as it has a nice subtle psychoactive effect and can be smoked or drank as a tea. I prepared a tea using abt a gram of Damiana and woww this stuff is wonderful it’s everything kanna was supposed to be. I was walking my dog when I started to notice the effects I starting feeling a positive mood creep in and the wind started to feel really good for some reason. as I kept walking the sensation increased and I started to get this buzzy very faint psycidelia type of head change. it’s hard to explain the head change but In a weird way it was mildly trippy I felt these really nice sensations go through my body as I was walking. it also gave me a real nice energy boost yet I felt mentally very relaxed and at peace but sorta excited to engage with the world if that makes sense. later on I noticed touch is a lot more sensitive and it feels more pleasurable then usual. i also felt this very nice buzzy sorta sensation in my chest and the buzzy head sensation was also increasing and I felt a sensation of love. this herb has this very natural and clean feeling euphoria that is not at all overwhelming but very noticeable none the less. call me crazy but it personally feels like an extremely mild empathogen like mdma. obviously not near the euphoria or psychoactive effect of mdma but they share many wonderful similarities. this is why earlier I said it’s every thing kanna was supposed to be bc kanna dosent make me feel much and it’s very inconsistent for me sometimes I’ll feel nothing or I’ll feel a restless kinda anxious energy. any who just wanted to share my experience as there isint a ton of info or experience reports abt Damiana. I think I’m going to start using it as a caffeine replacement as caffeine can make me super anxious and cold sweat and Damiana provides a nice energy and mood boost. not everyone will get this effect tho it definitely Varys person to person thankfully im one of the lucky ones that can really feel this herb.

Hello everyone. First post here. Thank you for reading. I would like to know what folks have used for total burn-out recovery? My biggest barrier has been CNS and enteric nervous system deregulation, chronic fstigue, PEM, apathy. I believe I am deficient in neurotransmitters, hormones, and Qi necessary for any motivation, focus, or daily life. I have addressed nutrition, deficiencies, and health issues. I journal, use many herbs and grow my own medicinal botanicals for sleep, infection clearing and wellness support… such as stinging nettle, yarrow, catnip, evening primrose, dead nettle, horse weed, sow thistle, goldenrod, various mountain mints, Korean mint, mugwort, wormwood, pokeweed, holy basil, rosemary, chamomile, violet, bull thistle, various asters, on and on. I do find some benefit from mugwort, not much from maca, ashwaghand, rhodolia, green tea and the usual supplement and herbs for energy and cognition support. I haven’t tried gingsing yet. I could list even thing I’ve tried, but it’s so extensive. I cannot for the life of me find something stimulating enough to get moving. I have been on this journey for 2 years now, no prescriptions, addressed allergies and underlying issues. I was wondering what others have done recovering after everything is just shot. Thank you in advance!

background: I was misdiagnosed with autoimmunity and various other labels, but actually had severe late stage Lyme (much better but still have flares,) systemic parasites (diagnosed and now gone with both herbs and anti-parasitics,) was on many pharmaceuticals- even infliximab IV. I pushed myself in life to the max as well. I have seen many doctors. I want reintegration of my person if anyone has suggestions either herbal, tangible, or intangible To support energy and motivation.

Yesterday I tried Nora tea for its health benefits. I am not pregnant but TTC. I read about how these herbs could be beneficial and ordered from Amazon.

I only used about 1/2 tablespoon of this tea. Soaked about 20mins in boiling water and had it after breakfast. I was fine until evening. In the evening I started getting terrible bloating and gas. By night I was having cramps due to gas. This is making take trip to toilet multiple times.

Is this normal? I don’t know if I am too sensitive but I now I am scared to try again. I really wanted to like the tea and continue. Please suggest what could be causing this. Thank you!

I’ve been dealing with systemic health issues for 10+ years — poor exercise tolerance, fatigue, brain fog, low-normal hemoglobin, recurring nutrient deficiencies, inflammation and GI-related symptoms.

I’ve been correcting my deficiencies and I can actually see improvements through my bloodwork — my MCV has gone 99 → 97 → 96 → 95, my hemoglobin has improved compared with my older levels, and my inflammation markers have come down. But something underneath still seems to be driving these deficiencies in the first place. My current thought is that my body may have been using a lot of nutrients while constantly dealing with some kind of chronic infection/inflammatory burden.

The biggest question for me is: what infection could actually be behind this? Bacterial possibilities such as H. pylori, Borrelia/Lyme, Bartonella or other persistent bacterial infections? Parasites/protozoa such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba, Babesia or intestinal worms? Or a persistent/reactivated virus such as EBV, CMV or another herpesvirus? I’m especially interested in anything capable of causing long-term inflammation, GI problems, malabsorption or increased nutrient requirements.

