NOW Foods Ashwagandha 450 Mg Immune Support Capsules

Wow. Let me say, when I bought this in January, I was interested in the supposed ability of this herb to help regulate hormones. I take it in combination with Now’s Rhodiola Rosea. I take 1 Ashwagandha in the morning and 1 at night and 1 Rhodiola in the morning. I don’t take the Rhodiola at night because it makes me feel kind of wired and interferes with sleep. Any way, I took this because I felt like my hormones were out of whack and wanted to see if I noticed any difference. Any anti-anxiety, calming, etc, effects were only going to be an added benefit–those were not what I bought this for. I *do* have anxiety though, pretty intense anxiety, and always have. I have never seen a professional for it and never in my life taken a medication for anxiety(though I probably should have).

So I started taking the Ashwagandha/Rhodiola combo in January like I said. I did actually notice that I felt less stressed at my job, less frustrated when unexpected tasks and issues occurred(normally unexpected work would really stress me, moreso than necessary). I am definitely a “future-worrier”, like if there’s something I am not looking forward too coming in a few weeks(or months), I will worry about it needlessly every day until it arrives and my anxiety will heighten by the day. I felt good taking this herb. Not in a way that it altered my mood or anything, it was just like the burden of worry was gone and I was free to go about my day.

However, I didn’t realize *how much* I appreciate this herb until I STOPPED taking it. I don’t know, I fell out of my routine of taking my supplements. Got busy, didn’t think about it. Started missing one of them a day(I took morning and night). Then eventually stopped taking it completely. Not because I didn’t like it, but I just forgot. I got out of the habit. I didn’t realize what it was doing for me, I guess I grew complacent.

So, about 2 months later after quitting them, I realize that I am *worrying* about things! Stupid things, things that wouldn’t even be difficult, I just didn’t like the idea of them. I realized that I wasn’t enjoying my weekends because almost immediately when they started, I would start worrying about the next week. I realized I had a very “on edge” feeling all the time and it was preventing me from enjoying anything. If I randomly got a day off from work in the middle of the week, I couldn’t enjoy it, I was thinking about work the next day. It was then that I realized how much my anxiety was affecting me and robbing me of my free time. I started thinking, wow, when did this happen? Why am I worrying about this stuff all the time???

I realized, I had stopped taking my herbs shortly before this started! I still had them in the cabinet. So I took the Ashwagandha again and I felt the edge come off again! I was again able to relax! It was subtle, but again, it was like all this needless worry left me. My life was obviously exactly the same as before, just without the burden of my anxiety. Now, my husband is skeptical of everything and tried to tell me it was a placebo affect, but I am not one to lie to myself about supplements. If I don’t notice a change, I don’t notice it. I’m not going to convince myself that I feel something when it isn’t there. Plus, please try to tell my brain to stop worrying about things because I am supposedly taking something to stop it. It doesn’t work! My brain doesn’t listen to me like that, if its going to worry its going to worry, anxiety cannot be turned off by willpower! (lol) It is amazing the difference I feel when I take the Ashwagandha!

So I’ve been back on it for week now and I have been very stress free since! More patient. Less agitated, less moody, and more importantly, finally about to let go of my worrying! Sometimes I just take the Ashwagandha by itself. It seems to be the one that is working for me. I do not feel the same, full effect when I take the Rhodiola by itself, but they do seem to work well together. I will keep this on hand from now on!

RESULTS:
This stuff has noticeably helped with my evening crankiness. I’m a morning person, but get irritable at night, which isn’t a good thing when you have small kids. Cortisol tests (saliva) showed that my cortisol levels were nearly unreadable at night, so the doctor recommended I supplement with this stuff. Well, it works wonderfully. I take one in the morning, and one early afternoon. Sometimes I miss the afternoon dosage, and that seems to still be okay. I’ve been taking it for nearly 2 months now, and have noticed a small decrease in effectiveness (the body getting used to the stuff, I guess). I hope that trend doesn’t continue. I used to take tryptophan, which helped the mood and sleep, but only caused cortisol levels to decrease more, making my workouts less effective. Just completed another cortisol test, and will see if levels have increased. I’m sure they have, considering my improved mood at night. If I find a way to update this review, I’ll include the latest levels when I get the results back – should be sometime in February 2012.

