You are stressing a point consistant with lots of things.
When people take heroine, for example, don't they say the first time is always the best and they try to replicate the experience with stronger doses ?
Often when I try a new powerful herb the same thing happen you can find a pretty interesting mood lift at first and then it goes away but the deep benefits are still working, it just that you feel normal. Let me tell you my story. I was diagnosed OCD and the only thing that worked against that problem for me was effexor (powerful antidepressor) I was taking 300 mg at the time. Well the first time I tried it (75 mg ) my mood was lifted and then it went away but at the same time my OCD symptoms were going away... but I felt normal. And then every 2 weeks the dose would be upped by 75 mg every time my mood was lifted and then nothing but the OCD symptoms, they were going completely away. By the way I was incredibly grateful for the total recovery, that is what I call liberation.
And then something very interesting. I wanted to switch to natural antidepressor after a while. This is in 2005. I completely stopped cold turky my effexor something not recommended because you can have electric shock down your spine. I was lucky the only thing I felt was one electrick shock beside feeling like total crap. Vomit come to my mind when I try to describe how I felt. I felt like a pile of vomit. But only for 3 days because that's the time I gave myself to get rid of the effexor in my blood before switching to natural herbs, I didn't want to get the serotonine syndrome by mixing pharmacological antidepressant and natural ones. Anyway I chose Rodiola Rosea, St John's wort and vitamine B6 all at the same time to boost serotonin in my brain, I wanted it to work. Wow it felt good within an hour. I remember telling myself that it was much better than effexor. I was motivated. But then of course the mood lift and the motivation went away but this was working for my OCD perfectly again. No symptoms. Just felt normal.
The same thing happened again with Tulsi the herb Occimum Sanctum. When I first tried it wow the next day I felt so great. But now when I try it again it doesn't seem to give me the same incredible light feeling but it it still working. You guys should try this for stress.
Same thing happened with triphala. But what happen when you try natural herbs is that the first mood lift might go away but after a couple of weeks what I notice is a real result of more energy, more alertness, better communication, more memory, things like that, it makes you fell normal but more performant and that is the real gift of "adaptogen". The greatest adaptogen one could take in my opinion is a preparation named Chyawanprash. It is made with amalaki with 40 other herbs you should take 30 grams of this herbal jam for great results. It made a big difference in my life when I first tried it. Now I take a mix of amalaki 6 grams and other herbs in bulk and I have the same results.
And with herbs like amalaki you don't need breaks because you are not after the mood lift but the permanent energy lift.
When I smoke one cigaret once a month I get mood lift everytime but ask any regular smoker they don't get mood lift anymore. They only get cancer.
Edited by outsider, 09 May 2009 - 07:31 AM.
