Klarinet Archive - Posting 000670.txt from 1999/04

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Beta blockers: BEWARE, please!
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 14:09:37 -0400

Mark Charette wrote,
>I have a page on Sneezy on Valerian root and its possible uses as a "stage
fright" drug written by our own Diane R. Karius, Ph.D., at
http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet/Study/Valerian.html . Diane put a number of
references at the end of the article which might be of use to those afflicted
with this disorder.>

>I've met and performed with people with debilitating stage fright. I
remember a phenomenal trumpet player who sat in with my band - offstage. He'd
pass out if he went onstage, even without an audience. >

I read this thread with interest, since I developed extreme stage fright in
my teens that led me to quit music cold turkey for years. I can play again
now only because I can practice in complete privacy. I've tried meditation,
which helps, but not enough. Because I have a slow heart rate and borderline
low blood pressure, I won't mess with beta blockers, based on a friend's
horrific experience which I mentioned earlier, so naturally I was interested
in that article on valerian.

Diane, thanks for that. I notice you mention that, "some of the [scientific]
studies aren't the best that have ever been conducted...." and that, "There
is some debate as to whether valerian root acts as a mild to moderate
tranquilizer...." I was previously unaware of valerian as a stage fright
remedy, but by coincidence, I recently did some research on valerian root
while writing a booklet (published March 31; it may soon grow into a book,
however) about the manufacturing of incense and its use in folk medicine and
in occult and religious ritual.

Valerian has become popular as an incense ingredient recently for several
reasons. It's a good vegetable substitute for musk, with a similar odor.
Also, some occultists believe that it's an aid to divination (promotes
out-of-body journeying and so forth) and that it's a sexual stimulant.
AFAIK, the folklore about sex is bogus and arose because Henry Cornelius
Agrippa reported the use of heavy doses of valerian as a sedative, sometimes
used the way modern party animals use that so-called "date-rape" drug to
tranquilize the victim into submission. (See Agrippa's _The Philosophy of
Natural Magic_, 1533, available in a 1651 English translation reprinted by
University Books in 1974 and I believe by other publishers subsequently.)

Diane, here's the part I'm curious about. You write,
>>Of the many chemicals in the root, there appear to be two chemical groups
that exert a significant sedative action (the valeopotriates and the
sesquiterpenes) FN5. The extract contains a high content of only the
sesquiterpenes (the valeopotriates have been found to be cytotoxic, although
I don't know how much would have be ingested in order to be toxic or what the
symptoms are). I guess the lesson here is not to make this yourself unless
you really know what you are doing.>>

In my booklet, I wrote a similar caution about valerian in incense. I did my
research in less scientific sources than yours, and don't know whether to
trust what I've read. However, according to Gustav Shenk, _The Book of
Poisons_ (tr. Michael Bullock; New York: Rinehart & Co., 1955, p. 107), "In
heavy doses valerian induces hallucinations, reduction in reflex excitability
(which may lead to paralysis), visual disorders and giddiness." He doesn't
define what he means by "heavy". I found similar warnings in books by
herbalists.

All this brings up a vague memory of fellow students at U. C. Berkeley in the
1960s smoking valerian-laced cigarettes and burning valerian smudge mixtures
(ground up incense sprinkled over charcoal) for a legal high. Of course we
also tried to get small without getting busted by smudging with banana peels
and all kinds of other crap that didn't work. I think most of the highs we
thought we got probably came from equal parts gullibility and carbon monoxide
poisoning.

But there's enough credible information here to make me wonder whether
valerian really is a strong enough mood-altering substance that the warning
Ken Wolman sounded about beta blockers triggering bipolar swings or other
mood disorders might also apply to valerian. Add the fact that herbal
supplements are largely unregulated and that it's difficult if not impossible
to know for sure how much of the active ingredient is in them. Bottom line
for me: I think I'll leave that stuff alone.

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"'I can't explain _myself_, I'm afraid, sir,' said Alice, 'because I'm
not myself, you see.'
"'I don't see,' said the Caterpillar.
"'I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly,' Alice replied very politely,
'for I can't understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different
sizes in a day is very confusing.'
"'It isn't,' said the Caterpillar."
--Lewis Carroll, _Alice in Wonderland_, Chapter 5.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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