Interviewer: If somebody wants to start taking your relax formula, what are the best ways for them to start taking it?
Dr. Stern: So, the directions are, take two up to three hours before bed, I have patients and people around the country who email me, "How should I take it if I’m a smaller individual?” I say, "Okay, start with one, and then see if that's enough, and then work your way up to two." But two is the effective dose that I formulated it to be.
Take it up to three hours before bed, because some people are more active before bedtime, so I would like them to do it a little bit earlier so that they then start naturally relaxing. Some people like to do it a half hour before bed, because that's when they like to take their night-time formula. So, anywhere up to three hours tends to see benefits.
Now, if you're someone who's had tremendous adrenal fatigue, I've always said this,but there's really very few people out there who have true adrenal fatigue. Most people have adrenal imbalance, where their cortisol levels are high in the evening time. And that's why my formula is designed to lower the nighttime cortisol. But if you're one of a hundred people, or one of a thousand people who has every single hormone totally depleted and you basically can't really function very well, then I have those people do it even earlier, more towards dinnertime, maybe four or five hours before, just so your adrenal glands start to come and support it. And it doesn't have what's called a paradoxical release effect and maybe even give you just a small lift before bedtime. So for the very few percentage of people who have a paradoxical reaction, I would recommend doing it at dinnertime. But for 99.9% of the people out there, anywhere up to three hours before bed, and you'll see benefits.
Interviewer: Have any patients told you that they take it the daytime?
Dr. Stern: Yes. My mom takes it in the daytime-
Interviewer: Really.
Dr. Stern: ... and the nighttime. My mom usually is a person who tends to be a little bit more anxious, and she used to drink a lot of coffee. She would do this on more unhealthy levels, and now she feels amazing. She doesn't have anxiety. She takes one of these in the morning time, and then she takes one at nighttime. She’s a smaller woman, so the one and one works better for her, keeps her anxiety levels really neutral and balanced, and she feels great.
Interviewer: I love it.