Rhodiola Rosea Herb
 

Here is my limited research on this :
I have been taking it for 3 1/2 weeks now and feel that it is worth you all looking into and doing more research with me
I decided to start off with Contraindications for using it, anything thing listed below is a RED Light ...Don't Use IF:
1. pregnant or nursing ....& don't give to children
2. do not take if you are taking an MAOI (it acts as one)
3. If you are bipolar or have manic depression
4. If you have sever kidney or liver disease
5. If you have low blood sugar (take with food) don't take if you
won't be able to eat within 30 min after taking this herb
6. Do not combine with caffeine
7. Take in am...it may interfere with sleep
Possible side effects: insomnia, irritability, mild jitters, restlessness, vivid dreams. It can restore menses. High Doses can cause: heart palpitation, rapid heart beat, or a panicky feeling.
Start with a small dose and stay small...works as homeopathic (less is more)

Things Rhodiola rosea has been used for:
Treatment of colds, anemia, headache, cancer, infertility and erectile dysfunction,leukorrhea, and to strengthen the heart muscle. It promotes energy and stamina and mental performance (memory , etc)
As an anti-oxidant, it protects the nervous system from oxidative damage from free-radicals. It reduces stress related chemicals in the body and improves MOTOR COORDINATION. It is an anti-inflamatory.
One site said...Helps to rebuild dopamine.
Starting in the brain stem it promotes release of norepinephrin, serotonin and dopamine and enhances the effects of these neurotransmitters on the brain by increasing the permeability of the BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER.
It increases ATP . It enhances thyroid function without causing hyperthyroidism. Helps the thymus and adrenal glands to function better.
I started out taking 400mg Swanson Rhodiola rosea on Dec21st. After exactly 2 weeks ..noticed that I didn't need as many doses of fava tincture (my homemade l-dopa supplement from fava plant). The next day, I didn't require any. Certain days needed one dose or more . After 17 days had 2 very short episodes of heart palpitations and decided to cut back on dose. I am now emptying 1/2 a capsule into my cereal in the morning and saving the other half for the next day. This seems to be working well (approx 200 mg daily) I feel a tincture would be better for controlling dosage and probably 100mg a day may give good effects good effects.(possibly even 50mg)

Hope this will inspire some of you to more research on this herb. God Bless

Thank you very much, Aunt Bean, soon I'll try it myself.:wink:

If you take Rhodiola rosea....supplement trytophan with bananas, legumes, beans, cheese,etc.
One site says 3% rosavins should be stated on label.
Someone said DR OZ has interesting info on his site about this herb...have to check this out as yet.

wonder if combining rhodiola with other things would be better than stand alone
 

Thanks for this Aunt Bean,

Standard Process puts out a Rhodiola supplement combined with ginseng and Priority 1 puts one out combining several things including tryptophan - i just purchased the herb to give it a go !
cheers!
md

A friend who is on only fava and mucuna products also...has just started Rhodiola and her husband reports it has already started to do good things...more energy, walking faster...I am so excited....this means it is not my imagination that I feel good with less tincture (still taking very little, only half a dose when I do need it) Praise the Lord!

I took rhodiola for a few months before knowing I had PD (a medical psychic told me to take it!) but I didn't notice any benefits. Now I'm on Azilect so I can't take it :-( I really want to come off Azilect because of all the scary interactions but it makes the Sinemet last longer and I definitely don't want to up my Sinemet intake.

Trixidee

well well AB I think you have got something here - first day I took 175 mg rhodiola and noticed more energy to hike up the hill and decrease in desire for sweet.
2nd day same dose and still less desire for sweet - and had no "wearing on " effect of the morning dose of sinemet ( one pill 25/100) . Also of note is I also include 1/4 cup of fava POD juice (no bean) in the morning.
It does seem 2nd dose of rhodiola is more subtle and I would add that in classical homeopathic prescribing one can diminish efficacy of a remedy by repeating it too soon - I'm not sure how this principal would apply to an herb that has not been diluted and succussed tho

I'm wanting to keep sinemet dose to 1 pill 25/100 in AM and 2 doses of one pill 10/100 in PM or less. I think I' doing well considering tremor and other sx became noticeable over 18 years ago.
am wondering if rhodiola best taken on occasion rather than daily...
Viva rhodiola!

