5 replies to this topic

[nupi]

Got a free Adapt 232 sample from iHerb. As usual with SHI, it does not really say what is in there aside of
Rhodiola rosea (root)
Eleutherococcus senticosus (root)
Schisandra chinensis (fruit)

I surmise this is SHR-5 (supposedly the best Rhodiola supplement out there - still, it didnt do much for me) blended with two more ingredients. Reviews on iHerb seem generally positive. I just wonder if I can stack this onto an SSRI (I know Rhodiola is a mild MAOB-I but I maintain that should not be an issue)? It seems like Eleuthero and Schisandra should be reasonably safe, right?

[Dissolvedissolve]

Rhodiola's actually a non-selective MAOI.

The' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19168123']The methanol and water extracts exhibited respectively inhibitions of 92.5% and 84.3% on MAO A and 81.8% and 88.9% on MAO B, at a concentration of 100 microg/ml. The most active compound (rosiridin) presented an inhibition over 80% on MAO B at a concentration of 10(-5) M (pIC50=5.38+/-0.05).
CONCLUSIONS:
The present investigation demonstrates that Rhodiola rosea L. roots have potent anti-depressant activity by inhibiting MAO A and may also find application in the control of senile dementia by their inhibition of MAO B.

→ source (external link)

As far as stacking RR with an MAOI, I believe plenty have done it - just google around - but it's a bit risky.

For me at least, now nearly two weeks into RR at 500 mg/day, I've noticed literally nothing.

[nupi]

I am not trying to stack it with a MAOI but rather an SSRI. Although both ideas seem like not so sexy if it really is a MAOA-I as well.

What RR product have you been using? Effects in my case were noticeable but relatively mild and short lasted (could have been placebo, too)

[Dissolvedissolve]

I am not trying to stack it with a MAOI but rather an SSRI. Although both ideas seem like not so sexy if it really is a MAOA-I as well.

What RR product have you been using? Effects in my case were noticeable but relatively mild and short lasted (could have been placebo, too)

Sorry about that - it was a typo. I meant it could have an interaction with an SSRI via serotonin syndrome. It could interact with an MAOI as well, although I'd honestly be more concerned about an SSRI since at least with an MAOI you'd just be augmenting the MAOI and you'd already have altered your diet.

I'm using NOW Rhodiola Rosea (standardized 3%). I'm aware that SHR-5 formulations are likely better, but I wasn't particularly optimistic about it to start with, so I just went with a cheap, reliable option. I expected to at least notice something, maybe a mild energy increase or elevation in mood, but I haven't.

[BLimitless]

I am not trying to stack it with a MAOI but rather an SSRI. Although both ideas seem like not so sexy if it really is a MAOA-I as well.

What RR product have you been using? Effects in my case were noticeable but relatively mild and short lasted (could have been placebo, too)

Sorry about that - it was a typo. I meant it could have an interaction with an SSRI via serotonin syndrome. It could interact with an MAOI as well, although I'd honestly be more concerned about an SSRI since at least with an MAOI you'd just be augmenting the MAOI and you'd already have altered your diet.

I'm using NOW Rhodiola Rosea (standardized 3%). I'm aware that SHR-5 formulations are likely better, but I wasn't particularly optimistic about it to start with, so I just went with a cheap, reliable option. I expected to at least notice something, maybe a mild energy increase or elevation in mood, but I haven't.

I remember reading on here that NOW Rhodiola wasn't really all that great when I first chose which Rhodiola to buy. More specifically it appeared that some people had it work great but others had nothing, or nothing spectacular.

It seems you need something standardised not just to rosavins but also to salidrosides. In the case of SHR-5 it is standardised to rosavins, salidrosides, p-tyrosol and maybe polyphenols too IIRC. These additional chemicals are crucial to getting anything useful out of Rhodiola because for one, they synergise heavily such that the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts and for two, the salidroside has a different action to the rosavin.

A search on this forum for Rhodiola Rosea should bring up everything I mentioned here, I just specifically typed in "best rhodiola brand" and grabbed all this info a few months ago. For the record I went with SHR-5 and had amazing outcomes. Right now I got a tincture bottle of Nature's Answer Rhodiola and this stuff is pretty good too, but SHR-5 is better on all counts in strength/dosage (360mg vs 100mg) and price.

[nupi]

Sorry about that - it was a typo. I meant it could have an interaction with an SSRI via serotonin syndrome. It could interact with an MAOI as well, although I'd honestly be more concerned about an SSRI since at least with an MAOI you'd just be augmenting the MAOI and you'd already have altered your diet.

Unless you are dealing with pharmaceutical MAOI (think Nardil et al) diet is very unlikely to ever be an issue. Even then, the issue is somewhat overblown. There is a very good page by a retired MD (I think he was from the UK) outlining that but I cannot find it right now (edit I think its http://psychotropical.com/ lots of good stuff on MAOI and Serotonin Toxicity on that page). Also Serotonin Syndrome seems to be a somewhat overblown threat but yes, I do not feel like I want to push it.

I'm using NOW Rhodiola Rosea (standardized 3%). I'm aware that SHR-5 formulations are likely better, but I wasn't particularly optimistic about it to start with, so I just went with a cheap, reliable option. I expected to at least notice something, maybe a mild energy increase or elevation in mood, but I haven't.

That one I found to be totally useless, too (I am less than convinced in the quality of anything herbal coming from NOW anyhow). SHR-5 seemed to do something at least but not quite enough (similar story with Jarrow, BTW).

FWIW, I sent an email to SHI (considering that they paint themselves as very science minded, they should have a view on that), BTW, let's see what they say regarding mixing SHR-5 and SSRI...

Edited by nupi, 04 January 2013 - 09:05 AM.