Torsten Posted February 4, 2006 Rev mentioned in another thread that he used to smoke lemon balm as a kid and got a mild effect from it. I'd like to consolidate more information on this as there are many reports of this species being psychoactive. Many kratom users enjoy 'melissa' as an adjunct as it creates a nice synergy. I believe they are talking about the sedative effects of high dose kratom, but I am not sure as Rev used to call his smoked balm 'bounce'. I love lemon balm tea and find it more mellowing than camomille. There is a carefree nature to the experience that reminds of GABA activity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coin Posted February 4, 2006 How many kratom users are mixing with lemon balm ? I've grown this for years -- and honestly, have only made a weak tea a few times .. I really just enjoy the aroma of it .. the smattering of reports of activity have always intrigued me, especially as it has been used traditionally for making liquers for "lifting the spirits", etc. how much leaf do you use for tea? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coin Posted February 4, 2006 actually maybe i am underestimating the effects of the aroma .. i do find it very powerfully calming / soothing .. i am quite sensitive to particular smells though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted February 4, 2006 Sounds like it might be the perfect ingredient for one of the smoking mixes I am working on. Where can one get herb? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simon_marklar Posted February 5, 2006 from http://www.herbnet.com/lemon%20balm.pdf Constituents : essential oil includes cintronellal and geranial with neral; citral, citronellol, eugenol, geraniol, polyphenols, flavonoids, triterpenoids; caryophyllene, caryophyllene, oxide, linalol, limonene. wasnt someone mentioning eugenol before having some kind of activity? Medicinal Uses: Lemon balm’s main action is as a tranquilizer. sounds like it should be at least a little active... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rev Posted February 5, 2006 Bounce hehehe that name was a nickname amongs myself and 2 friends thinking back i cant remmebr why we called it that Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conan Troutman Posted February 5, 2006 I Recently brewed a damiana and mellisa tea, was highly aromatic and I found it farily difficult to get down although not unpleasant. Experienced what I would describe as 30-60mins of a gentle quietning of surrondings, very tranquil and pleasant almost euphoric. ^_^ Anyone else had experience with combos? something like skullcap could be interesting. Any synenergy with benzos and such? should have added "The volatile oils also display sedative (especially citronellal) and spasmolytic effects and when breathed in are apparently able to influence the brain directly, via the hippocampus. The calming effect on the nervous system is central to mellisa's action." Materia Medica of Western Herbs.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leo^ Posted February 7, 2006 As a tea seems to have synergy with catnip, only from my own experiences tho Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted June 9, 2008 "Melissa officinalis extract in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial" [1] This small study was conducted over a four month period where one group took lemon balm tincture and another took a placebo. While the alzheimers patients taking the placebo continued to deteriorate in cognitive function and dementia rating the group that took lemon balm extract actually progressively improved compared to their evaluations at the start of the study! In the data on the full article it shows that the lemon balm group in the cognitive function scores recovered by roughly the same amount that the placebo group deteriorated and in the dementia scores the lemon balm group recovered twice as much as the placebo group deteriorated. The full article is linked to on the above link but requires free registration to that site. I cant wait for larger studies to be published. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted June 20, 2008 A much more important Melissa paper for certain members here... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8390134 Studies were carried out on the virucidal and antiviral effects of Melissa officinalis L. extracts (M1, M3, M3 and M4) with respect to Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Virucidal effect was registered within 3 and 6 hours of treatment using M4 administered in MTC. The remaining extracts inactivate the virus at the 12th and 24th hour. No significant values of inhibiting activity of M1, M2, and M3 on the same virus in vitro or in vivo were demonstrated. The presence of caffeic, rosmarinic and ferulic acids was demonstrated by thin-layer chromatography. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conan Troutman Posted June 21, 2008 A much more important Melissa paper for certain members here...http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8390134 Studies were carried out on the virucidal and antiviral effects of Melissa officinalis L. extracts (M1, M3, M3 and M4) with respect to Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Virucidal effect was registered within 3 and 6 hours of treatment using M4 administered in MTC. The remaining extracts inactivate the virus at the 12th and 24th hour. No significant values of inhibiting activity of M1, M2, and M3 on the same virus in vitro or in vivo were demonstrated. The presence of caffeic, rosmarinic and ferulic acids was demonstrated by thin-layer chromatography. nice one there sina, as far as i know Mellisa is one of the few reliable treatments for the Herpes simplex virus... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GingaNinja Posted June 22, 2008 what way would people recommend for an extraction of m. officinalis? i had a look around but couldnt find anything of value Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conan Troutman Posted June 22, 2008 what way would people recommend for an extraction of m. officinalis?i had a look around but couldnt find anything of value lemon balm tea...A hot water infusion prepared as you would for any of your fav aromatic herb teas is your best bet. essential oils constitute most (but not all) of the goodies. Distilling the 'oils' if fairly impractical for the layman and ingestion of them is generally not recommended. **thinks out loud** absinthe, tincture/ethanol extraction might be an option...or was lemon balm just added at the end of the process for coloring and flavour??... