Thread: Valerian: slightly more fun than sleep

So, I bought these Valerian tablets (2000mg) to help me sleep.

I noticed that after ten minutes whenever I took them, I'd get slight but noticeable visual distortion and colour enhancement. But I dismissed this as psilocybin "flashbacks" as I've done a lot this year.

But then I found reports on the internet about people claiming they too were having mildly psychedelic experiences on high dose of Valerian.

So tonight I took 8000mgs of the stuff and yeah things are definitely looking a bit weird. As I look around the room everything has a green/yellow glow to it and objects are breathing.

Not that it's any great breakthrough, I just found it interesting.

Valerian mildly relaxes me but it never seems to help me sleep (I take a couple grams of root in tea now and then). It contain psychoactives which interact with the GABA receptors in the brain (alcohol, kava also interact with the GABA receptors). I hear too much of the root can cause physical discomfort, but I suppose an extract or tablet is going to be a slightly different combination of chemicals than what is in the natural root..

I've never had an experience like yours with valerian, sounds interesting. My bedtime preference is mugwort, it relaxes me and my imagination becomes quite vivid. Part relaxation, self-hypnosis, and/or unexplored psychoactive maybe..

I was thinking about drinking valerian and kava tea before chewing salvia this weekend to prevent anxiety/fear (kind of an issue for me). Will that work?

Anyway, looks like some affordable, easy to find and healthier benzos! I like that.

Any other comments about that plant?

i used it for a while for sleeping problems,
had some good dreams of it too
but the tea tastes awfull.
never had any psychedelic effects of it actually,besides being more relaxed

st.bot.32- Yeah Mugwort is pretty tasty and relaxing, also it gives me the weirdest dreams
I think it plays with my hay fever though.

I recently took 4 grams of it before going to school while being sleep deprived and I've felt nothing at all from those pills
it looked to me as just a waste of money and time to try and get a buzz from them

I wouldn't say you'd get a buzz from it. It was just mild visual distortions and if anyone gets kicks off such a mild trip, they is teh lame

But I did read one account on the net where this guy reported effects reminiscent of MDMA. Sounds like BS; if Valerian was capable of such effects, it'd be illegalised in the blink of an eye.

It must depend on the quality of the plant extract cause whenever I take them (usually lots more than the recommended dose) they work fine. I lay in bed and fall to sleep in bliss.

The other thing about natural ethnogens is that a lot of them are used in combinations and as part of a long-term plan in order to be effective. Take St. John Wort once in a large dose, and it may not do anything. Take it for a month, TOTAL difference.

I think Valerian is the same thing. I've popped like 30 capsules a couple of times, and Nothing, maybe a bit sleepy. But if you take it for a month, especially with Calea, felt much more relaxed, slept better and lucid dreams. Awesome as an addition to a "normal" life, but definitely a far cry from solving insomnia.

For insomnia you might want to try a combination of valerian and hops (Humulus lupulus). Passion flower might also be added to the mix. I don't think it's a good idea to ingest very high doses of valerian.

A lot of cheap valerian capsules sold in health stores or supermarkets are useless... made from dried-up stale rubbish. Good quality material should have a noticeable sedating effect on most people, from about a gram or so. I've never noticed or heard anyone report any waking psychedelic effects from valerian before now, but it IS widely known to cause vivid dreams, and some people can't use it as a sleep aid as the dreams they have under its influence cause them to waken frequently!

It served me very well almost 10 years ago when I went 'cold turkey' from cigarettes (the worst withdrawal that I've ever had to go through because of its duration) - it made the difference between my being able to sleep or tossing and turning restlessly for hours craving for a cigarette. I even got to like its Gorgonzola/armpit/sweaty sock taste after a while!