Or because some of us have horrible reactions to Selenium (so
@Hip noted) and to Rhodiola, long-term (so I noted). Hip was recommending (not medically, just throwing it out there, of course) that higher doses of selenium were helpful. Some had great results, but many not so much. You'd have to talk to
@Hip about that.
Regarding Rhodiola, I've discussed my reaction extensively, so I'll make it quick: it gave me so much energy and focus that I felt fantastic: I thought,
my God, this is what normal people feel like all the time! BUT - and it's a big but - the effect was transitory. Not only did I begin to feel uncomfortably jittery and lose the ability to sleep, but eventually that feeling of super-productive well-being dissipated, then inverted. I crashed, hard. No matter what dose I took, there appeared to be two states: well-being ---> hyperactivity or completely ineffective. If I took it three days in a row, too, the efficacy totally disappeared. Taking more didn't give me any additional energy at all.
Rhodiola appears to 'push' a metabolic cycle of some kind, but for those of us with low reserves, eventually you 'run out' - of what? I'm not sure. I'll go with 'serotonin-like chemicals' for now, because serotonin-y things give me that same jittery feeling and are followed by a crash, and because there's evidence of serotinergic action in
Rhodiola rosea.
-J
