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I've tried Chameleon and Valyrian root tea blends before thinking they might make good sleep aids, but I've never had any luck with them. A lot people say they find those very relaxing, but I wasn't even catching a placebo effect.

So for a while I just assumed all this herbal tea bullshit I see in stores and pharmacies must be just a step above homeopathic products. They're probably pretty good if you like the taste of the herbal blends and find sipping a warm beverage relaxing in itself, but otherwise a waste of time. Clearly if they really worked they wouldn't be sold in large supermarket chains. Instead they'd be relegated to the weird, near grey market status that Kratom seems to exist in, right?

Today at the store I just happened to notice something very alarming. A box of Kava blend tea was the absolute one and only herbal tea variety on the shelf to include a warning asking you to consult your doctor before use, and stating that minors and pregnant women should not consume this product.

Well, that warning instantaneously lit up the junkie addict center of my brain like a Christmas tree, and I impulse bought two boxes. This might have major negative health consequences? Wow, must be the fucking good stuff. I got home and brewed six of them into a single mug of tea, and yep, this shit is psychoactive all right. Subtle, but definitely not placebo subtle. It quite honestly feels similar to a moderate dose of Gabapentin, and it's making me sleepy.

I sure wish I knew this before I most likely took 15 years off the lifespan of my kidneys by using 200mg of Diphenhydramine every night for years just to have a fighting chance at falling asleep more often than every two days.

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[-] Yurt_Owl@hexbear.net 49 points 9 months ago

Banned on bad island england-cool in 2003 for "potential liver damage". Damn shame there aren't any other substances that cause liver damage doug-chug

[-] cosecantphi@hexbear.net 24 points 9 months ago

terf island is such a fucking pathetically cucked country lmao, gotta get a special loiscense to buy whipped cream and sleepy time tea is considered a hard drug

[-] Yurt_Owl@hexbear.net 17 points 9 months ago

Fun is illegal here

[-] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 20 points 9 months ago

luv me a pint, luv ingerland, 'ate herbal tea, simple as

[-] Yurt_Owl@hexbear.net 8 points 9 months ago

Life of a true brexit geezer

[-] MiraculousMM@hexbear.net 12 points 9 months ago

We have DougDoug emotes?? Every day I learn something new lol

[-] Nakoichi@hexbear.net 43 points 9 months ago

Chameleon

Do you mean Chamomile?

[-] D61@hexbear.net 44 points 9 months ago

What do you mean?

me gently dipping a lizard into a hot cup of water a few times before putting it back in its terrarium

[-] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 12 points 9 months ago

geordi-no Heat Lamp

geordi-yes Cup Hot Tub

[-] cosecantphi@hexbear.net 26 points 9 months ago
[-] Nakoichi@hexbear.net 52 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Also it's valerian.

Valyrian is the civilization from Game of Thrones lol

Sorry I'm a botany nerd.

[-] Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 12 points 9 months ago

GoT would've had a very different vibe with a bit of Herbie Hancock on the soundtrack.

[-] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 25 points 9 months ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kava

Kava Kava extract is the one thing I found to moderate extreme highs and lows. It is a natural neuro-inhibitor. Helps keep me level. Only a particular brand for me cultivated in Vanuatu. It's somewhat difficult to find so I buy in bulk when I can. A 1 oz bottle is good for a month or two and used as needed.

It is from a pepper plant and has been used for thousands of years in Polynesia / Pacific Islanders. They used it before negotiation meetings and such to maintain peace.

The reason there is a warning on all things Kava is because being a plant, a very small fraction of people are incompatible with it. As in it shuts down their liver, which blind sighted, obviously made some famlies upset. So they lobbied to outlaw it, and Big Pharma doesn't like affordable natural solutions so it became outlawed in areas and sitgmatized. Vast majority of people it's perfectly fine in reasonable quantities.

[-] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Is there a way to test if you're one of those people without shutting down your liver?

Ah nvm I read more

[-] TheModerateTankie@hexbear.net 24 points 9 months ago

Yeah, its a GABA enhancer, similar to how alcohol works on that system. It also binds to different GABA receptors than drugs like xanax. Tends to be a bit expensive for the effect you get, imo, but it's kinda nice.

I never tried the tea, but they just came out with instant dehydrated kava mix you can get from various online stores, too. Specifically look for dehydrated, not micronized. The gastro-intestinal system generally doesn't like any of the plant fibers that are hard to filter out with more traditional methods of making it, on top of those methods being a pain in the ass.

There were reports in the early 2000's of liver damage associated with Kava but those reports seem to have been of low quality, and nothing like that has been found since, and it hasn't been found among cultures that have been consuming it for thousands of years.

I like the effect of mixing kratom and kava, but I can't vouch for the safety of doing that.

