Ashwagandha Experiment: Day 13 and the End

The ashwagandha experiment has ended for me, though my husband is still considering it.

End results for me:
My asthma is worse, my allergies are worse, and I definitely have my GI allergy symptoms (stool change, stool color change, some abdominal cramping) going strong now with no other possible cause since this is the only new thing I've introduced.

The first few days, I had less pain, more energy, and I really thought it was something I could take that would help.  The rebound headache when it wore off, though, was definitely a problem, as were the sleep issues.  I felt more rested when I took it at night, but the tracker said I had absolutely no deep sleep those nights, and it was a lot harder to fall asleep (when it already is difficult).  Switching to taking it in the morning helped a lot for a couple of days.  In trying to ease up the bad headache in the evening (well, worse headache since I always have a headache), I split the pills to stagger dosing, and it didn't seem as effective that way.  Going back to taking a whole pill in the morning did not help my pain like it had before, and my allergy symptoms definitely started getting worse.

Another side effect for me was massive lack of appetite.  I've been forcing myself to eat even a little and finding that my appetite comes back when it wears off in the evening, which is not a good thing for my weight or metabolism at all.  I just didn't want to eat, didn't even think of food as something good (which is weird for me).  I do wonder if, for people on medications that make them hungry all the time, it would help counteract any of those symptoms.  That isn't the case with me, though, and while it helped me stay in a better calorie range for me, it didn't help with weight loss because of when I was finally hungry and able to eat.

Conclusion: I'm allergic to it, and I'm stopping taking it as of today.

End results for my husband:
He stopped taking it a couple of days ago, mostly due to the bad headaches he was starting to get.  We aren't sure if those are due to the ashwagandha, actually, so it's more that he's put it on pause to see if, after this weather system goes through and he tries it again, it works better for him.

He definitely was having GI symptoms, too, though.  Worse gas, some abdominal pain from gas cramping, and his gas smelled much worse.  We're not exactly sure what it was doing to our gut biomes, but it was doing something.  He hasn't had the lack of appetite to the same degree I've had, but he definitely has not been as hungry until it wears off.

Conclusion: My husband thinks he needs a smaller dose than the 600 mg we've been taking (Garden of Life) and a different formulation.  He's going to try taking it again in a few days and see if he has the same symptoms, and he possibly will be taking half pills instead.

The Ashwagandha Experiment: Day 11

Things have gotten interesting in the Ashwagandha Experiment in our house.  I've messed with taking it at different times and splitting doses, my husband is trying it now, and we have learned a few things.

Thing 1: It really helps to take it in the morning for us.
Taking it at night made it so I didn't get any deep sleep and took forever to fall asleep.  I did feel like I had slept really well, but the tracker says I didn't, and the brain fog says I didn't.  We both take it in the morning, though we have found it helps to take it a bit later in the morning due to Thing 2.

Thing 2: It is not fun when it wears off.
I tried doing a divided dose for a few days in hopes that it would make the evening easier when it wears off, but instead, it just made it not work as well overall with the headache still hitting hard in the evening.  My husband didn't take one yesterday (as part of his experiment), and his headache was bad all day.  We're both starting to question taking this at all due to the almost-rebound-like headaches when it wears off.

Thing 3: Divided doses did not help, but taking the one pill didn't help with a bad weather/rainy day, either.
In other words, it definitely is no miracle worker for me.  Yesterday, it stormed and rained all day, and I had zero energy and really bad pain.  The ashwagandha did nothing to help with that at all despite going back on a full dose.  Honestly, the longer I'm on it, the less effective it seems to be, which is weird.  I'm going to stay on it the full month to see if that changes.

Thing 4: Both of us are finding that our allergies and GI issues are worse on it.
I've been starting to wonder if I'm mildly allergic to it, especially since my allergies and asthma are worse and my GI symptoms are starting to look more and more like they did with soybean oil (which I've become allergic to).  I'm not quite there yet, and it is fall (and a usually bad time of year allergy-wise for me), but if my asthma keeps acting up, I will have to stop taking it entirely.  If my husband keeps having the GI issues he is, he's going to stop taking it, too.

In conclusion, over a week later, and I'm not seeing the benefits I did at first.  There is the possibility that it's the dosage or the configuration we're taking, but if I'm really allergic to it, then it doesn't matter in the end at all if it works or not.  So, I'm going to continue on it and watch everything carefully.  If the allergic symptoms continue or worsen, I will have to stop taking it and then see what happens.

The Ashwagandha Experiment: Day 5

Today has been interesting.