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted June 22, 2008 Tea is the norm, or adding it to salads, etc. In the paper I cited they used the tincture- ~3ml quantities of 1:1 tincture made with 80 proof alcohol (vodka) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simon_marklar Posted June 23, 2008 Mellisa is a very important plant in the alchemy world, said to create "the elixir of youth" if you believe what is written in old books. It is said to have some almost magical curative properties. thats probably extremely exaggerated, but every myth has a basis in reality, right? because from whats posted above, it does seem like Melissa has some curative properties i can dig out some alchemical process using it if people like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
t st tantra Posted June 23, 2008 might be better to use a tea pot or at least put a saucer on top of your cup while the tea is brewing.....to try to retain aromatic components. t s t . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Torsten Posted June 23, 2008 or was lemon balm just added at the end of the process for coloring and flavour??... It's the only herb that was added after the distillation. Its bright green was regarded as important for the final colour. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DayLight Posted June 23, 2008 a very knowledgeable lyceaum member posted this there; If you steam distill the essential oil of lemon balm, you can then separate it into two fractions. The bottom note is dominated by the lemony-smell of the plant. It's the top note that's truly special. Just smelling the top-note of this oil has gotten me REALLY REALLY high. Like walking around dreamily with a smile on my face for a good hour! In traditional aromatherapy you get people to smell the Melissa topnote on their deathbed, that it eases the transition of death by connecting then directly to the divine. Good stuff, if you afford the $100/oz price tag shocked Melissa tea has also been shown to have a benzodiazepam-like anxiolytic effect similar to that caused by Chamomile Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted June 25, 2008 Interesting comment DayLight... From http://www.kobashi.co.uk/oil-analysis/Melissa/melissa.shtml You can see that once the "smelly" fractions (distilled first) are separated, it's mostly small amounts of other oils/hydrocarbon type compounds which are common to almost all pungent oil bearing plants...certainly nothing unusual that I can spot... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Qhorakuna tantani Posted July 6, 2008 This is really a great herb. I can definately vouch for the antiviral effects of this plant. I had glandular fever a while back, and after drinking a few very strong cups of this tea with some brown sugar over two days, i felt a lot better. Not just feeling good from the tea itself, but actually felt healthier, and soon after recovered. Many people I've told to drink the tea when they have coldsores and to rub the juice on their lips have told me that it works well. It reduces the length of the infection and the time inbetween as well. As for smoking it, I've tried it once by mixing fresh off the plant leaves chopped and mixed with another dried herb and another time with completely dried leaves. The fresh leaves gave a much better effect on me and 3 others. We all experienced a great sharpening of our vision, everything looked crisp, and nice relaxation. The second time with dried herb had much less effect, with mild relaxation noted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conan Troutman Posted July 6, 2008 Yep def want to cover your brew to trap the goodies, also pays to pour hot water over your herbage first so as when you add boiling water u dont loose the goodies in one sweet smelling puff, personally I dont let the kettle come close to a rolling boil. ^^^^^^^^layman's guide to tea from your fav aromatic herb cheers Torsten for that absinthe info.. and at with the fear of repeating myself...GABAergics are very efficient mixes and potentiators Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FNF72 Posted September 5, 2008 I dont know if it's still available, but there used to be a product called Melissengeist - it was a clear tincture that had a terribly strong alcohol taste to it (burnt like buggery going down) but very effective for anxiety, without monging you out like benzos - came in a 100ml bottle from memory....... The herb itself is also a nice addition to the night time chamomile cuppa - only ever used the dried herb though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertmorpheus Posted September 5, 2008 I have found half half lemonbalm and chamomile (matricaria), ground to dust, using superfresh pungent ingredients and then jammed into 0 gel caps (I mean jammed) pretty handy... two or three day really does seem to buy some time to think before you trigger stupid ingrained responses to stress, etc. Nothing zonking or warping and takes a few days to reach "peak" I guess, but after three days in the midst of some reasonably dramatic shit I was clear n calm n collected. Strange! VM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conan Troutman Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) I have found half half lemonbalm and chamomile (matricaria), ground to dust, using superfresh pungent ingredients and then jammed into 0 gel caps (I mean jammed) pretty handy... two or three day really does seem to buy some time to think before you trigger stupid ingrained responses to stress, etc. Nothing zonking or warping and takes a few days to reach "peak" I guess, but after three days in the midst of some reasonably dramatic shit I was clear n calm n collected. Strange! VM Also vouch for cham/balm combo even better with teaspoon of damiana most def psychoactive in the anxiolytic sense...and they potentiation thing is also good and fresh is def best.. Edited September 5, 2008 by Conan Troutman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
