Is Valerian bad for you?

Hi Everybody...
I started drinking Valerian tea regularly last month to help me sleep... I was drinking too much coffee and it really helped me to get to sleep when I had the caffeine jitters.

Now I'm almost completely off coffee but my sleep cycles are still really messed up... I've been drinking Valerian earlier in the day... and work up to 3 cups by 3 am, but I am still not able to get to sleep until VERY late. And in the morning I feel groggy.

I want to kick myself out of this bad sleep routine. I am thinking to set an alarm clock, wake up very early (even if I've only had 3 hours of sleep), drink ONE cup of coffee, and then drink ONE cup of Valerian around 9 pm.

I am just wondering if Valerian is bad for you because I heard it was addictive and I am wondering if it is making my sleeplessness worse rather than improving it... if I am developing a tolerance for it.

Also, I have a kidney deficiency that I was born with that makes ALL chemicals MUCH more strong for me so even legal herbs like coffee and valerian tea are almost like drugs for me, they affect me so strongly and take a long time for me to eliminate...

Help, anyone?

I usually know a lot about herbs but in this case I am stumped about how to help myself...

Sincerely,

Serenaserendipity

I have to say I've never tried the tea. So won't truely beable to say from experience about that. I have tried taking Valerian capsules though.

I don't understand how you're drinking it. You say you start drinking some earlier in the day (about what time?) then finish around 3:00 AM??? That doesn't make sense to me. Shouldn't you be in bed by then? And you shouldn't drink any during the day - it will make you a bit sleepy and if you can't go to bed at that time you will defeat the drinking of it. You should be drinking some in the evening IMO.

As for the groggy feeling.....Valerian does have a tendency to cause "hangovers". That's just one of the drawbacks to using it.

I don't want to confuse you but there are quite a few other herbs and vitamins you can take to help with sleep problems. Maybe go to one of your local health food stores and ask what they have and have them explain the differences to you.

...

I've been drinking a Bedtime blend by Yogi Tea, it has valerian as the main ingredient...

It was helping my anxiety so that is why i started drinking it earlier... and hoping it would make a stronger dose.

I just had some 1 hour ago and now I feel very relaxed and chipper not tired at all!

I give my little girl chamomile but that's not enough for me...

Sincerely...

You need to detox your system instead of replacing the caffeine with something else. Low sugars, and definitely stay away from pop/soda. Try flushing yourself out with regular water and deliberately get more exercise in the day, and use the alarm clocks. Even a cat nap here and there is better than the all day/night routine now with the V tea. If you can do this for about two weeks you can even yourself out.

Sonic said:

You need to detox your system instead of replacing the caffeine with something else. Low sugars, and definitely stay away from pop/soda. Try flushing yourself out with regular water and deliberately get more exercise in the day, and use the alarm clocks. Even a cat nap here and there is better than the all day/night routine now with the V tea. If you can do this for about two weeks you can even yourself out.

Click to expand...

Very good idea!!!

Another helpful sleep tea that I have used with great success is Kava Kava. Fantastic, yummy stuff, makes me all relaxed and sleepy with one cup. And this from a confirmed insomniac. It's really that good!

If all else fails, go to your local health food store or co-op, and ask for Tryptophan. It's the stuff in turkeys that makes you sleepy. That's my last resort.

...

i started eating cheese again (my daughter's allergic so i don't usually buy it but i have been eating sharp cheddar at my new house)

so that will take care of the tryptophan

i have been drinking lots of water and taking walks

...

thanks for the advice...
i guess i have to get an alarm clock and give it some time!

s.

When I took a student job at a herbalist's, years ago (in Switzerland, which has a thriving herbalist tradition), we were restricted by law as to how much valerian we were allowed to sell at any one time to any one client. We were also required to advise people not to drink more than a cup a day, and not to make it a daily thing year round. Valerian is a good stop-gap during insomniac moments, but if you are a chronic insomniac, I'd find another kind of tea, and especially, find ways of relaxing yourself (meditation, reiki, warm but not hot baths, no work, computer or TV, etc.) in the hour or so before you go to bed. Any kind of sleep aid - whether natural or synthetic - will end up messing with your natural sleep patterns.

And Sonic is absolutely right - you need to detox your system.

Serenaserendipity-
Like you, I am a chronic insomniac too... it's horrid, isn't it?!

I tried everything that people recommended, (other than prescription drugs- didn't want to go that route) but I can still easily stay up until 2-3:00 in the morning, if I let myself.

I found the best way, (for me) was to try and change my mindset... I sat down and made a list one day- WHY do I hate going to bed so much?? (always have- ever since a child). Being made to go to bed was a punishment, and it must have happened quite frequently because I remember often crying myself to sleep. So there are lots of negative connotations for me personally.

Also, I was raised in a very strict fundamentalist X-tain environment- told to say my prayers before I went to bed, (that ghastly... "if I should die before I wake..." they teach children- and this after being told that bad little girls who die in their sleep wake up in hell ) so that certainly didn't help!

My point is this- often long-term sleep problems have their root in childhood, and if that's the case for you, try and go back and see if you can pin-point when it started to happen, and what triggered it... and how can you nurture and heal that situation for yourself in the present.

Now, I avoid all caffeine drinks after 8:00 at night. I know you say chamomile doesn't work for you, but it's still soothing- just because you don't feel it straight away doesn't mean it's not working... and it's good for the digestion as well.
Some others you could get from a reputable herbalist include:
catnip, (yes, the same one your cats like- has a calming effect on humans.) One heaping teaspoon in an infusion; strain and drink like tea.
Lavendar... can be used in a herbal sleep pillow, or a few drops of essential oil in a nice nighttime bath is good.
Wood Betony- a good calming herb to be drunk in an infusion, like a tea.
Hops- can be put in a sleep pillow, (just a handful! they are pretty pungent) along with mugwort, and lavender.

Try and do something that will make bedtime attractive- and start winding down a good hour before. Sit and listen to soothing music (whilst sipping that chamomille ) or just sit quietly and think back over the day, and maybe do a brief meditation... write in a journal, (NICE thoughts about your day! you want to be feeling good about yourself.)
I keep a dream diary now, because that gives me motivation to get to bed... lack of sleep means no dreams!

As to the Valerian... if I was you i'd use it more sparingly... alternate your sleep teas so that you don't develop a tolerance to any one of them. Oooh- just thought of another you could possibly use during the day- can you get Rooibos tea there? It's comes from a plant in South Africa, and it's popular here... and no caffeine!

Here's a link:
http://www.phytochemicals.info/plants/rooibos.php

TickTock is one of the most popular brands of it here in the UK....

http://rooiboschicedtea.com/products/ticktock/index.php

A good health food shop should stock it in teabags- you could give that a try, too.

Good luck... I know just how you feel, it's not an easy thing to deal with.
Sweet dreams!
elnor

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Elnor,
Thanks so much for the good advice!

And thank you for the suggestion about Rooibos, I love tea and can't give it up but I do need to cut down on caffeine...

P.S. It's after 3am here and I'm not even tired!

Guess I should go make some chamomile right now...

I love your suggestion about the dream journal, too!