BIO:
I am 40 yrs old, weight train, do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and eat like a bodybuilder. Started doing all this at 36 yrs of age, and couldn’t be happier to have changed my lifestyle. But the weight training and BJJ are very taxing at my age. Due to these things, I get cranky on my days off (rest days). I’m well aware of the risk of over-training – learned the hard way. Presently, I weight train 2x/wk, and do BJJ 2x/wk, making for only 4 days of workouts, with 3 days of rest. I eat like a champ all week, but do allow myself to cheat 2 meals/wk. Since adding in bodybuilding nutrition, I’ve been seeing amazing results. Nutrition is the key, people. It’s a pain in the arse, at first, but well worth the effort.

CORTISOL:
Cortisol gets a bad rap with personal trainers. It’s actually the “hormone of life” and is vital to cellular metabolism. Without it, you die, so there is actually an ideal level to keep. Cortisol levels are usually highest in the morning and trail off as the day progresses. This is why morning workouts are the best. Long-term stress causes cortisol levels to be elevated for too long of a period, which causes adrenal fatigue/burnout. If you get cranky at any time during the day or night, you should probably get your hormone levels checked. If you’re not a morning person, like my wife, a morning dose is more beneficial. I’m not a night person, but taking it too late in the day affects my sleep, which is why I take it early afternoon, and since then the early afternoon sleepies have gone.

UPDATE, CORTISOL TEST RESULTS (March 2012):
I got the cortisol results back a couple of weeks ago, and they were in the absolute normal range! This stuff did the job perfectly. Great product!

UPDATE March 2013:
This is still my preferred mood pill. Cortisol levels have been stable for over a year now, and I don’t plan on getting off of this stuff. Still highly recommend it.

UPDATE March 2014:
I only use this product occasionally now. I’ve made other improvements in my nutrition and habits that have offset the crankiness at night.

My main point of this update is to note that, oddly, Ashwagandha started making me sleepy. I would maintain a pleasant mood, but would become sleepy a couple of hours after taking this product. I can only assume that the product is being metabolized quicker by my body, so the cortisol levels are dropping after the product has left my system. However, I know of many users that specifically use this product to fall asleep. Sorry, I wish I had a good answer to explain this, but I can only present this as anecdotal evidence.

Also, this review is on the product and details my experience. I do not have the expertise to cover every possible scenario ashwagandha may have on every body type and metabolism. Some disapproving readers of my review believe that Cortisol is to blame for weight loss issues. This is true and not so true. Long-lasting high levels of cortisol, like those evident with prolonged stress, will likely cause weight gain in some individuals. However, normal cortisol levels should not be causing an issue of weight gain, which was my focus in taking this product. If normal levels are causing weight gain, there are other hormonal issues at work, which is why I suggest everyone see a doctor, preferably one that specializes in youth and regenerative therapies.

Hormones are a tricky thing, and I do not recommend taking this product on my testimony, alone. I went through multiple screenings with my HRT doctor before starting ashwagnandha, and still see her 3 times a year. If you decide to try this on your own, pay close attention to what it is doing to your body, and adjust, or remove this product from your regimen, as necessary. I believe that the chances of this product doing irreparable damage to your weight loss goals is unlikely, however I still recommend getting a qualified doctor involved.

As with any supplements, please consult your doctor first. Other conditions you have or medications can still interact with herbals. I got terrible migraines when I used this product. I’ve discontinued it and no longer have the headaches. It’s not returnable. Thank goodness it’s not a very expensive product but it’s still a waste to not be able to take it. I’ll pass it on to someone else hopefully they can use it. It’s not a good supplement for me. Please just ask the doctor and save yourself the time, money and waste in case you have any contraindications. Just because others are seeing benefits and it’s “natural” doesn’t mean it’s always the right product for you. This will definitely affect your hormone levels and that was the problem for me. I was told that a lot of people who use ashwagandha and other estrogen affecting herbs can experience migraines due to the hormone fluctuations. Get your bloodwork done, consult a doc and the decide 😉 Otherwise, these are inexpensive, easy to swallow capsules with little to no taste. None were broken and it came securely packed. So of ashwagandha js recommended for you, I’d say this is a good one to use. This is a brand I trust for their quality as well. Never had a problem with other vitamins and herbals I’ve gotten from them. I just had a bad reaction to this one.