Re: Long-term use of ashwagandha - OK?

I feel the reason there is better mood and less anxiety, is that Ashwa is quite the gaba antagonist, it hits the same receptors in the brain as the likes of xanax and valium which are commonly prescribed for anxiety, mood as well as insomnia. Similar to holy basil.

I always felt asha was not right as it made me feel pretty good, with as you say, less anxiety, better thoughts...and this lovely linear relaxed energy. Only when I experienced benzodiazapines for that short time, did i see the major similarities between the two, and did some research about the pharmalogical effects of them both.

I tried asha for a month and crashed majorly when I came off it last summer, but it felt great when i was on it, i worked, relaxed, slept, awesome! When you cut something like this out, you are probably entering withdrawals, and withdrawal from gaba antagonists is not pleasant at all! Sure people do use these drugs for periods, so i would definiately say holiday are a must if you do decide to take it long term.

I personally dont think anything that alters receptors in the brain is something that should be taken long term, nor anything that is not already present in the body..especially after my destruction after only a couple of months of valium, but thats just my opinion through experience.

Theres lots of words that are used about drugs such as ashwa, 'adaptagen' - it helps you cope etc etc, how does it do that? I believe one way, is modifying the brain, in this case, increasing gaba (the calming substance), and therefore the body down regulates gaba receptors. Gaba/glutamate (the excitory substance) need to be perfectly balanced, when they go out of sync, bad things happen. Just something to research.