Rosenbaum is lower, between 450 and 600 mg per day, presumably in pill or capsule form,
approximately two hours before bedtime. Valerian has historically been used in the form of
a tea, involving 1.5 to 3 g of the roots steeped for 5 to 10 minutes in 150 mm of boiling
water. However, this formulation has not been studied. Doses of 300-1,800 mg per day
have been taken by mouth in capsule form. Dosage is difficult to determine for the tea or
the tincture. Berkeley Wellness states that because the active ingredient(s) have not been
isolated and extracts are so different, no dosage can be recommended.- RESEARCH: Long-term outcomes -- benefits and liabilities from continuing treatment with
valerian and comparative assessment with other drugs -- require further investigation, as do
the systematic tracking, reporting and quantification of adverse effects.
1
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Georgetown Medical School) and Jerry M. Cott, Ph.D. (of the National Institutes of Health) (1999), Psychosomatic
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(^3) Muskin, P.R., Gerbarg, P.L., and Brown, R.P., Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Psychiatric Disorders,
Psychiatric Clinics of North America, copyright Elsevier, Inc., Philadelphia ( 2013 ) (“Brown et al. II”) at 87.
(^4) Vorbach, E.U., Gortelmayer, R., Brunning, J., “Therapie von Insomnien: Wirksamkeit Vertraglichkeit eines Badrian-
Preparates,” Psychoparmakotherapie 3:109-115 (1996).
(^5) Taibi, D.M., Landis, C.A., Petry, H., Vitiello, M.V., “A Systematic Review of Valerian as a Sleep Aid: Safe but Not
Effective,” Sleep Medicine Review, 11:209-230 (2007).
(^6) Mischoulon, D., “Herbal Remedies for Anxiety and Insomnia: Kava and Valerian,” in Natural Medications for
Psychiatric Disorders: Considering the Alternatives, co-edited by David Mischoulon, M.D. and Jerrold F.
Rosenbaum, M.D. (both of Harvard Medical School) (Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia 2002/2008), at
119 - 139.