I am still doing well...taking 1/2 capsule daily of a 400mg from Swansons (which , buy the way are on sale right now buy one / get one free.....perfect timing cause I need more and want to try doing my own tincture with it so I can control how many drops I take. My friend is very excited about the results she is getting taking Rhodiola. THUMBS UP

I called the Swanson's people yesterday to make an order and got to talk to a person who actually knows about the supplements they sell...she said you could take rhodiola indefinitely if taken at the recommended dosage on the bottle...so that relieved my mind...that it wasn't harmful when taken for extended periods of time. I just wish I could find some place that has done extended research with it for PD.

Well, it is now Jan. 26th. I am still doing well and have been on the Rhodiola rosea herb since Dec 21st. Have not taken tincture for 2 days...but tomorrow is Sunday (have to sing in the choir) Lots of people around...may need some and carry it in my purse just in case..pretty handy stuff. Sometimes I get looked at funny (taking out a dropper bottle and squirting something into my mouth...but have reached an age where I don't care , if they ask me what I'm taking, I tell them) I am still doing approx 200mg Rhodiola one day and 400 mg the next...it doesn't taste bad and can be poured into cereal...good way to reduce the amount and less pills to swallow is great. ANYBODY ELSE TRYIN IT ?

Hi Aunt Bean,

I took rhodiola a couple more days and felt increased energy-however- the last day I took it at noon and had trouble going to sleep. Taking the rhodiola helps me to appreciate sinemet because I feel a sense of well being in a way with sinemet I don't feel with rhodiola.

Quality sleep is precious to me - after doing some biofeedback work i got so i could go into deep restful sleep and need only 4 or 5 hours which i prefer to 8 hours of lesser quality and even taking the rhodiola in the early morning it just seemed a bit out of alignment with my comfort zone however I may take it on occassion on days when I want an extra boost.

I have been taking a dropper full of passionflower extract before bed to correct the rhodiola effect and found it to be very helpful and I'm back to my deep restful sleep again -which for anyone interested is enhanced by high quality linen sheets which regulate temperature really well.
have been looking at nootropic herbs - considering trying California poppy extract.

in all fairness to rhodiola i only took it several days and i think it may be useful on occassion- i may be confusing my fear of agonist like herbs with efficacy.

question
 

I'm wondering if agonists and some herbs tend to also be receptors or stimulators of cortisol??

I take the Rhodiola with my breakfast...so far sleeping ok...

It was a beautiful day today...such a treasure in between cold spells...so much to do to get beds ready for spring planting...the sun warms my very soul.So good to be out and not have frozen fingers under 2 pairs of gloves!

We just received the book Rhodiola Revolution from amazon....only on first chapter...it is amazing and can't wait to finish it.....Rhodiola is very neuroprotective as an adaptagen and has been used for centuries for stress, depression, memory & focus . Also to recover a depleted energy within the cells....
A friend just told me that MAOI's should not be used long term because they effect the liver, but Rhodiola can be used indefinitely. This is another plus for the herb.

Rhodiola
 

My husband really wanted to try this, but it seems to be inadvisable since he is taking Rasagiline. We are having a hard time trying supplements due to the contraindications. :( Good luck with continued success!

I'm going to try it. I was watching a video I YouTube about this herb, and it states that the best one to get of the Rhodiola Rosea is the Siberian one. And to look for this info:

Perfect Rhodiola Rosea is 100% wild-crafted freeze-dried Siberian Rhodiola Rosea root with a minimum 3% Rosavins and 1% Salidroside. During the freeze-drying process, moisture is frozen and vaporized using no chemicals, thereby preserving the maximum level of nutrients from the Rhodiola Rosea root.

Thanks John., I had read that ,also
I just took the tap test on the computer (left then right) Since taking Rhodiola rosea...my hands scored very close together (both near 28) Usually my right hand was much faster. I had noticed my typing on the keyboard was faster / having less mistakes to fix this week... after reading the graph report on Stelevo post, and the site was included there for the test .....I tried it for myself. (Probably would have been faster tapping, but my room is very cold. may try again later in the day.)

Aunt bean,
How much of the Rhodiola are you currently taking? I wanted to buy a bottle but it was in 500mg caps and I remembered that you started lower than that. How many times a day are ya taken it. I am excited because I needed something for my anxiety ever since I stopped using Azilect.