Last night, the ashwagandha seemed to wear off around 8:30 (putting it at a ten hour range or so), and the headache got really bad, almost like a rebound headache.  The fibro pain came roaring back, too.  I got super sleepy at 8:30, managed to stay awake through kids' bedtimes and all, but when I went to bed, I had a hard time falling asleep.  According to my tracker, I did get deep sleep, though, once I fell asleep.

This morning, I felt more like I usually do and had the same hard time waking up as usual.  My husband and I had discussed the rebound stuff, and I decided to take a half pill this morning.  I did feel more energy, and the pain started letting up a bit, and by the time I got to my neurologist's appointment, I felt decent.  I even was able to bend down and pick things up fairly easily without my muscles screaming.

Then, I went through the more thorough neuro test as part of my appointment.  That got the tremors going hard, and the fibro was all ticked off the rest of today.  My husband had the good idea tonight that I should take a half pill in the morning and then half a pill after lunch to help with the worst time of day (late afternoon).  I'm going to try that tomorrow.  It definitely didn't help enough with the pain today, so maybe going back to a full pill but in a divided dose will help more.

Another interesting side effect: lack of appetite.  I just haven't been as hungry since starting this experiment, even to the point of not finishing what I am eating.  I am a lot more thirsty, and with my kidney, I have to be concerned about that.  I was even down a pound this morning and could fit into jeans I haven't been able to wear in awhile.  Given that, if I want to lose weight at all, I can't eat much more than 1300 calories a day (long story), this isn't a bad thing.

The sleepiness is starting to hit here at 8:30 again.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.

The Ashwagandha Experiment: Day Four

I've read in several places now that the Indian herb, ashwagandha, can help quite a bit with fibromyalgia.  Given the price and how other experiments in herbals have had less-than-stellar results, I just didn't even try it.  This last summer, in an effort to get more use out of the herbs I always plant, I started researching herbal tinctures and teas.  I've made holy basil and lemon balm tinctures, and the sage oil is still steeping.  Next up (and last given the turn in our weather) is an oregano oil.

Anyway, I tried taking a blend of the holy oil and lemon balm tinctures.  Bad vertigo.  Really bad vertigo.  Maybe it was too much, maybe it's the alcohol, I'm not sure.  Next, I'm going to try taking them separately and see if I can figure out which one did the vertigo or if both do it.

In going back through some of my fibro resources about herbal treatments, I kept seeing ashwagandha mentioned repeatedly.  It's an adaptogenic herb that has shown some success in helping with fibro symptoms.  When I was at the Natural Health Center (great store here in Kalamazoo) getting my multivitamin that I was out of, I saw they had an ashwagandha blend on sale and decided to give it a try.

I had to look up when and how to take it (not on the bottle), and the results were mixed.  For some people, ashwagandha gives them energy, so they should take it in the morning.  For others, it really helps with sleep and should be taken at night.  Given that most of my reactions lean towards the sleepy side, I decided to try taking it at night.  My first night was this last Friday night.  According to my fitness tracker, I had only a few minutes of deep sleep on Friday night, and I woke up feeling rather refreshed (and so was surprised at the lack of deep sleep, one of the hallmarks of fibro and considered a possible cause).  Given the nasty storms all day Saturday, I was in surprisingly decent shape, and my pain wasn't anywhere near as debilitating as it would normally have been.  I took it again on Saturday night, and according to my tracker, I had absolutely no deep sleep.  I felt like I had slept hard, though, and my husband said that the couple of times he woke up that it seemed like I was sleeping hard.  Weird.

Sunday, I had a bit more energy than usual despite the lack of deep sleep the night before, but then the fatigue and pain hit hard again in the last afternoon like it always does.  My headache was bad, and so I had a Pepsi with dinner in the evening, and then I took another of the ashwagandha pills with my bedtime pills.

It hit hard last night after I took it, the energy and total inability to sleep. I couldn't fall asleep for hours (not tired in the least though I should have been). According to my tracker, for the second night in a row, I had zero deep sleep.  I did finally get some deep sleep when I fell back asleep this morning, after I think it wore off because I suddenly became exhausted.

I've changed the time I'm taking it to the morning to see what happens during the day. Oddly enough, my fibro-induced occipital neuralgia these last few days has been more annoying (feels like pop rocks going off on the top of my head, and it feels cold but isn't), but the pain has been less.

Today is the first day I've taken it with my morning pills, so we'll see what happens.  So far, I feel more awake, but it's like part of me is still tired and in pain.  It feels weird, but we'll see what happens.