Why do I feel better on Panax Ginseng.

[Paul]

Ok....I know the answer in simple terms is self evident. But how about the
complex reason...I can handle it.

Yes, I am the same Paul with the cracked tongue and this pain in the groin....
Well, taking your advice that I have leaky gut, I asked myself why....and
my reaction to stress pointed me to Panax. So for the last two days I take the standard dosage of 500mgs in the AM and PM.....

Guess what....today no anal pain.....even my slightly coated tongue is
30% clearer.....wow.....

Now I am wondering why. In researching the mechanism of action I see that it unfortunately ( or fortunately in some ways is a general tonic) The
herb seems to affect the adrenals...and two different sources say it EITHER
raises or lowers cortisol........which I guess is a really good thing....but leaves
me wondering which it is doing in my case. I am the guy with.....sigh.....low saliva cortisol and his plasma cortisol.

Another mechanism of action is that it actually fools with neurotransmittors...especially acetycholine. I just bought some Acetyl
L Carnitine to do a seperate test and see if it has any effect.

The bad news is that I did not take the dose this morning and it is late
afternoon here in this part of Canada and I am actually coming down from
this stuff.......Makes me almost afraid to take it for a month and really come down hard.......

As well, the stuff makes me a little less on the ball than I would like....almost the effect I suspect one would get from Valium or a glass of
wine....
I really don`t like taking chemicals or even herbs to feel good....what else should I look at......did six months of talk therapy and talked all myl
childhood crap out.......didn`t do what this stuff did for me in a couple of days.

[shelley]

Oh I'm glad you brought that up - I did forgot to mention adaptogenic herbs.

Ginseng is one of the best adaptogenic herbs, but it's even better to take several different kinds. Planetary Formula has an adaptogenic blend with several others, for instance, astralagus.

Adaptogenic herbs mitigate our reactions to adrenaline. They either slow down the body's fightorflight response at the outset so that less adrenaline is released, or they work to dampen the receptors on the neurons that accept adrenaline.

Stress will cramp up the intestines terribly. If it's the colon that cramps, especialy the descending colon, you'll get that awful cramp around the rectal area. People with IBS are often just people in the wrong careers or with the wrong attitude towards life, so that they have too much adrenaline/epinephrine in their systems all the time.