Unfortunately I very rarely post here anymore. Anyways I have been growing a few herbs in my garden this year. I have 2 catnip plants, lemon balm and chamomile. I also have peppermint and lavender plants, both of which are monstrously huge as I've had them 3 years. All of these herbs are great at stress relief and make relaxation much easier. Most people would say these plants don't get you high, but they certainly do to an extent. They are all similar in nature, but catnip is by far the strongest. I have tried them all individually but now make a mix. I always make the tea mainly of catnip, but add smaller amounts of all the other herbs. Effects are pretty immediate upon drinking, 5-10 minutes. The first thing I notice is a brightening of vision. With it comes a sense of well being and a dreamy, spacey kind of feeling if that makes sense. It is relaxing, my racing mind tends to slow down. I tend to turn off the tv and avoid other stimuli, I just find them annoying. I like to just lay in bed, sit on my deck or just sit around somewhere and chill. When I have used it at times of high stress I find it works better than weed or alcohol. There is also muscle relaxation which comes from the catnip mostly. Nothing major, muscles just get heavier feeling and a bit more loose. It is in ways similar to alcohol and weed but also different. That said it goes great along with weed. If you have a high cannabis tolerance like myself, it will add a depth back to the high thats no longer there. There are some side effects. It can increase my heart rate, while it makes me more relaxed it can make me sleepless. Also the first time I drank catnip it gave the shits and really bad sweats the next day. This is common but only ever happened to me once. Yes it is mild but I happen to enjoy it.
My husband has "dipped" it, like tobacco and liked the effects. I roll my own cigarettes and I've added it to the tobacco. Just a kind of mellowness. Kind of nice.
I'm realizing now this may be more appropriate in other drugs as catnip is not psychedelic lol. Oh well. And I did not notice anything upon smoking it, i think tea works much better.
THANK GOD I was led to this by BBAD! (btw, as I've said before, BBAD rocks!) At any rate, I am most interested in trying this concoction. I'm not smoking, and I'm really to try basically anything. I want to know if you find much difference between cat-nip and cat-mint...also, do you use the whole camomile plant, or just the flowers (the flowers are hard to come by around here). I have much lemon balm and lavender. Also, do you ever used the dried plants, or do you use them fresh?
Hey Lynn. So if you mean you're quitting marijuana this would be a pretty good substitute. I am a ritual smoker; morning, noon and night(especially night) but when I have a big cup of this brew I have a significantly decreased urge to smoke. Anyways I've never tried Cat mint so I don't know, my guess is it wouldn't be quite as good. Also I've read you should only use chamomile blossoms, so that's all I do. And lastly I've read fresh is best but I haven't noticed any difference IMO, though fresh does taste better. I think picked from a plant fresh or picked, dried out and immediately used is best. I wouldnt order it online. You could always buy a catnip plant, they grow really quick. Hope this helps. Also at higher doses of catnip I have noticed euphoria similar to that of weed, if you are trying to quit it. But then again I'm not smoking could mean a few things.
I wouldn't say catnip or any of those is anywhere close to a marijuana alternative (even when active alkaloids are extracted). Yes, they are all great herbs for relaxing at the end of a long day though. I heard smoking catnip is a little stupid, but the tea is what you want to make out of it, as it can be quite relaxing and enjoyable (from personal experience). If you're looking for a marijuana alternative, I'd reccomend doing some web shopping and making your own herbal blend as to not get ripped off on these pre-made blends claiming to mimic the effects of marijuana (but almost always turn out to be much weaker than they say). Enjoy your day people!
