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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Effects of Himalaya's geriforte

I am taking himalaya's geriforte for the past few days. And as usually, I found my anxiety is low and my stuttering is very minimal. Fluency of speech is excellent with good diction. From the literature, I found that geriforte may work through steroid receptors in the body.

I assume that my cortisol levels are low than the normal. (Even though the laboratory test results indicate the normal results. 1. I tested at Malar hospital, Chennai at 10 am after a coconut oil full body massage and steam bath at a naturopath's clinic (No breakfast, had only tea), tested in blood 2. Test done by neurogistics, US with saliva samples.) Since I experience everyday social anxiety stress due to my stuttering, I expect my cortisol levels to be higher than normal.

Also, based on the research literature, my LC-NE (locus ceroleus-norepinephrine) circuit seems to be high. Due to that, I used to have slightly elevated BP always (130/90). My cortisol levels should be lower than normal due to the continuous increased LC-NE activity. Due to everyday stress, my cortisol may appear to be normal (It could be actually an increase from the lower level).

After taking geriforte for few days, I tested my BP. Surprisingly, my BP was lower around 120/80 on repeated readings. Also, it increased my fluency to a greater level. From these things, I can assume that geriforte may work on corticosteroid receptors. Because glucocorticoids are known to reduce the LC-NE firing. Also, I experienced reduction of anxiety and stress.

Also I am taking a baby milk formula which contains tryptophan and tyrosine along with omega 6 and omega 3. I use this milk powder for making my milk tea. After taking this I don't find any greater influence of serotonergic effects like intense nausea. Also, the phenylalanine or tyrosine related effects like increased BP or increased stuttering or presyncope (about to faint feelings) or increased limb movements while walking. I assume that geriforte may normalize the HPA axis by reducing the LC-NE activity and decrease the impaired negative feedback of cortisol at the HPA axis.

Also, I experienced side effects after taking this medicine. gasping for breath while talking (bronchoconstriction), bloated stomach, blurred vision and some unusual irritating feeling inside my head (I don't know how to express this symptom and this symptom is completely stopped after I took magnesium with glycine and taurine, so it could be increased glutamate activity) which produced restlessness. The bronchoconstriction effect subsided slowly after few doses. Blurred vision is worsened with stress (when I was driving to a new place, blurred vision occurred and it didn't subside even after resting for few hours and eating lunch, after sleeping only it subsided). So, the blurred vision could be also due to increased epinephrine release during the stress.

So based on the adverse effects of this drug, the mechanism of action could be through cholinergic system. I read one literature that ashwagandha acts through inhibition of acetylcholine esterase. This could be the possible reason for blurred vision.

Also, I found that my fecal incontinence is much better now. So, it could have been caused by the weaker sphincter muscle which is again caused by a low acetylcholine level.



9 comments:

  1. namaskar, i read your blog when i search google on geriforte effact on stammering because i hear that geriforte reduce stammering and i want to write an article on geriforte effact on stammering for my blog POPATI:THE ALTARNATIVE CURE
    in your blog i read most of your article and found that geriforte is only medicine which help you to reduce stuttering then i want to ask why you stop this medicine. one more request that after reading your blog and it about me page i think if you avoid non veg foods and eggs and done pranayam anuloma viloma and use geriforte for 1 month than all of your problem is 95% goes away can you take this reserch for and publish results on your blog.

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  2. Hello,
    Thanks for your comment.

    "geriforte is only medicine which help you to reduce stuttering then i want to ask why you stop this medicine."

    Yes. Geriforte worked initially. It reduced my stuttering very much. However, It did not improve my courage to initiate a talk in meetings and also it did not improve my mood. Also, when I took geriforte along with multivitamin tablets, it caused me blurring of vision while driving and more stuttering with gasping. Hence, I had to stop geriforte. If I have to take geriforte, I think I need to stop all the medicines and allow a washout period of 2-4 weeks (without any drugs).

    You mentioned about pranayam anuloma viloma in your comment. Can you explain how to do this step-by-step? I can try this and post the results in this blog. Thanks.