Tried it but was "uncomfortable"
 

Tried a single dose of 400 mg root from Swanson's a couple of days ago. I felt not exactly anxious but more like "apprehensive". Not what I expected from the literature. Keep in mind that it could be just me, or product adulteration, or dosage, etc. I would suggest major dosage reduction as a start.

Hi Drevy - I am curious how long you were on Azilect and if you had a hard time coming off of it? Rhodiola is something we would like to try, among other supplements, but can't because of the Azilect being an MAOI - B inhibitor. Apparently there are 693 meds that interact with Azilect - that's crazy! I would appreciate any information you could contribute about weaning off and any changes you may have noticed, other than anxiety. Of course this would be done with a doctor's supervision. :)

Lemon lime,
I didn't tell my doctor because all he wants to do is to keep me on my meds and to increase it whenever there an issue. I talked to a pharmacist online and he advised me that I could cut the pill in half for about a month to see how that goes. Then if needed cut the half in half. I not as weak but anxiety kick in. I can handle it because its not that bad. That's my story. I know that Azilect conflicts with a lot of supplement that I wanted to try, so I slowly worked it off. Hopefully you have the same success that I had. I just bought a bottle of Rhodiola and plan on using this week. Can't wait. Oh, and quercetin also.

We received the book The Rhodiola Reolution by Brown & Gerbarg....
they suggested to 2 clients with PD to also add Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop plant to their intake along with rhodiola and stated that it really made a huge difference in their lives. both were completely dependant upon their wives. They made a huge come back.
They also suggest a product called Clear Mind ( a blend of rhodiola, hydroxycinnamic acid from blueberries and Rhododendron caucasicum ) I have not researched any of these as yet, but the description in the book "before and after" are impressive.

MAO-B inhibitors
 

Hi Lemonlime,

I wanted to share that I am currently going through withdrawl of Selegeline which I have taken almost continually for about 15 years.
It has only been 5 days so far and my symptoms are worse but not terrible, some more cramping and the sinemet I take is not lasting as long as I am used to (more like 3 hours than 3 1/2 - 4 ).
I have done this before when I was going to have minor surgery.
I also have had 2 scares over the years with interactions of the MAO-I and herbs (I think one time it was 5-HTP which I wasn't aware was in a supplement).
I would greatly prefer to not take it as there are so many possible and dangerous interactions. If I have any reactions- I'll try to let you know.

We are still having positive results with rhodiola. My one friend is gaining much more strength and flexibility and is standing up straighter than I have ever seen her in the 4 years I have been one of her caregivers. Her family has noticed also. We are doing more complicated exercises and stretches . I notice about 20% improvement now every week. I have gone back to taking 1 Swanson brand capsule at breakfast instead of taking 1/2. Sleeping better, getting alot done outside. Went to a Contra Dance (like square dancing) at the college last week and danced every dance and didn't get tired (usually do every other one and take brake in between) The cold is not bothering me as much *though I did find flannel lined jeans and wear long jons underneath this winter...keeping legs warmer is a big plus. I have about 400 fava beans in the ground now, but need alot more.
All in all. ..Rhodiola is a thumbs - up for Aunt Bean!

I see that number 2 of your description of Rhodiola Rosea, that it could not be used with an MOAI because is acts as one. I'm using Zandopa and Zandopa you can't use an MOAI ALSO. Is it considered one or not.

Hi all,

Dr.Oz recommended this supplement today. I wanted to see how you all were doing with it.

I am not a doctor Drevy , but Zandopa is mucuna base and my other friend here that is going natural for PD takes the Rhodiola and mucuna capsules also.. she also makes and takes fermented Payaya and fava tincture. She does not seem to be having a problem with it. She just made a visit to her neuro at Vanderbuilt (spelling?) and they said she checked out good..just keep doing what she is doing and keep notes so she can teach them about the natural things we are doing. A definite Thumbs UP.
I have just reduced down to 1/2 Swanson brand 400mg Rhodiola before breakfast and seem to be doing ok with it this time. Tried it before and my energy level dropped so I had gone back on a whole again. Been taking 1/2 for a week and still ok this time. (I still haven't had time to make the Rhodiola extract ..taking apart all the capsules takes a while....but I will get to it soon.

Has anyone had increased Blood pressure since taking rhodiloa?