Rhodiola rosea may be effective for improving mood and alleviating depression. Pilot studies on human subjects showed that it improves physical and mental performance, and may reduce fatigue.

More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodiola_rosea

It basically does what the label says it will do. It's not a major change, but enough of one to justify using it. Overall, I'm pretty damn happy with it so far. I've only been on it three days, so if I notice any negative effects I'll edit this post.

Been on it for a day, definitely notice a difference in anxiety and mood. I don't get stuck on negative thoughts. I took 250 mg of NOW brand. the only problem is that I'm awake and its 4am and i took it early in the morning.

Don't expect to get the real results until weeks of continuous use.

So does it create a calming effect? It sounds like it's stimulating... I don't know how that is supposed to help with anxiety.

I bought some 175mg pills that I plan on taking 3 of per day. There don't seem to be standardized dosing recommendations, but some sites say as high as 600mg of 3% standardized rosavins is the top of the recommended dosing range.

Anyone know if it makes a difference whether I take all 3 pills at once or if I spread them out?

Aha well I read some other threads on Rhodiola Rosea and there seems to be a bit of positive feedback, so I thought I'd take the plunge and try some! I also recall reading about it on another website about stress/anxiety supplements, so go figure.

I bought tablets from a company called Bioglan ('GinSynergy plus Rhodiola')

It says each tablet contains Rhodiola, Korean Ginseng, Siberian Ginseng and Withania.

The Rhodiola Rosea component is labelled as follows:

Rhodiola rosea (Arctic Root)
dry ext. conc. equiv dry root 740mg
standardised to 3.7mg salidroside (2%)
standardised to 7.4mg phenylpropanoid glycosides
calc as rosavin, rosarin and rosin (4%)

Directions say to take 2 tablets a day.


Popped two tabs just now (1:30PM) - will post back over the next few days with my progress.

in terms of what? I'm already getting results. Its mild and calming but nothing dramatic.

what kind of mg should i be taking?

Well after taking my first dose, I can say that I've never felt so tired in my life.

Over the last 6 hours, I've probably slept for around 4 of those - I just couldn't keep my eyes open. :/


I'll try take some tomorrow morning and see how I go...

Robtyl, this is an excellent and temporary side-effect. I've ALWAYS been tired for days when raising my dopamine levels, and it might have something to do with my ADHD. Suffices to say that whenever something makes me tired initially (like Rhodiola did), the better the results will be in the long run.

The tiredness is probably something akin to low blood-sugar levels (mainly mental fatigue). It takes days for your metabolism to adjust to changes in brain activity Rhodiola Rosea can induce. Keep it up! Seriously, if you're like me, you want this side-effect to happen, although it's severely debilitating at first.

Thanks for the reply Edwin! I was a bit concerned, since I read Rhodiola is stimulating at low doses and sedating at high doses. I thought maybe I took too much, despite the package advising to take two tablets!

I also read the abstracts of a few medical studies that found Rhodiola to have an effect akin to MAOIs, hope it doesn't wreak havoc with my low dose of Lexapro. Oh well, I'll give it a shot anyway.

Good to know this is a good side effect! Hopefully I'll get more energy levels soon; the lethargy from the Lexapro is ruining my ability to study! Exams are just around the corner, eep!

I combine it with low dose Fluoxetine, which is more stimulating at lower doses. Lexapro doesn't have this property and if you're feeling lethargic now, I doubt Rhodiola will correct this much in the long-term. Consider lowering your dose; Rhodiola will help with serotonin also, so you won't need as much.

I've tried it before and it did seem to have a slight stimulating effect. The problem is, like a lot of herbal and other supplements, it's not regulated as a drug by the FDA. So you're not always getting a standardized product. The bottle I got from GNC said "GNC Herbal Plus Standardized" on it, though. I don't know how rigorous their standardization is, so I don't know if that really means anything.

so far it works pretty well. normally when I'm ****ed up from alcohol I wouldn't have the balls to approach ppl still and this has really lifted my mood. I talked to everyone at a party last night. Day 4 so far.

I think this works well for mild depression, and depression can be as hindering if not more, than anxiety.

After reading about the benefits of Rhodiola, I took it for a couple of weeks several months ago. It did absolutely nothing for me - while many reported a feeling of mild stimulation and/or wellbeing, I felt no effects whatsoever. However, I have come to realise that some brands are much better than others and I may have been using a substandard one (it was certainly cheap, anyway). I probably didn't take it long enough for it to be effective either. As a result of this thread, I think I'll try it again ... except this time I'll go with a more reputable brand and take it for a longer period of time.

been using it on and off and do notice an increased alertness similar to coffee without the jitters when i study.

Which brand do you guys recommend? I was thinking on ordering from amazon, but can't decide the brand. Please help, money is not an issue.

I have Jarrow Formulas (500mg), and I can attest that it works.

200mg pills, 3% of rosawin. Is it a good product?

3 DAY PROGRESS REPORT:

So I've been popping two of these bad boys (740MG; 2% salidrosides; 4% rosavins) each morning for three days now, and I feel GOOD.

BTW, I'm on 50MG Pristiq and have been getting quite tired during the day. I still get tired, but when I'm awake, I feel wired, in a non-euphoric way!

This stuff is great!

Then again, I've been drinking a can of Mother on the same days... but who knows. Placebo could be at play here too.

Will post back with further progress! Thought it might be nice to provide a brief update though.


x

I believe this herb only targets people with specific body chemistry. The reason being everyone seems to have different reactions. Some feel more active and happy, some get tired, and some get no results whatsoever. Me being the last one. I took 300 mg new chapter rhodiola for a week, felt nothing, so I upped it to 600mg for the next week. still nothing. I bought another bottle, tried 900 mg till that ran out, not the slightest effect. So while this herb didn't do anything for me, I still do believe that everyone should still give it a try for a few weeks atleast. Many people claim spectacular results, and it has been proven as an adaptogen, in that it improves the bodies response to stress. Maybe my mistake was that I didn't try different brands, or forms of ingestion. My brand was in capsule form, but Ive seen it in liquid extract also. Whichever form is the better one is something I've seen debated but never resolved.