Corydalis

This is an herbal supplement that I have been taking on and off for about three years now.  I decided to add it because it was cheaper than the turmeric extract I buy and I didn’t feel like trying out kava kava even though it seemed to be all the rage about five years ago.  Shadow wanted to so bad but he wound up on a valerian tea kick instead (stinky stuff and it makes cats high!)

I have tried many herbs over my life time.  From random teas my yiayia would give me, to stuff I’d get from my acupuncturist (man I wish I could afford to go again) and roots I purchased from an actual herbal shop called Flower Power in the city which I highly recommend people visit if they find themselves in the East Village.

I came across corydalis when I was researching herbs for chronic pain and inflammation specifically.  It’s used in traditional Chinese medicine and it’s a member of the poppy plant.  As with all herbs of that nature it can be used as a hallucinogen (poppies make opium remember?) but thanks to Cosentyx my receptors don’t work that way (yep, no medical marijuana for me...).  What I do get is mild pain relief during the day without having to pop ibuprofen which over time can really fuck your stomach up.  Corydalis is actually good for digestive complaints which is awesome cause there are now more foods I can’t eat due to tummy issues.  Thanks Cosentyx.

The bottle says to take 2 capsules a day, and honestly I haven’t tried more, I really don’t want to find out the hard way that taking another dose is what’s gonna send me to Lala Land.  I have children to take care of, I don’t want to see colors like when I was on Xeljanz, not listed on the side effects by the way.

I feel the most benefit when I am walking.  In a typical day I max out at about 5000 steps.  Not all at once but through out the day.  At that point at night I am limping quite severely and if I sit I have difficulty getting up.  Bone on bone osteo is a bitch.  With corydalis I can get 7000 steps in which is pretty sweet.  One day I even did over 8000 steps but climbing my apartment stairs after that was not fun.

Maybe as the weather gets warmer and on a day my Dino boy is home, I will try a dose in the early morning and then again around 2pm and see how I feel.  I’ll purposely take a long walk to the 60th street park or perhaps down by the river to see how it works.  A bottle is only 13.99 on Amazon made in the USA (allegedly) and at least for me, it works.

Now I’ve talked this whole time about the medicinal benefits of this herb.  I have never researched the metaphysical properties of corydalis, so unfortunately I can’t explain those right now.  I must also say that because of my autoimmune disease I tend to focus more on the medicinal properties of plants, especially their pain and anti inflammatory uses.  For example sage is no doubt excellent for smoke cleansing (it smells great), but it’s also one of the teas my grandmother used to make for us for any number of ailments, ironwort being another.

Anyway, that’s my two cents on the matter, try it out for yourself, it’s certainly cheaper than most other drugs in this country and who knows, maybe it will get you high if you wanna give it a shot?  I however, respectfully decline.

Blessed Be!

🌛🌝🌜