[Snoopy]

I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with Maca Root. I have just started taking it. I am most interested in it's use for mood swings and an increase in anxiety due to hormones (perimenopause/menopause). I have done some research on Maca Root and the reason I have decided to give it a try.

[mrsD]

I always thought Maca was for men! It appears in many men's herbal products for libido etc.

If you are having anxiety, I'd really recommend L-theanine.

It has worked well for my son, last summer, and I still take it at night for night spells of anxiety/bad dreams.

300mg works for me. I started at 150mg and raised it after a month or so.

Theanine is supposed to help with nerve damage too. This is according to Dr. Blaylock MD's newsletter. A member at PN brought it to our PN forum's attention.

Theanine works as a partial agonist on GABA receptors, like Benzos. Only it is not sedating, or habit forming.
I found Doctor's Best brand better than Swanson's.

It is not expensive either.

[Snoopy]

Hi mrsD,

Thank you for responding. Although I have run across information about the use of Maca for men there is also quite a bit of information about it's use for perimenopause/menopause. Maca appears to be useful for both men and women.

My gyn does not recommend using progesterone cream or a phytoestrogen at this time so I started researching alternatives to medication for mood swings that are becoming quite difficult. I already have an anxiety disorder that is treated with Klonopin but there are times I can take the full dose (1mg 3x a day) and not get any relief. This is all related to this very normal transition time of my life.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18784609