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Are there other actives that complement kava (especially for sleep)?

Hitch

Hitch

Kava Curious
All, I'm curious if you've tried adding other active ingredients to kava, especially to help with sleep.

I love kava but have been trouble sleeping with a lot of my recent kava sessions. -- it's a bit frustrating and it's holding me back from drinking kava more often.

I've made a long list of other actives (see below) I was considering ordering to mix into my kava if I have it later in the evening. Does anyone have experience adding any of these to traditionally-brewed kava?
  • Ashwagandha
  • L-Theanine
  • Lemon Balm
  • Melatonin
  • Taurine
  • Chamomile
  • Skullcap
  • Glycine
  • Magnesium
  • Tryptophan
  • CBD
  • Lavender
  • Apigenin
  • Inositol
  • Theanine
  • Valerian
  • Chamomile
  • 5-HTP
  • Passionflower
  • Zinc
  • Amanita

I consider myself a kava purist and only have kava 'on its own'... that said, I'm open to experimenting, especially if I can find 1, max 2 other actives to add to kava to help with falling asleep after a later kava session.

Bula as always :)
 
ThePiper

ThePiper

Kava Lover
Chamomile, theanine, and cbd go well with kava in my experience. I think lotus competes with kava because when I’m using kava I don’t feel lotus
 
Forretressqt

Forretressqt

Kava Curious
Passionflower in particular has been studied in combination with kava. "...in vivo experiments was found to be superior over the sum of the single separately administered extracts. ".
I first came across the study here (Likely Kap'n who posted it) and I've tried it before; there was definitely potentiation.
 
ThePiper

ThePiper

Kava Lover
back in the day we used to wild harvest massive amounts of passionflower vine and boil it down into tea in a giant chili pot. The whole kitchen would smell like what I can only guess is cyanide lol. Then drink a large brew of it and have a little of another popular herb. Extremely relaxing and lucid. I would still experiment but I’m a kr@ user nowadays and harmala alkaloids do not mix well with that. Even a tea bag with passionflower can give me a headache.

It’s not a sleep aid, but I find sublingual saffron stamens are a very useful tranquil mood lifter/focus enhancer that can be paired with kava or on its own. Put a pinch of stamens under your tongue or better yet chew gently on them first. If you use the right amount you will absolutely feel it. I’ve tried this with a few people and everyone agrees the first time or two is very euphoric and blissful. after that first time it still works but you do build a tolerance very quickly, and I’ve never been able to recreate that first week where I was doing it every day having the time of my life! I wouldn’t mix this with an SSRI though because saffron has potent serotonergic properties.

another one I enjoy is catuaba. It’s a dopamine booster and sexual herb but it has some general cognitive and sensory enhancement effects that maybe dont synergize with kava but they are still friendly enough with each other. I like to make an alcohol extract and evaporate it to yield a beautiful blood-red crystalline substance and put a pinch under the tongue. You can definitely feel nootropic and libido effects immediately and you can build the effect by taking it over the course of a week or two. Highly recommended especially to enhance intimacy in your relationship, and works for both men and women. Maybe even better for women because it boosts sensitivity and orgasm.
 
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Forretressqt

Forretressqt

Kava Curious
Forgot to mention last reply; the Wim Hof breathing method can produce a bit of of euphoria and body tingling/warmth which goes very nicely with kava; it's much more of a "practical" breathing method in terms of oxygen saturation rather than more subjective meditative practice.

 
Krunkie McKrunkface

Krunkie McKrunkface

Kava Connoisseur
Sometimes I like to make a mug of mugwort to have alongside kava, it helps with sleep and vivid dreams. I prepare it just as I would yerba mate and use a bombilla. Kind of bitter but the taste really grows on you.
 
Pzk

Pzk

Kava Enthusiast
Silly question: Ever tried to do enough workout and meditation side by side? The more you are leveled out, your sleep should solve itself. Except you have some heavy things going on like PTSD or such...
 
O

Orz[EST]

Kava Enthusiast
Glycine does not help to fall asleep but a study showed that it improved sleep quality. Should be liver-friendly also.
 
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