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  3. Hello,

    Considering what I have experienced after taking 2 mg of betamethasone, this sounds very interesting to me as it is a synthetic glucocorticoid. I would be delighted to have your comment about it.
    am a twenty year old male.I experienced a few hours of a total absence of stuttering after taking 2 mg betamethasone as pills.
    Total absence means that not only was I able to speak fluently. Many stutterers can speak fluently for some period. So do I. But I experienced total control of speech production.
    The only limit to the velocity of my speech were my thoughts. I could bring my thoughts into speech without any effort, neither mentally nor physically.
    But to know exactly what I mean, please read my detailed description of what happened:
    After taking the drug my doctor prescribed to me after releasing me out of hospital after a small operation, my head almost burst (I didn’t measure blood pressure). After having taken a short nap with awkward nightmares, I played the piano.
    Suddenly, I noticed a tension inside my ears I had never noticed before.
    Then, I perceived the notes as “crystal-clear”, pure, without any annoying frequences.
    Furthermore, I perceived the muscular sensation of pressing-down the piano-key and the perception of the note produced by it to be totally synchronal.
    I was able to play faster than ever before.
    Moreover, my muscle tension in the muscles involved in playing the piano automatically decreased.
    I had never taken notice before of the fact that there seemed to be an asynchronism in my perceiption between the moment I press down a piano key and the moment I hear the note produced by it.
    Afterwards, I recited a few rap songs I perfectly know by heart.
    Suddenly, I perceived the same tension inside the ears I had perceived when playing the piano.
    Then, I had the breathtaking experience that the moving of the sound-producing muscles and my perception of the sound was perfectly synchronal.
    I was able to recite the rap-songs faster than ever before.
    Moreover, the speech-producing muscles automatically relaxed. I was astonished to experience how little tension was necessary to produce speech.
    I had never taken notice of the fact that there seems to be an asynchronism between the moment I use the muscles producing a certain sound of speech and the moment I perceive this sound.
    The crucial point of my story is that not only I experienced to be fluent as a stutterer – many do so – I, as person who is stuttering, experienced the “speech-condition” of a normal speaking person, a person not affected at all by stuttering As already mentioned, neither mental nor physical effort was able to speak.

    The speaking condition also stayed when I read and when I spoke spontaneously.
    I was reading the newspaper the whole night, enjoying my fluency. I only went to bed when my throat was sore. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t dreaming. Every time I began to say a new sentence, I thought I was mistaken by what had happened. But I couldn’t deny it was real.

    I was wondering…
    - about the fact that I as a stutterer was able to be in this state. I considered it mind-blowing that this was possible. I guess you do so, too,
    - if the condition was activated by changed brain activity, anatomic changes or whatever,
    - if other stutteres have experienced this,
    - if this could help find a cure for (some type of) stuttering.

    Unfortunately, the effect was gone when I decreased the amount of betamethasone I was supposed to take. It decreased it to 1,5 mg the next day, to 1 mg the day after the next day and so on.
    What stayed, however, when I was under a lower dose of betamethasone, was a changed hearing of my environment. It seemed somehow “more ordered”.

    I have not taken 2 mg of betamethason again as it is a strong drug. So I can't say if this effect can be repeated.

    Do you think I can take Geriforte over a prolonged period of time or could it dangerous?
    Thanks for reading.
    Feel free to forward this report to anyone who might be interested!

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  4. My wife also experienced same side effects-excessive blurring, gasping, and sudden feelings of excessive fear and heavy head-thanks for sharing it. We are going to stop geriforte.

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  5. It is not fair to compare an Ayurveda medicine in line with that of an allopathic medicine. Geriforte is not actually meant for stress relieving one, if someone wish to give a try for such medicine, there is one i.e. Medhabati of Patanjali which exceptionally help which I personally endorse every one to give a try and also do three basic pranayama - Bhastrika, Kapalbhati and anulom-bilom and see the magic.
    I had suffered Panic Fobia with a intense fear of death and loneliness even in a crowded place and among within my friends. My problem lasted for 5 years without any significant result with allopathic medicine, I switched over to the above mentioned medicine and pranayama and now I laugh why I felt such phobia when such thing never exists and if it exists then everyone passes through it, I am not alone.

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  6. It seems that you have so many ailments, and so many treatments, that you are confused as to whether Geriforte helped you or harmed you. My diagnosis is that you suffer from hypochondria.

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  7. My diagnosis is that you are suffering from hypochondria, and that even Geriforte will not cure you of that.

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  8. Is geriforte safe for mind problem like head pain and imbalance sometime my mind vertigo so please tell about this problem

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  9. Better you take amla powder and triphala powder daily ...Chant name of Krishna also

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