Valerian Linked to Nightmares
While the search for natural means of getting sleep is a need, it seems that there is one that is causing nightmares rather than restful slumber. Valerian, a herbal sleep aid commonly used by those who want an alternative to prescription sedatives, has been linked to serious side effects.
Health Canada said it has received more than 30 reports of adverse reactions, including hallucinations and nightmares, linked to valerian from 2003 to 2008. The department also warned in a quarterly adverse-reaction newsletter that some medical studies have found an association between valerian and hallucinations, delirium and cardiac complications.
Such an occurrence has indeed been bad for the natural aids of getting sleep. But if there is some retraction on this claim it is that there is lack of proper statistics to be used for reference to which these claims can be backed up.
(Source) Globe and Mail
March 4th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Yes, I totally agree. I don’t think I’ve ever had a nightmare – until I took Valerian. One night was enough. My wife then tried it & she too had a nightmare the one time she tried it.
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July 19th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I experienced hallucinations after drinking herbal tea with valerian. Scared the crap out of me. I’m really suprised that there isn’t more research on the negative side effects of valerian.
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August 20th, 2009 at 8:57 am
I had taken Valerian some time ago, and had experienced a very vivid nightmare, but decided to chalk it up to coincidence, casually mentioning it to the GF. It has been months since I have taken it, and I was struggling with sleep two nights ago. Took one 450mg capsule and it worked great, although when I woke up yesterday morning, I vaguely remember feeling a bit tense, as if I just had a dream, an intense one. But not enough to cause alarm, it’s a dream right? But I couldn’t directly relate the feeling to a dream, or for that matter, to the Valerian, so I ignored it.
I could sense I was going to have trouble sleeping again last night, and decided to try Valerian once more. This time, I took TWO 450mg capsules. I woke up after about 6 hours from a deep sleep with the same sensation, as though I had a dream, but no big deal. BUT THEN, I fell back to sleep for about two hours, and had THE MOST INTENSE nightmare I have ever had. It felt so real, that I thought it was happening and was panicking. I was in a flood, and couldn’t keep the water out of my house, but this was a flood like an apocalyptic flood, Tsunami type! Sounds exciting? It wasn’t.
I still can’t get over how intense and real it felt, and I would consider myself of sound mind and body. If I were to have lived a few hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago for that matter, I swear I would have thought the dream I had was a revelation from God and that I was his messenger and that my job now was to warn people about the coming flood that was going to wipe out humanity as we now know it. Call me Noah. Call me crazy. See you on the corner with my billboard hanging from my neck. The End is Nigh!
Feeling adventurous? Take two and call me in the morning.
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August 23rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
I took triple the max. dose, but I experienced paranoia similar to being high. I thought a vacuum cleaner was a hunched black dog, was scared by a suitcase and thought something was coming out from under my bed. I couldn’t sleep until 6 am. I felt really good besides the hallucinations lol
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December 22nd, 2009 at 7:59 am
I tried Valarian 3 times with quite a long time span between and each time I got very vivid and scary hallucinations. Never tried it since altho the people at the store I got it from say this doesn't happen. Take my word IT DOES!!
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February 19th, 2010 at 6:20 am
I take it often (practically every night), usually with a B complex as well, which is also supposed to cause lucid dreams, and well, I get them. Not as often as I’d like. Not even once a week. But when I do get them, they feel utterly undistinguishable from reality, like I’ve somehow tapped into a parallel universe. I’ve had them be incredibly intense, though not what I’d call a full blown nightmare. Many of them are based around being in bed. In one I was lying back to back with my wife. I could feel the warmth of her body. Then something lifted the flap of the covers on my side of the bed. It startled me awake, and I found I wasn’t lying in that position at all. Lots of little things like that. Having conversations with the wife that never happened, vivid hallucinations that felt easily as real as the waking state. I find it all extremely interesting. It actually makes me look forward to going to bed, and I’m experimenting with ways to trigger it more easily, and make it more intense.
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