# Saffron - a worthy alternative to AD's



## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

Was unsure whether to put this in the medications forum or in here but I suppose it fits better in here.

So. In the last few years there has been some studies where saffron has performed about as well as both TCA's and SSRI's (to be exact, the TCA Imipramine aka Tofranil and the SSRI Fluoxetine aka Prozac) in treating depressions. It is not determined exactly how saffron works but it is believed that it's major metabolite passes the blood-brain barrier and that it works by increasing the levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.

The interesting thing is that very few side-effects has been reported from the use of saffron and that is in fact usable for treating some side-effects from SSRI's like sexual dysfunctions. Also considering saffron has been used in traditional medicines for thousands of years for treating all sorts of illnesses it is probably fair to say it is a very safe supplement to take even long term though the studies conducted so far has been short term.

There are currently some supplements with extracts being sold. But saffron can also be taken as it is, purchased directly from the local market. Average daily dose has ranged between 30-90 mg/day in treatment for depressions. In this topic I will review my experience with the spice so far and sincerely hope it will be helpful for others on here.

Last but not least, some of the studies if anyone is interested on reading about it more in detail.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15341662
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24289892
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22552758

To be continued with my personal experience.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

I suffer with depression, OCD and social anxiety. In the past I have been on sertraline aka zoloft and 5-HTP to treat the depression/OCD. Sertraline did very little at all for me and came with a lot of side-effects. 5-HTP worked fine for around 7 months but the effect eventually started to poop out. Also considering it has some possible health risks when taken long term I did not wish to be dependant on it for years.

Before jumping on another SSRI or SNRI I decided to try out saffron. At first I was determined to get one of the supplements as it seemed to be the easiest way of taking it. However after discovering what a rip-off those pills truly are (here they charge 60$ for a months worth while I can get a months worth of regular saffron for 9$) I decided to go with the latter one. It just meant a little more hassle.

I'm not a drug dealer so I don't happen to own one of them fancy micro scales. Instead I poured out a bag of saffron (500 mg) and divided it into 15 doses of about the same amount in each one. One such dose would contain around 30 mg saffron which I had decided would be the dose I would start on to then up after a week or so. In reality any given dose can probably be between 20-40 mg as it's hard to divide it equally. I mixed it with water and drank it.

Now I'm on the 10th day of the treatment. Here is a resume over how it has been going so far.

*Day 1-3*

For the first few days I only really noticed one thing - my energy levels literally skyrocketed. I usually get several periods during the day when I feel very tired and sluggish but this was completely eradicated from the first day on saffron.

I was happy about this at first but as it would turn out, it actually worked a little too well in boosting energy and alertness levels. I simply would not get tired or fall asleep! I could be awake to 4 am, sleep 5 hours, then be up and about for the next day and yet when the night came I couldn't sleep again. Eventually I realized that taking the daily dose should be done very early right after breakfast to minimize the risk of insomnia.

Also if I was to do this again I would have started out on an even smaller dose - in retrospect I reread studies and found out that at least in one the patients where started out with a dose every other day - not every day right from the bat

*Day 4-8*

During this time I continued to notice my increased alertness but also started to notice that my mood was getting stabilized. From around day 5 to now I haven't felt down or sad a single time. The worrying thoughts that usually occurs during the days has left me and instead I have felt pretty much at ease with life and what is going on around me. At this point I feel that saffron is doing a much better job than 5-HTP did - mainly cause of the increased energy but also cause 5-HTP was never so effective at stabilizing my mood - the effect was a more subtle one.

And it is certainly doing a thousand times better job than sertraline ever did. Up to this point I have not yet noticed any side-effects.

*Day 9-10*

For these last few days my mood has been getting even further stabilized. It is now at a point where I feel slightly numb or zombielike. This could of course be unpleasant for some people but is quite common on any type of antidepressive medicines or mood boosting supplements. Considering I'm yet to notice any of the awful SSRI side-effects I still feel this works much better for me than the AD I took did.

Some other observations: Libido goes up and down but mainly up. I've really been in the mood a lot of the time hehe Energy is still up and I had a bit of insomnia but it does work a lot better when taking the dose early during the day. I have noticed it is definitely having an impact on my sleep. It is much deeper when I do sleep and I have stopped waking up again and again during the night.

