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Herbal and aromatherapy products

By Ally (aka pflover)

I recently had the opportunity to sample several herbal and aroma therapy products available in Canada from Ethnogarden Botanicals and Natural Universe, Inc. and thought I would share my experience.

Many sources online claim that Sceletium tortousum and its active constituent mesembrine are effective SSRIs. These claims appear mostly to be based off of US patent 6,288,104 which states that mesembrine is an SSRI and describes axiolytic effects following ingesting it (1). Based on these findings I decided to try both whole Sceletium tortousum plant matter and mesembrine tincture. I personally did not find standardized mesembrine tincture to be effective when compared to Sceletium tortousum powder in gum. I did notice some effects from it but overall less distinct than the combination of gum and whole herb. This might be due to the whole herb containing as many as nine more alkaloids which have similar structures and effects to mesembrine. The alcohol content in the original formula of the tincture was rather high and it burned a bit, making me wonder if a glycerin tincture might work. As a result, a glycerin version should now be available. As an SSRI, mesembrine is fast acting. I was able to use gum plus the whole herb to help ease my recent withdrawal from Celexa, a pharmaceutical SSRI, starting at about half a gram of herb in gum down to about 0.05g – 0.1g over about two and a half weeks. I cannot comment on whether or not the tincture would work the same, but it appears to have a slightly less complex effect and at higher doses is more edgy than the whole herb. Onset of full effect is also slower. Although producing a more edgy effect at first, 3ml of tincture appeared to produce effects similar to that of 0.5g whole herb in gum, which became more tranquillizing with time. This may in part be due to a reduced amount of time in contact with the mucus membranes of the mouth, the preferred route of administration. This is good news for those interested in either sceletium or mesembrine products, as the price should be going down soon.

In a hit to anti-addiction research, shortly after Ethnogarden Botanicals made their contract with the Bwiti of Gabon to supply iboga root bark from the Bwiti’s massive farm, the Gabon government passed a ban on the export of iboga products. The primary supplier of Ethnogarden Botanical’s sceletium products in Cameroon has offered to take up the slack and if all goes well, this should allow Ethnogarden Botanicals to once again provide an adequate supply of ibogaine to researchers and clinicians working to break the cycle of addiction.

I had previously reported that the whole kratom leaf available at Ethnogarden Botanicals may be a reasonably affordable choice for those looking to investigate herbal alternatives for analgesic pain relief. Although this is probably true, there has been significant negative feedback concerning adverse effects on mood (irritability and grumpiness) following regular administration; however, investigations into kratom alkaloid and kratom alkaloid derivative tinctures have not reliably observed this effect on mood. As a result, the tinctures and combination tinctures might be the best way to go. However, having no experience with regular administration of whole kratom leaf, I cannot comment on this phenomenon directly. The tinctures available at Ethnogarden botanicals are very effective as analgesics, however, with the Kratom Combo #4 producing the most benefit. Preliminary findings suggest that at a dosage of 10 ml per 24 hours, this combination may have the same analgesic potential as four 80 mg OxyContin over the same time period with less intoxication and runny nose the only observed side effect thus far.  Lower dosages seem to be effective for weaning subjects off methadone. It should be noted, however, that these findings are still awaiting official replication. For those wishing to fine-tune their research, there are also four Essence of Kratom tinctures providing a great deal of control over exact effect achieved.

I also got to try the Diviner’s Elixir from Natural Universe, Inc. recently. It has a minty quality that is really pleasant and a pleasant light to moderate effect, able to satisfy the needs of most customers. Really great job on that one, I have to say. Aminex is another new product from Natural Universe. This pungent aroma therapy blend stimulates the imagination and creativity while helping provide a relaxing environment in which to meditate and/or create.

Finally, soon Natural Universe should also be releasing ololliuhqui rivea corymbosa in three gram packs. On average, this amounts to 2.4mg LSA per pack. This is approximately two starter doses for making LSA tea or wine in order to abort a cluster headache period, or extend the remission period in order to skip the next expected cluster headache attack. Sufferers of cluster headaches, aka suicide headaches, know that while even the most effective available prescription drug for migraine, Imitrex^TM, may help abort an acute attack, for some it usually does not abort the current period nor offer any prophylactic effect against future periods. Interestingly, under the Controlled Substances Act, possession of Imitrex^TM could be prosecutable as the 5-methanesulfonamide analogue of the Schedule I controlled substance dimethyltryptamine, aka DMT. It should be made clear that cluster headaches are not migraines and vice-versa. Unlike a migraine, which is a more generalized brain disorder involving such regions as the brain stem, the occipital lobe (where the visual processing center is found accounting for the auras) and the cortex, cluster headache by and large only effect very specific regions deep in the brain, namely the hypothalamus, which, among other things, regulates the biological clock accounting for the periodicity of this disorder. Furthermore, the two conditions are epidemiologically different, as well with approximately twice as many women developing migraines than men, and four to seven times as many men developing cluster headaches as women. Therefore, it would not be reasonable to expect them to be effectively treated by the same medicines. For example, chemical relatives methysergide and LSD are inversely effective against migraine and cluster headache respectively. In general, the more potently psychoactive indolamines appear to be more effective against cluster headache, but less so against migraine. These include LSD and psilocybin, however both these two substances are Schedule I substances in the US and in most other countries are also strictly illegal. In comparison, LSA is listed as Schedule III in the US and is therefore not covered under the auspices of the Analog Act. As a result, prosecution for possessing LSA, especially small amounts, is essentially unheard of.  Another advantage of LSA over other ergoline derivatives such as methysergide is that, for cluster headache, significantly less LSA is required to obtain the desired result and as a result, the risk of treatment induced ergotism, a toxic response to large or frequent doses of ergoline derivatives, is substantially reduced. In a preliminary study, Dr. Andrew Sewell has determined the effective dose of LSA for periodic cluster headache to be between 0.5 mg and 3 mg, and 1.25 mg and 3 mg for chronic cluster headache (1). Erowid.org indicates that Albert Hofmann determined the effective oral psychoactive dose of LSA to be 2 mg to 5 mg suggesting that the average cluster headache suffer is able to obtain significant relief from psychoactively sub-threshold doses of LSA. Dr. Sewell suggests grinding the seeds with lemon juice, letting this dry, placing it in a tea bag and making tea (2). Clusterbusters.com, however, suggests soaking the ground seeds in red wine for 12-24 hours, straining and drinking, which is interesting, since alcohol is a known trigger for cluster headaches. Red wine appears to be preferred, as the increased tannins seem to aid in extraction of the LSA.

For more information on these products and more please visit Ethnogarden.com and NaturalUniverseInc.com.

Reference

1. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,288,104.PN.&OS=PN/6,288,104&RS=PN/6,288,104 (Accessed 5/31/2009).

2. Sewell, RA, Reed, K and Cunningham, M. RESPONSE OF CLUSTER HEADACHE TO SELF-ADMINISTRATION OF SEEDS CONTAINING LYSERGIC ACID AMIDE (LSA). 2008. HYPERLINK “http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsa/lsa_article2.pdf”www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsa/lsa_article2.pdf (Accessed 5/18/2009).

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 7:23 am and is filed under TY Magazine. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.