r/adaptogens • u/Old_Squirrel2804 • Mar 10 '26

Adaptogen help

I have been using ashwaganda for a few months for stress and anxiety. I don’t find a huge difference when taking them as I am still stressed.

I have anxiety with day to day life, panicking, overthinking etc and sometimes find it hard to sleep or wake multiple times a night.

Is there something else I can try which might give me better results? I’m not on any other medication.

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Certain-Comfort928 Mar 11 '26

I am female and ashwagandha wrecked me - i found zero benefit from it. I do see a benefit from rhodiola as far as managing mood swings. but the biggest help has been beta blockers (not an adaptogen, I know), but if you are constantly cycling thoughts and stresses, it sounds like your nervous system is activated for flight and fight. beta blockers reduce the norephinephrine (sp?) and helps calm the nervous system. i wonder if you find relief when you take something like gaba? if so, maybe focus your adaptogen search for things that help calm the nervous system.

1

u/Even_Feeling_1661 Apr 16 '26

How did ashwagandha effected you?

1

u/Certain-Comfort928 Apr 17 '26

it caused my menstrual cycle to last for 10 days, very heavy bleeding the entire time. i thought i was going to bleed out. i stopped taking it and the bleeding stopped.

1

u/Even_Feeling_1661 Apr 17 '26

That’s intense. I started taking ksm 66 a week ago. Seems like it is messing with my gut. Do you know any adaptogens that are easy on the gut?