Today I have noticed my OCD has started to diminish. I was able to leave my home without all of the usual control routines which can take up to half an hour on a bad day.

Unfortunately I cannot say it has done very much for my social anxiety so far. My anxiety is down a bit on the whole and I haven't been on the verge of freaking out in public but I still feel rather anxious and insecure around people. This is the only thing I could wish it would work better for. According to my short experience with saffron it may very well perform on par with regular antidepressives. It will be interesting to see how I feel from on here and I will share my experience with you. I will up the dose shortly to around 50 mg a day.

So yeah I can recommend trying this out. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask me here or via PM.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

I increased the dose with another 25-30 mg yesterday. I noticed getting really warm shortly after and feeling slightly euphoric. Then I got tired. I've actually been feeling somewhat more tired yesterday and today but hard to say if it's cause of sleep deprevation or if the saffron has some sedative effect in higher doses. 

My mood remains rock solid so far. Not happy but more on the positive side than the negative one. Considering I have bad mood swings on and off when unmedicated I'd say it's doing a great job regulating it. I was actually talking to a friend the other day who is also on saffron and we both agreed it's hard to imagine it's just a spice when it feels like a real medication and is obviously having a rather large impact on the brain. Nothing natural I've taken before has been remotely close to the noticeable effects this produces.

Libido is still up and had spontaneous erections. If I had been in a relationship now I would've been having the time of my life I get why it's also used as an aphrodisiac.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

*Day 14*

2 weeks in now. Still looking good moodwise. Though I think being a creative person I have some problems getting used to having such a constant mood with no ups or downs. But I'm getting there.

I'm glad to say my sleep has improved quite a bit I get more tired now when it's late and time to sleep so insomnia hasn't really been present these last few days and last night I managed a good 9,5 hours of solid sack time which is amazing for being me.

The only real issue continues being the social anxiety. I don't feel too well around people right now and it seems the saffron treatment has also triggered my BDD that was a major issue in the past but that gradually subsided over the years. My theory on this is that the saffron is quite effective on increasing norepinephrine (which is involved in the fight-or-flight reaction). I feel a lot more aware of myself and my surroundings. I've also felt very restless and had to take long walks & runs which also contributes to why I think this is happening.

So it would seem saffron has more of a SNRI or TCA effect rather than SSRI. Which isn't surprising really considering that the studies shows it acts on serotonin, dopamine and norephineprine. What I am hoping is that this is a temporary phase and that once I'm further into the treatment (say another 2 weeks), the anxiety will start to subside and I can reap the benefits of being more energetic and wanting to get out and about.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

zoslow said:


> I'm not a drug dealer so I don't happen to own one of them fancy micro scales. Instead I poured out a bag of saffron (500 mg) and divided it into 15 doses of about the same amount in each one.


Hehe just because you said it like that, i picture you sitting there with a razorblade cutting it up into 15 piles 

I borrowed my brothers digital scale, i was gonna try the Nootropic Noopept, well it was actually his Noopept also... The powder was in free pure form, the dose usually is 10mg... Hehe i just didn't dare to take it.:no

On a side note: Interesting the increased libido... The "zombie like" feeling, was that anything you noticed when you tried Zoloft/sertraline?
And if so would you say saffron cause more or less Zombie feeling then Zoloft?


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

watertouch said:


> Hehe just because you said it like that, i picture you sitting there with a razorblade cutting it up into 15 piles
> 
> I borrowed my brothers digital scale, i was gonna try the Nootropic Noopept, well it was actually his Noopept also... The powder was in free pure form, the dose usually is 10mg... Hehe i just didn't dare to take it.:no
> 
> ...


Haha no that's for when I'm snorting sugar.. disco stu got hooked on the white stuff back in the 80ies

Joke aside, yeah it's tricky with such small doses and powders. Pills are better then. At least if it's a strong substance but I don't really see myself overdosing on saffron haha so no worries for me.

I felt really numb when I was on zoloft. I would say more numb/zombie like than on the saffron and also in a worse way. When I did feel anything on it I usually felt irritated or angry but haven't noticed that on saffron. This is a more positive/better numbness which makes me think it is actually improving and stabilizing my mood in a good way. + my libido died on zoloft. I rather take an increased one

Actually last night I took my daily dose for the first time right before bedtime. And fell asleep few hours later. So the stimulating effect has decreased but it's still noticeable. I think I will start taking it late during the day because I always notice my stress levels increasing a bit after dosing and I don't need that in the daytime when I'm around people.

