Cistanche increases steroidogenic enzymes, lowers NO, helps osteoporosis and Alzheimer's

[cjm]

Thanks for the update buddy.

You think smoking pot may be effecting your appetite? Some people I know get mad “munchies”, and some are the total opposite ??‍

Are you taking 3g of cistanche which equates to 15g ~? Or is your teaspoon awfully big and you are actually taking 15g? ? (apologies it’s not obvious to me).

All good! It's 3g of cistanche in a 5x extract.

I usually get the munchies and things move along smoothly inside but lately the stuff I've been getting lately has been irritating me (PEG or glycerin, solvent for concentrated extracts) and causing constipation and anxiety. It's very easy to overdo. I made a batch of edibles this week, using them to curb cravings and abstain for a bit.

 

[ReSTART]

I’m going to try 4g before bed tonight

Tiredness might have been from GABAAR interaction by verbacoside

The anxiolytic activity of these extracts and verbascoside at the highest dose was similar to the effect of diazepam as a positive control.

Anti-anxiety and hypnotic effects of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Lippia citriodora leaves and verbascoside in mice

The extract of Lippia citriodora and its main component, verbascoside, are known for their hypnotic effects in traditional medicine. In this study, the anxiolytic and hypnotic effects of L. citriodora leave extracts and verbascoside were evaluated in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[ReSTART]

Don't know if it helped my sleep but it definitely reduced anxiety and calmed me down.

 

[ReSTART]

Took 2g about two hours ago, again anti-anxiety and kind of calming. Less digestive effects this time. No issues with anger.

I’m using liftmode cistanche extract by the way

 

[Mauritio]

Took 2g about two hours ago, again anti-anxiety and kind of calming. Less digestive effects this time. No issues with anger.

I’m using liftmode cistanche extract by the way

Thanks for updating!

 

[cjm]

Approaching 3 weeks of 15g (equivalent) in the morning.

My experiment is tightening up rapidly. For some reason, I am reacting more poorly than usual to synthetic powder supps. Whereas before I could take heavy doses of the B vitamins without feeling a thing, they interrupt cistanche's effects but I come back quicker than usual to the baseline cistanche state. This has allowed me to refine my methods in real-time without getting hopeless (because I'm not stuck in a marathon brain fog).

Cyproheptadine was a smart choice for starting the stack again. I've been focused on my muscles too much, the marching orders coming from my head have been relentless and this ties into serotonin's hallmark effect on the mind, rumination. I can confirm I felt like an absolute zombie past 8 mg (went to 16mg on back to back days.) My recruiter job requires 100% emotional health and I won't be able to tolerate this side effect. @Lokzo

I've targeted serotonin before. I fell in love with the elegance of Ray's descriptions of serotonin's dark side, read the forum up and down about it.

The Dark Side Of Serotonin Exposed By Haidut In 70 Studies

Below is the commentary of @haidut on 70 studies regarding serotonin. The links lead to the thread where haidut often provides some direct quotes from the study (and of course the links to the actual studies). I hope that with providing this as a whole it aids in learning in effective way about...

raypeatforum.com

Testing the hypothesis further, I made a topical ethanol solution of famotidine (Pepcid) and applied all over. Almost instant warming effect. 40mg, let's just assume I absorbed 25% of that (10mg). There are serious opportunities for synergy with cistanche, NO reduction is the big one.

It's tough to get into more detail right now, I am hellaciously anxious, but very encouraged and motivated.

 

[cjm]

It's just me getting confrontational with the people around me and although I've been planning to move out for a while, it's making me want to pack up my ***t immediately and a burning desire to just GTFO

From reading this article by Hans, it sounds like I am manifesting traits of a high serotonin personality

Wanted to follow up with you on this. I think these are signs of LOW serotonin. My advice to you before was a little... tone deaf. This weekend I felt exactly how you described. I let my emotions roll. Cycled quickly between rage, depression, and hysterical laughter. I had just had a fight with my girlfriend where I didn't indulge my rage in the moment. Instead, after she walked away, I went to the basement, sat in a chair, and just let it flow. It hurt. But I felt a little better after. I did indulge my rage, though. Ignoring that feeling is a curse.

I have more thoughts on this outside the scope of this thread if you're interested in another perspective (DMs maybe?). You need to indulge those strong emotions so you can "complete the circuit," just not at anyone else's expense, save maybe a therapist or a masochistic friend. Stated the opposite way, if someone you love makes you mad enough to want to hurt them, that is resentment and it is actively poisoning you. If you poison someone else with your resentment, they might start carrying it and you risk getting re-infected through them. My comment about "discharging your spite" was about not polluting your environment more than it already is.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

Wanted to follow up with you on this. I think these are signs of LOW serotonin. My advice to you before was a little... tone deaf. This weekend I felt exactly how you described. I let my emotions roll. Cycled quickly between rage, depression, and hysterical laughter. I had just had a fight with my girlfriend where I didn't indulge my rage in the moment. Instead, after she walked away, I went to the basement, sat in a chair, and just let it flow. It hurt. But I felt a little better after. I did indulge my rage, though. Ignoring that feeling is a curse.

