Flowers are amazing medicine. Be careful if you are taking prescription meds though- not sure how the supplements interact.xx
Herbal Medicines
Passionflower
Passionflower or Passiflora incarnata Linn. has a long history of use as an anxiolytic agent in folklore and has been used by people all over the world to treat anxiety [26]. More importantly, several studies involving the biochemical makeup of passionflower have been conducted [27-29]. Between the 1970 s and 1990 s, passionflower was listed as an official plant drug by the pharmacopoeias of America, Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Egypt and India; its wide use has made it an acceptable treatment for restlessness and nervousness [30].
The anxiolytic effects of passionflower are well documented in mice [30,31]. However, one of the problems with herbal supplements is that plant material contains thousands of phytochemicals, making it challenging to pinpoint the specific biochemicals responsible for the anxiolytic properties. In other words, although herbal remedies often produce positive results, identifying the active ingredients can be difficult. Therefore, users of herbal remedies may be consuming ineffective or possibly toxic substances in addition to the active, anxiolytic ingredients. To date, three human trials have documented the efficacy of passionflower as a treatment for anxiety-related disorders [32-34].
One double-blind, placebo-controlled study analyzed the difference in efficacy between oxazepam, a prescription benzodiazepine used to treat chronic anxiety symptoms, and passionflower in patients (n = 36) who met the criteria for GAD [32]. The results showed no difference between the two anxiolytics with regard to the treatment of GAD, suggesting that passionflower is as effective as benzodiazepines in eliminating anxiety symptoms. Subjects from the passionflower group also reported lower job impairment performance than those in the benzodiazepine group; however, subjects in the benzodiazepine group reported a faster onset of symptom relief.
This anxiolytic effect was also seen in two other subsets of patients: those undergoing surgery (n = 60) who were treated with passionflower monotherapy [33], and those diagnosed with adjustment disorder with anxious mood (n = 182) who were treated with passionflower in combination with crataegus oxyacantha, ballota foetida, valeriana officinalis, cola nitida and paullinia cupana [34].
Mild adverse events were reported in only one study, including dizziness, drowsiness and confusion [32]. This preliminary evidence suggests that passionflower may have a role in the treatment of anxiety and warrants future research.