What's started to happen recently is on and off I get urges to do things I have been avoiding for many years. I feel more like living. I noticed this too on previous AD's and I take it as a good sign I noticed so many effects only from 2,5 weeks usage. As long as it doesn't poop out all of a sudden.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

*Day 20*

So far so good. I'm all about taking this before sleep now as I'm past the insomnia stage and it seems to decrease my anxiety daytime. So I would say first couple of weeks take it in the morning to avoid insomnia and then switch to taking it in the evening if you are anything like me.

Generally speaking moodwise I feel well. OCD behaviour is still there but less than when I started out with the saffron. The social anxiety is lessened again and my episode of BDD like thoughts has calmed down and gone away. Libido has evened out a bit and is still up but not so dramatically.

If I was to summarize pro's and con's with this treatment it would look something like this:

*Pro's*
+My mood is stable and I feel happier. Better effect than from prozac or 5-HTP
+My sleep is better. Insomnia down a bit and more consistent sleep without waking up
+OCD better
+Sexdrive is better/easier to maintain an erection
+Hardly any side effects

*Con's*
-Some difficult insertion syndromes for first few weeks. Like insomnia, worsened anxiety, crazy libido
-Somewhat foggy mind. I'm not thinking as clearly as I usually do
-Feel a bit more numb than I'd like to. But yeah I realize this is unavoidable on most if not all AD's

Needless to say my doc hasn't been overly enthusiastic about my dabbling around with natural antidepressives instead of starting out on a SNRI. But last time I saw him he said he definately noticed improvements in me and was interested to hear more about saffron and how it supposedly works for treating depressions. Even wanted to see some of the studies. I have a feeling in a few years this might be a lot bigger than what it is today


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## social worker (Sep 15, 2014)

I buy vitamins/supplements from Puritan's Pride. They sell saffron 88mg, 60 count, for $12.99. This might be easier than the whole scale/weighing. Your thread encouraged me to purchase a 6 month supply. It hasn't arrived yet but I'm interested to see what happens when I use it. I'm also not big on psychotropic medications and would rather find a natural option.


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## ladyscuttle (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm a firm believer in trying out holistic treatments before turning to chemical medicine. Good on ya! I hope it works out for you.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

social worker said:


> I buy vitamins/supplements from Puritan's Pride. They sell saffron 88mg, 60 count, for $12.99. This might be easier than the whole scale/weighing. Your thread encouraged me to purchase a 6 month supply. It hasn't arrived yet but I'm interested to see what happens when I use it. I'm also not big on psychotropic medications and would rather find a natural option.


I hope it will work just as well for you as it has for me. Start out easy maybe 30 mg every other day or 15-20 mg daily, then up the dose gradually. It's easy to underestimate it with being a spice and all. Also there is not very much research on how toxic saffron is long term so while taking doses within the xxx mg should be perfectly safe, I still would advise people to take the lowest dose possible that works for them. Have to keep in mind people in the past probably didn't have nearly as pure saffron as we do today. Some of the saffron supplements contains unneccessary high doses of it.

Also do keep me/us updated on how your progress is going! 



ladyscuttle said:


> I'm a firm believer in trying out holistic treatments before turning to chemical medicine. Good on ya! I hope it works out for you.


Yeah it seems to be working out. I saw in another thread you use 5-HTP. That's some good stuff too, hope it keeps helping you in the future too!


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## social worker (Sep 15, 2014)

It seems that all the saffron pills I've seen are 88.5 mg, for some reason. You think that's too much?


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

social worker said:


> It seems that all the saffron pills I've seen are 88.5 mg, for some reason. You think that's too much?


Depends on how pure it is, I get grade A stuff quality brand.

I'd say split it and take a half a day to begin with. See how it feels.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

*Day 28*

Saffron is continuing to perform well  I feel like my body have gotten used to the effect now and it feels better. I've been more clearheaded and the anxiety has decreased some more. I would say while at home it is definitely lower than it was before I started out which means I can take less of my other medications. In public it is still somewhat worse than when I didn't take it but it seems like it's slowly decreasing back down to baseline. Maybe in another months time I can tell if it has had a positive or negative impact on my SA.