[-] newmou@hexbear.net 24 points 9 months ago

Taking magnesium at night has been amazing for me. Best consistent sleep I’ve had in a long time

[-] OrionsMask@hexbear.net 17 points 9 months ago

Just magnesium or magnesium glycinate? Asking because I suffer from poor sleep very frequently and have been recommended magnesium supplements but buying any vitamins is like a minefield. You look them up and there's dozens of different kinds and glycinate in particular seems to be one only sold by random brands.

[-] sappho@hexbear.net 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I'm very sensitive to cross contamination (celiac disease) so I have to be very selective about my supplement brands. I use Pure Encapsulations, Thorne, Xymogen. And for magnesium specifically you might be interested in Xymogen's Optimag Neuro - it's what I take for RLS and sleep - it's got magnesium l-threonate, malate, and glycinate so you can see more easily if any forms work well for you.

[-] OrionsMask@hexbear.net 4 points 9 months ago

Thank you for the recommendation! Not a USian so unfortunately it's not readily available for me and very, very expensive on the sites it is. I'll look around for that combination in readily available brands though!

[-] corgiwithalaptop@hexbear.net 21 points 9 months ago

Kava is really nice! Now that I'm off the booze, I'm asking my partner to grab me a bottle of a product called Kavahol I've been seeing advertised. Even if it isn't great on the kava front, it's ginger tumeric orange flavored so will probably taste nice.

[-] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 7 points 9 months ago

$37 for 10 shots, seems a bit steep. Like not so bad if you're just trying out, but way back when, I used to buy powdered kava from nakamalathome.com for like $45 and get twice as many servings. Idk, maybe if it's super potent and hits you hard.💁‍♂️ Despite tasting like dirt it is a very social drink tho that you want to take slow, because if you do too much at once it'll just put you to sleep. It was a pretty nice warm cozy feel, made me very talkative like I'd been drinking. But still lucid and present with all my faculties, unlike alcohol.

[-] ReadFanon@hexbear.net 15 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I have fond memories of drinking myself halfway into a stupor with kava in my younger days which was no mean feat. I'm very keen on the stuff.

Just make sure that you take a few days break every week if you're consuming it regularly. Chronic consumers of kava can develop a (reversible) skin condition but you'd need to be drinking it like you're living on a Pacific island before that's likely to happen.

It's been a while since I've dug into the literature on kava but the risk of liver damage is completely overblown - it may cause an elevation in particular liver enzymes, especially with heavy or chronic consumption but there hasn't been any actual links to liver damage. In countries where kava consumption is commonplace, they tend not to consume the root whole but instead drink the extract from the root using water and so there's some hypotheses that consuming the root whole rather than just the extract may cause elevated liver enzymes and potentially lead to liver damage so if you're going to make it a regular thing then I'd veer on the safer side and make an extract the way that it's traditionally done rather than taking capsules of whole powdered root or something similar like that.

But, all in all, in regards to safety if you're consuming it occasionally for recreational purposes the risk is very minimal. We're talking like less risk than smoking cannabis here.

[-] coeliacmccarthy@hexbear.net 14 points 9 months ago

just don't overdo it and fuck your liver

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[-] Dirt_Owl@hexbear.net 14 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I had Kava once and it made me very sick

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[-] bigboopballs@hexbear.net 14 points 9 months ago

sure wish I knew this before I most likely took 15 years off the lifespan of my kidneys by using 200mg of Diphenhydramine every night for years just to have a fighting chance at falling asleep more often than every two days.

oh shit. I take dimenhydrinate every single night too (usually only 50mg but I used to take 100mg per night sometimes)

does it really shorten the lifespan of your kidneys? or just at the dose you were taking?

[-] spectre@hexbear.net 11 points 9 months ago

If anything is tied to an elevated risk of dementia, from what I've heard

[-] cosecantphi@hexbear.net 10 points 9 months ago

There's nothing concrete really, I was just being hyperbolic about it. More and more often the vasoconstriction manifests in this dull ache in my kidneys that has been scaring the shit out of me.

[-] Jenniferrr@hexbear.net 8 points 9 months ago

You should stop taking it tbh. It's not a clear link for young people but I'm pretty sure there is a link between dph and dementia

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[-] pooh@hexbear.net 14 points 9 months ago

Real kava root tastes like dirt but makes you feel even better than the tea. You basically put a bunch of it in panty hose and kneed that in cold water for a few minutes.

[-] allthetimesivedied@hexbear.net 13 points 9 months ago

Kava cannot reproduce sexually. Female flowers are especially rare

Fuck yeah dude.

[-] bigboopballs@hexbear.net 5 points 9 months ago

the ultimate volcel drug

[-] allthetimesivedied@hexbear.net 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Time to buy some and overdo it. Gang gang bro/sibling.

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[-] Vingst@hexbear.net 10 points 9 months ago

I take.a half a 1mg melatonin gummy amd it knocks me out amd.gives me vivid dreams.

