Nature’s Way CalmAid, Helps Manage Stress and Tension, Clinically Studied Lavender, Non-Drowsy, 90 Softgels

Day 1 and A Week ish Later
I was taking Olly Stress Relief gummies for a while to control anxiety, hyperactivity and racing thoughts, and they worked great. Recently I noticed that they were becoming a lot less effective and started searching for alternatives. This was my first choice and I’ve only used it this morning. Took one pill. So far I have noticed a lighter mood, lack of racing thoughts, and an overall feeling of being slowed down. I can focus on conversations better, and it slightly enhanced my ability to taste, flavors seem more vibrant.. I am a bit more “lazy feeling” as others mentioned, and I did get the lavender burps. They’re not horribly obnoxious for me, just a bit different. Burps lasted maybe half an hour. So far I like it.Edit: it’s been over a week now. The first few days I dealt with random headaches on and off, but did get benefits as stated above. After my body adjusted I stopped having the headaches and the “lazy” feeling. The lavender burps are still a thing and so is short term lavender breath right after taking a pill. You can describe it like a light lingering, kinda like toothpaste has a minty aftertaste, but lavender instead. For the most part I would still say it helps. It does not hit as hard as the first few days, but it is helping somewhat.Benefits for me: Less overstimulation in public, better ability to relax after work, anxiety is more “inconvenience”, easier to focus, deeper sleep, less irritability.Cons for me: Short term lavender breath, vivid and unusual dreams, 2-3 day initial adjustment period for unpleasant side effects.What I’m doing: Taking one pill around 7-7:30pm daily with lots of water. Taking late to sleep off any potential unpleasant initial effects, and get better sleep.

Very helpful, but be careful of drug interactions
I haven’t had the immediate anxiolytic effects like some people report, but at one pill a day, I feel definite improvements in my overall levels of depression and anxiety. So much so that I felt especially motivated to resolve an interaction problem between CalmAid and my blood pressure medication. Here’s what happened.I was excited to see people reporting improvements in their blood pressure. 2020 (the year that just keeps on giving), after many problems, ended with me going on lisinopril for essential hypertension. This drug quickly brought everything under control, so I was dismayed to see my numbers climbing after starting CalmAid which I was taking in the morning with the lisinopril. Careful testing of resting BP revealed a new daily pattern of high-normal morning results, a 20-25 point systolic increase by noon, then by evening a slightly elevated reading of 10-15 points over the morning (all readings taken before meals). A slight increase in BP during the day is normal, but that much of an increase was not normal for me, and my morning readings were trending upwards as well.I didn’t want to discontinue the CalmAid, so I experimented with the timing of the doses and found, eventually, that moving the CalmAid from morning to noon while maintaining the current dose of lisinopril in the morning completely resolved this problem. I’m now reading textbook-perfect in the morning with a slight rise by noon of 5-10 points. My evening reading is usually about the same as the noon or a little lower. (And now that I figured this out, I can stop testing so darned much).So, my verdict: it’s great stuff, just pay attention. This lavender extract is standardized and has some studies behind it, which is good, but it’s not studied in depth yet and new things might come up. If you’ve got a medication that your life depends on, watch yourself. Even flowers can have unforeseen effects.

Very effective in restlessness and inability to sleep. I suffer from bipolar disorder and use it at night when I am particularly restless, and it does the job with no drowsiness and no side effect. However, it may make you feel more tired. Watch out for that.