I am interested in hearing if any other people has had success with saffron or tried it out and has experiences to share?


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## social worker (Sep 15, 2014)

zoslow said:


> *Day 28*
> 
> Saffron is continuing to perform well  I feel like my body have gotten used to the effect now and it feels better. I've been more clearheaded and the anxiety has decreased some more. I would say while at home it is definitely lower than it was before I started out which means I can take less of my other medications. In public it is still somewhat worse than when I didn't take it but it seems like it's slowly decreasing back down to baseline. Maybe in another months time I can tell if it has had a positive or negative impact on my SA.
> 
> ...


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

Hope it gives you at least some good effects, will be interesting to hear back from you guys how it has been going.

Now it's been around 45 days for me or so. Still taking it everyday. Been going through rough times so I can't really say I feel too great but I probably would've been a lot worse off without it. Mood is still stable. Sleeping fairly well too. No more side effects noticed yet.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

So now I'm going on 100+ days of taking saffron...  Far beyond the short term studies done so I'm on my own now. I have tinkered a little with it and in periods I take a larger dose every other day while other periods I take a smaller one each day. I have upped the dose somewhat but not that dramatically.

I'm not gonna write very much about my later experiences as I already mentioned a lot in this topic and also, the lack of interest from other users has been somewhat discouraging. I mean with some promising studies and a dedicated writer/reporter (me) I would have thought some more people would be interested.. but hey it's your own loss if you don't give it a try.

I guess my conclusion on it would be that it has done a lot for my mood but little for my anxiety.
I am no longer depressed and do not need to take any regular AD's (sertraline, prozac etc).
So at least that is one step in the right direction.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Thanks for writing about your experiences with Saffron, zoslow! I am considering giving this a try after coming across this thread again.


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## MarianVB (Feb 4, 2016)

Hi there, 

It's some time ago you have written about using saffron. I'm interested in using saffron and have tried it now for 3 days, but I'm interested in hearing if you're still happy about it? Has someone else tried it as well? And have you tried days without it? If so, is there a withdrawal effect?

I suffer from psychoses that were induced by meds and are actually on the borderline between mood disorder (depression, anxiety) and psychosis. I'm currently on a tiny dose of antipsychotics (1 mg of haldol, which is half of the minimum dose). I suffer from a lot of depression and anhedonia from the meds. I'd prefer to not use anything at all... but that's not really an option at the moment... so I'm hoping to add a natural antidepressant and maybe .. hopefully... withdraw from antipsychotics if the saffron stabilizes me enough. I was hoping the saffron is less numbing. 

Something I'm wondering about... the meds I used so far... be it antipsychotics, antidepressants or benzo's... all made me extremely numb. Does the saffron numbness get less over time?? Do you still feel love, joy, can you appreciate good moments, feel connected to people? Because that's what I miss the most! 

Thanks!


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## MarianVB (Feb 4, 2016)

*Experiences*

I also wanted to share my experience.

I hate to be dependant on drugs to function... doesn't really matter if it's chemical or natural drugs. I'm afraid of brain changes/dependence and believe it's better to solve things in a natural way (exercise, diet, changing lifestyle, solving the cause, etc). Especially since saffron also works on GABA I'm scared it causes benzo-like dependence.

But, that being said....

Today was the first day I took saffron in the morning.

The last months my mood was extremely low and dark and guilty and fearful. Borderline psychotic most of the time. Scared. To a point where I often wasn't capable of taking care of my son, or even coming out of bed or eating all day and contemplating suicide daily.

Today was my first somewhat happy day in ages. I do feel some side effects... I'm a little bit more in a fog, somewhat dissociated. But...a big part of the darkness lifted with just 10 threads of saffron in the morning. And even some of the anhedonia, which surprises me.

I had a relatively GOOD day. I wasn't euphoric, but content. I went into town with my son, we played a game, went to a coffee bar. I was capable of genuinely smiling at him or strangers again, since a long long time. We laughed. We played. I was less afraid. Even my scary/psychotic thoughts have gone to the background. I must admit my depression/fear stems partly from med withdrawal...so maybe this makes my response stronger than in others.