[-] Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I want to like melatonin (I get a nice gentle sleepiness from it) but the quality control is terrible. You might be getting far more than 1 mg sometimes, and then not enough other times.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/04/crazy-variability-of-melatonin-in-sleep-aid-gummies-may-keep-you-up-at-night/

My doctor recommended valerian root instead which seems more subtle to me but seems to help similarly. YMMV of course.

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[-] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 8 points 9 months ago

Carpe Emptor, or something like that.

[-] Owl@hexbear.net 7 points 9 months ago

Your dentists don't want you to know about it.

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[-] Gay_Wrath@hexbear.net 7 points 9 months ago

honestly what's the deal with kratom? I see it sold in sus looking stores here ?

All i know about kava is i stumbled upon a reddit thread about it and it had a bunch of comments of (presumably) white people who were like nooo it's actually not cultural appropriation to take and sell indigenous plant used for ceremonies. I don't know anything about that but if i was consuming kava i'd try to buy direct from indigenous people, same as coffee.

[-] WitchHazel@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 9 months ago

Kratom is an opioid. Wonderful for chronic pain, but insanely addictive if concentrated.

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[-] LanyrdSkynrd@hexbear.net 7 points 9 months ago

Kratom helped me a ton when I was in a debilitating depression. I was finally able to start doing something besides sleeping, watching TV and eating. I was able to start exercising, taking care of myself again.

I took the same dose twice a day, and got less effect from it over time, but it happened gradually while my depression got better. After 9 months I stopped taking it and had withdrawals. I had to go back on it and taper down. I did it super slow, 10% reduction per week just because I was scared of falling back into depression.

I didn't feel like it was addictive, but it does cause withdrawals if you stop taking it abruptly. The same thing can happen with most psych meds too, though. I lost 6 months to terrible withdrawal from a prescribed psych med even though I tapered it.

[-] cosecantphi@hexbear.net 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Kratom is a plant containing several natural opioids. These are fully structurally distinct from the classical opioids like Codeine or Morphine and their semi-synthetic derivatives like Oxycodone, Heroin, Hydromorphone, etc. But they activate the same receptors in the brain, and produce a very similar high.

It's currently legal in most US states, but the DEA really wants to criminalize it more and more as it grows into mainstream awareness. Thankfully it looks like they've yielded to popular backlash against scheduling it for the time being. While Kratom is an opioid, it is honest to god the safest opioid in existence. The most abundant active substance is only a partial agonist at the mu-opioid receptor (the primary receptor responsible for mediating the euphoric effects of opioid drugs). As a result, it is extremely difficult to fatally OD on the stuff, there isn't enough respiratory depression to halt breathing even at high doses, and it has a ceiling effect that prevents the out of control dose spiraling typical of attempts to compensate for growing tolerance with full agonist opioids. That said, Kratom does produce at least one full agonist opioid, but the concentrations are comparatively low enough to be ignored unless you're using an extract.

This combination of accessibility, legality, and safety profile makes Kratom a very popular and effective drug to use as an aid to quit harder opioids. If you have a tolerance to harder opioids you won't be able to effectively get high on Kratom thanks to the ceiling effect, but it will seriously take the edge off unless you were accustomed to large fentanyl doses.

It is also one of the only means of finding pain relief now that doctors almost universally transform into cops when it comes time to discuss being prescribed opioids.

(I just noticed that your comment is ambiguous, you've mentioned Kratom and Kava, but I'm not sure if you meant to only ask about Kava. The two are completely unrelated drugs with different effects and mechanisms of action. The only similarity between them is that they are both plant based drugs that have slipped through criminalization in the US.)

Also, I'm not aware of any cultural appropriation concerns with either of them, and they are not at risk of extinction like Peyote cactus is.

[-] allthetimesivedied@hexbear.net 6 points 9 months ago

It’s an opioid. The uhh the kratom…the kratom boy is actually in the coffee family, so it isn't an opiate, but the most fun alkaloid acts on several opioid receptors. It’s used to treat opioid dependence, and the DEA doesn’t like that.

[-] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 5 points 9 months ago

I've been taking it for a couple years now and it's really nice. To avoid dependence I only take it every two or three days, but honestly for me it's not even as addictive as weed, which it helped me stop (I was smoking nonstop every day, now I have maybe a dab every 2 or 3 weeks). Nice subtle tingly high, makes you feel light and airy, eases pain both physical and emotional. Takes away my depression for a bit. It's not something you can really get wrecked off of, it just kind of...makes your day nicer.

Oh, and it amplifies the effects of alcohol, so if you're safe about it you can also use it to get drunker for cheaper.

[-] WitchHazel@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 9 months ago

I do gotta say you can def get wrecked on just the leaf. I had an outing with my college and took some and had to throw up on the side of the road. As long as you dose low though and not like a junkie like me you'll be fine.

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[-] allthetimesivedied@hexbear.net 7 points 9 months ago

200mg of diphenhydramine every night

But did you get to see the Hat Man?

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this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
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