I have more thoughts on this outside the scope of this thread if you're interested in another perspective (DMs maybe?). You need to indulge those strong emotions so you can "complete the circuit," just not at anyone else's expense, save maybe a therapist or a masochistic friend. Stated the opposite way, if someone you love makes you mad enough to want to hurt them, that is resentment and it is actively poisoning you. If you poison someone else with your resentment, they might start carrying it and you risk getting re-infected through them. My comment about "discharging your spite" was about not polluting your environment more than it already is.

For the time being I've paused on taking the herb and returned to some of my older protocols. What I want to say is that I think that the things that I feel while taking it are in many ways my 'true' desires (moving away, becoming independent) - however the way in which they manifest and the emotions that accompany them do not seem healthy to me. These types of things should be fueled by the desire for improvement as a person and your quality of life, but instead they came about as being out of spite, desire for revenge, bitterness, and with an extreme sense of "I want what I want, NOW, and I don't care about anyone else".

I can be fiery and impulsive, but this was very atypical even for me, and I could easily see hurting myself or others feeling this way for a prolonged amount of time. Doesn't seem healthy and I am not sure that I want to be led forward by such a state.

The last 2 days before quitting I took only 2 grams, and that seemed to be a more pleasant balance of overall effects. Perhaps I should stick to the lower end of the dose range in the future to avoid these serotonergic (or whatever) effects.

 

[ReSTART]

@cjm 8mg cyproheptadine insane, I can't do cyproheptadine, it just wipes me out entirely so tired

Woke up today feeling inflammed and bad, took 1g cistanche and it helped calm down inflammation and again, anti-anxiety and calming. Digestive effects not really noticeable after taking for a few times. I don't see any anger effects at all like people have mentioned. I'm almost out of cistanche, so far I would say the main effects for me are anti-anxiety, calming and anti-inflammatory.

 

[GenericName86]

It also inhibits tyrosinase which might not be the best thing if you want to get a tan or have grey hair ,since its crucial for melanin synthesis.

Fig. 4 Dose-dependant tyrosinase inhibition activity of Cistanche...

Download scientific diagram | Dose-dependant tyrosinase inhibition activity of Cistanche deserticola extracts. Concentration of Vit C as positive control is 0.1 mg/ml. Values are expressed as mean ± SD of three independent experiments, and represented as % of control cell viability (*p < 0.05...

www.researchgate.net

Finally received my first batch of cistanche but going over this thread and seeing this hesitant to try it now haha, does this mean it could make grey hair worse? Seems weird that something with such apparent benefits would cause grey hair to develop even further

 

[cjm]

Howdy, I'm taking a break for a while. I fell in love with an eye drop (emoxypine) and we're going on a honeymoon. I'll send postcards.

 

[Mauritio]

Finally received my first batch of cistanche but going over this thread and seeing this hesitant to try it now haha, does this mean it could make grey hair worse? Seems weird that something with such apparent benefits would cause grey hair to develop even further

The effect was only alittle more significant than with vitamin c and people taking vitamin c dont end up with grey hair ...
Also cistanche is an anti-oxidant which might help with grey hair .
I wouldnt be too concerned about it ...

 

[GenericName86]

Took my first dose last night, half a teaspoon, wasn't prepared for the taste lol.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

Took my first dose last night, half a teaspoon, wasn't prepared for the taste lol.

Bad? I actually looked forward to taking it, tasted pleasantly salty and spicy in a sense.

 

[GenericName86]

Bad? I actually looked forward to taking it, tasted pleasantly salty and spicy in a sense.

Not bad just strong, quite bitter. Haven't really had anything like it before hence why i was taken back by it. Where did you get yours from? I'm taking lost empire herbs tubulosa.

 

[ReSTART]

Took the last of mine, 2.5 gram today. Same effect as I wrote before. Mine is from liftmode.

It is very bitter but it tastes fine apart from that.

With the effects, it’s like l-theanine but with effects on the body, instead of the mind. L-theanine makes me feel foggy/spaced out. Cistanche is more “grounding” and physically calming without tiredness.

The anxiolytic effect isn’t massive but it’s definitely anti-inflammatory, I can I feel it.

 

[Mauritio]

Took the last of mine, 2.5 gram today. Same effect as I wrote before. Mine is from liftmode.

It is very bitter but it tastes fine apart from that.

With the effects, it’s like l-theanine but with effects on the body, instead of the mind. L-theanine makes me feel foggy/spaced out. Cistanche is more “grounding” and physically calming without tiredness.

The anxiolytic effect isn’t massive but it’s definitely anti-inflammatory, I can I feel it.

Did you notice any efects related to hormones? Better mucslcen growth , fat loss ,libido , confidence etc.?

 

[ReSTART]

@Mauritio not really, increased confidence from the anxiolytic effect maybe. It does make you feel better in general, probably would have to do a higher dose for a longer time to see more noticeable effects.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

Not bad just strong, quite bitter. Haven't really had anything like it before hence why i was taken back by it. Where did you get yours from? I'm taking lost empire herbs tubulosa.

Mine's from Raw Forest Foods.

 

[Ismail]

@Mauritio FYI buddy

Boost Free Testosterone with Cistanche Supplementation — Wild Free Organic

Cistanche is a herb found growing in deserts that has testosterone boosting properties. When paired with dietary cholesterol, natural testosterone production is amplified. By supplementing with cistanche and eating more eggs, in five weeks I boosted my free testosterone by >50%, built muscle, and

wildfreeorganic.com