Can I take Valerian just to relax?

I know Valerian is intended to help with sleep and stress. I don’t want to use it for those purposes, though. I just want to relax. In my free time, I’m always really bored and mildly depressed. The only time I feel good is when I’m tired and in the process of falling sleep, in other words when I’m relaxed.

Yup, should work, try it! Other herbs you might want to try to help you relax just a bit but not enough so that you fall asleep would be chamomile, passionflower, or catnip. It’s funny, catnip makes cats all energized and crazy, but for us it’s actually calming and can help with digestion and keeping fevers from going too high if you’re sick (but still maintaining the good level of immune response associated with a high fever). Kava kava can also be used to calm you, and it is a light muscle relaxant. But you don’t want to combine kava with antidepressants because then they will work less effectively.

I love all of these!!

One thing to note – 10% of the population who take Valerian don’t actually feel calmer, it raises their blood pressure. The other 90% it slightly lowers your blood pressure and relaxes you. So the first time you use it pay attention to how you feel, if you feel more agitated then you’re in the 10% and will definitely want to use one of the other herbs to relax. But if you’re in the 90%, great! Then you can do valerian or any of the other herbs, play with it and see which ones you like best!