I’ve already tried quite a lot naturally. I’ve been taking wild oregano oil for roughly the last year, did high-dose propolis, and have also experimented with cat’s claw and short-term goldenseal. Right now I’m doing a high-dose clove-bud hot-water extract. Interestingly, whole cloves have repeatedly reduced some of the sharp pains I experience. ( i am kind of lost in what to do next if the clove high dose does not work…. )

At the same time I consistently make sure my
vitamins, minerals and other nutritional cofactors are covered through both diet and supplementation. ( these are optimal for me regarding intake please dont mention this in the comments. I have been working on these for alot of years)

For anyone who had a similar unexplained systemic problem for years: what infection or underlying issue did you eventually find, which test actually found it, and which herbs or natural compounds helped you most?

I’ve been seeing more and more info online about how Saffron extract (3.5% lepticrosalides) can mimic SSRIs without a lot of the potential side effects.

I’ve been curious about trying 30mg/day + 200mg/day magnesium glycinate for general anxiety/ocd/pmdd.

Curious if anyone has tried/what their experience has been?

Thanks!

Has anyone ever had a dream of being approached by a shaman in the midst of a dream, and being given a small ceremonial cup with green liquid (I imagine plant medicine but wouldn’t know what type)?

Im mostly curious what liquid he poured. He didn’t feel like a trickster spirit, he felt very grounded and like the most real thing about my dream. He simply told me that the task I was doing in the dream, packing items to leave a place and deliberating on whether I needed one item or another, and he told me calmly I didn’t need any of it where I was going. He then passed me the cup and instructed me to drink. I did so and woke up.

any ideas on what this drink may have been, why the shaman may have come to me? Unsure of what to make of this dream, or what message was coming through. Insights or thoughts/shares welcome.

a bit about me: service oriented, amateur herbalist, self-studied, interested in death doula work but not doing serious study with either currently since Im doing lots of trauma work in therapy over the last few years.

(I’m a baby herbalist so I come here for advice or tips and tricks often sorry if this is a stupid question and I appreciate everyone that helped me thus far )

I’ve dried about half of it and still have some fresh in the fridge.

I’m thinking about making a tincture with the fresh stuff. Online it seems that if I use fresh mullein for the tincture, I should run it through a cheese cloth to make sure I don’t get the little hairs stuck in my throat… put the dried stuff should be fine for tea right?

Let me know your experiences and if you think a tincture is better with fresh or dried Mullein

Hi 👋 I'm new to wormwood... If anyone could help me with some starting points....

Is 500mg in 1 caplet daily ok? Is taken first thing on an empty stomach best? How long wait before eating? Should I also take black walnut and cloves?

I'm not doing a parasite cleanse I'm trying to see if it will help my gut issues.

Sorry for all the questions! And thank you if you are able to answer 🙏

I want to start with Milky Oat Tops. I know these should be taken fresh and since that is feasible for me and I avoid alcohol I need to find a company that makes it in glycerine. Mountain Rose doesn't have it.

I suffer from anxiety and kind of ocd and racing thoughts. I don't want to start take SSRI's immediately just in case if I manage to control my anxiety in the ways which are more natural.

I was hoping to find a routine where I have something to take all day long for my baseline anxiety and something to take when my anxiety is really on it's peak/I'm having troubles to sleep. All the information I can find is really mixed!

So far I started to take:

L-theanine - good for stopping mind racing, I'm using this daily 200mg 3 times/day (the effects last about 5 hours for me)

Lemon balm - don't really know if this is effective for me? I use tincture.

Passionflower - this has been the best so far, when it works it really works. This is also a tincture.

Valerian - I have heard many good things about this, took 300mg capsule and it was pretty weak effect. Maybe I should try more?

My main problem is that I don't know what I'm doing here.

Do all the herbs need to be cycled? How long periods you use one before switching/taking a break?

Can I use passionflower daily from morning to evening for weeks? Can I combine it with lemonbalm? Do I need to cycle this? Is there a risk that I mess with my own gaba if I use this kind of herbs daily? I have read that these shouldn't cause addiction..

Valerian - does that need to be cycled? Can it be taken daily from morning to evening every day?

My head just doesn't understand how I should be using herbs/supplements if I need something from morning to evening and something also to help me with sleep.

Could someone in the same situation (taking something for anxiety daily) does this?

All advices are appreciated!!!

I’ve heard this stuff is good for euphoria? Although I can’t see any stuff anywhere on how it actually feels, has anyone here ever tried it and if so, please tell me how it felt.

Hey trying to see any information ppl may be enlightened to about taking arnica tea. When I search on through Google most of the feedback is about how dangerous it is to drink or ingest arnica in a tea form and that it's best to apply topically for results. I got to help with hard working days where my body and muscles may aches from physical labor. Why would they make it in tea form if it's said to be so dangerous drinking it. Alternatively I was going to use in bath soak if I can't do anything else with it. How are any of you guys experience using arnica herb or tea for anything?? Thanks in Advance for feedback in regards to this!