Loading
Cariapowered by CurioGet started

Ashwagandha

By Caria CommunityPublished 12 July 2020Updated 21 March 20211 min read

Ashwagandha is an herb used in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India. Limited research suggests that it works well for reducing stress and anxiety. A number of studies suggest that it has anti-anxiety effects; studies are mostly supportive of a notable effect of ashwagandha for this purpose, and it seems to reduce cortisol levels. However, more research is needed before we can have a great deal of confidence in it or know the optimal dose. Ashwagandha may also be able to reduce insomnia, fatigue, and the symptoms of depression, but it hasn’t been well-researched for these purposes.It may also modestly enhance strength performance, improve glucose metabolism, and increase testosterone levels, but more research is needed to confirm this.

How effective has ashwagandha been for relieving your symptoms?

Please share your review with the Caria community:

This poll ran on the Caria community site and is now closed. The final results are below.

  • Somewhat effective48.28%70 votes
  • Very effective37.93%55 votes
  • Not effective13.79%20 votes

145 responses in total.

Suggest a new topic

Community comments

16

Real experiences shared by the community, from the original discussion to today.

  • Caroline6 years ago

    I noticed my mood swings almost immediately ceased after starting this supplement.

  • Jen6 years ago

    This has changed my life! I have been taking this incrementally over the last 18months with a great response. My biggest concern is I’m now on the maximum dose and I’m worried what to do next should my symptoms of anxiety/low mood return?

    • Clancy6 years ago

      What is the maximum dose please Jen? I’m clueless!

  • Cory6 years ago

    It gives me about four hours sleep when I wake up in the middle of the night

  • Kalinah6 years ago

    I call this my “happy pill”!

  • Clancy6 years ago

    I found this to really help. I take a lot of pharmaceuticals for seizures and I don’t want to add to my pill cupboard so I tried these and I was really impressed by the results.

  • Jolange6 years ago

    Does anyone know of how this reacts with other medications please??

  • Kali5 years ago

    I started taking Ashwaghanda in November 2019 at age 50. I’ve been on every anti-depressant and evening anti depressants plus additional mood stabilisers right throughout my life since age 20 ...... and NOTHING medication wise has ever helped me ..... (and the accumulation of all these compounds in my body for so long likely made me much worse). Then I started taking Ashwaghanda last November and i could not believe it ....... it started helping within a few weeks. I will continue taking it for sure.

  • Niq5 years ago

    More energy!

  • Jolange5 years ago

    Just started this yesterday. I will add an update in a couple of weeks, if I remember ?

  • Shauna5 years ago

    I have Hashimoto autoimmune and I started taking this for two days and had a very noticeable reaction. It put me mentally/emotionally on the ledge. Dr that suggested it said to stop taking it as approx 20% of his patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis had this same reaction.

  • Natasha5 years ago

    I use Ashwagandha with black pepper, with a 3000 mg dose each night. Within 2 days I started sleeping better, and sounder. The biggest improvement has been waking up rested! My sleep app on my watch indicates my sleep is much better, with appropriate deep, light and REM SLEEP. Each bottle is 2 months supply,

    • Kasey4 months ago

      What brand do you use?

  • Julia5 years ago

    I’m really interested in trying this but I’ve just started taking HRT so I think I need to give that a while to kick in before I start mixing things up. Is anyone else using this alongside HRT or is it just an alternative that can’t be combined?

  • Ines4 years ago

    My sleep improved a lot since I started to take it regularly

  • Allie3 years ago

    Hi there, I have just quite recently heard about Ashwaghanda and am very interested in giving it a go. I am on HRT for headaches and dizziness and have been for 16 months, it has helped immensely with those two symptoms, but I recently ( due to my son not being well and my aging parents mainly) have been feeling quite low, fed up and definitely not myself. So I looked up natural remedies and came across Ashwagandah .... I read it was important to get a product that was made from the root and not the leaves. Can anyone recommend what I should buy please? I live in the UK. Thanks in advance. Allie xx

Join the discussion

Share what worked for you — comments are reviewed before they appear.