But this is actually strong stuff. From what I notice now, it really helps a LOT, but I would not recommend using it lightly... only if all normal measures (as in: truly solving the problem) failed. It's still covering up something.

I do like that it's not chemical and manmade like SSRI's...but it definitely has a strong effect! Wow!


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## IlIlIlIrlpoloIlIlIlI (Feb 5, 2012)

MarianVB said:


> I also wanted to share my experience.
> 
> I hate to be dependant on drugs to function... doesn't really matter if it's chemical or natural drugs. I'm afraid of brain changes/dependence and believe it's better to solve things in a natural way (exercise, diet, changing lifestyle, solving the cause, etc). Especially since saffron also works on GABA I'm scared it causes benzo-like dependence.
> 
> ...


I'm very interested in saffron, but not sure what kind to get as it seems expensive , do you purchase it at the store?


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## MarianVB (Feb 4, 2016)

I bought it online. The price was reasonable, but I'm in the Netherlands, not in the USA....so I don't know about prices there. Do watch out though...not much is know about it yet.


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## MarianVB (Feb 4, 2016)

Also, I found out that saffron could work on the opioid system of the brain, which makes me wonder about addiction.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

MarianVB said:


> Hi there,
> 
> It's some time ago you have written about using saffron. I'm interested in using saffron and have tried it now for 3 days, but I'm interested in hearing if you're still happy about it? Has someone else tried it as well? And have you tried days without it? If so, is there a withdrawal effect?
> 
> ...


Hi MarianVB,

I only just saw your message now. I see you already gave saffron a try - how has it been working out for you? Your initial report seemed very positive! I'm glad if the topic has been of help for you.

I've been on saffron continously since the beginning of this thread so around 10 months or so if I'm not mistaken. However recently after making another attempt with getting professional help rather than self-medicating I was put on an AD again and decided to try it so I cut back a lot on the saffron. Which in retrospect was a bad idea cause I was feeling rather good and only agreed to try the AD in the hopes of getting other medicines too but now I'm in a worse place and plan to discontinue the AD and increase saffron usage again.

Now to address your questions:

*Am I still happy about it?: *Yes. It does a lot for the mood and I haven't noticed any poop out even after now having been using it for a long time whereas for example 5-HTP eventually started doing nothing for me, even at increased doses.

*Withdrawal effect?: *Yes. The withdrawal on this is very real and comparable to other AD's. Since it's not a medicine it's easier to forget about taking it for a few days and when I have, side effects has included a low mood, very bad headaches, brain zaps, increased anxiety etc. What you can expect when coming off most AD's.

*Numbness?: *Well, the numbness has lingered with me slightly and still does to this day. It's better than in the beginning and I can really enjoy laughter and feeling good now but still feel like I'm not truly in touch with some of my other emotions.

Having said that, I have relatives and friends that are on AD's. Some of those who has been on mirtazapine for example has been numb up to the point of zombies and not at all like themselves. And even the ones on sertralin and others also seems very numb. Compared with AD's the numbness isn't bad on this one. I had a friend told me I seem content in a normal way when on it and not in a cold detached way.


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## sheblushed (Dec 29, 2012)

I started taking saffron a couple of days ago and if i'm not mistaken it is for that reason that i've been feeling "up".
the bottle says to take 2 pills a 15mg each day, which is 30mg together. it also says to not take more than that ever...?
i'm also taking this inca gold thing, idk what that does lol.


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## zoslow (Jun 2, 2014)

sheblushed said:


> I started taking saffron a couple of days ago and if i'm not mistaken it is for that reason that i've been feeling "up".
> the bottle says to take 2 pills a 15mg each day, which is 30mg together. it also says to not take more than that ever...?
> i'm also taking this inca gold thing, idk what that does lol.


I'm not going to argue with your bottle lable but most likely taking more is perfectly safe. I don't know what kind of extract it is in yours/how strong it is but here at the pharmacies they sell saffron products for your mood with like 150 mg a pill or so.

Otherwise if I were you I'd just go for regular saffron you can get at the store assuming it's a decent brand. The first few weeks I noticed the biggest effect, it's documented in this topic (lots of energy etc).

Great spice for your mood. I sincerely think saffron could replace at least TCA's for treatment, possibly SSRI's/SNRI's as well.


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