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Common Name
Passion Flower
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Botanical Name
Passiflora incarnata
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Part Used
Herb
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Clinical Summary
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Monograph
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Alcohol
30%
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Dose
10 to 20mL weekly
Passion flower has anxiolytic effects that help reduce symptoms of anxiety. It might also be useful for insomnia, especially when used as part of a herbal combination. There is some research suggesting it may help ease the symptoms of opiate withdrawal.
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Traditional Use
Traditionally passion flower has been used to treat neuralgia, generalised seizures, hysteria and insomnia. It has also been used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery and dysmenorrhoea by acting on the nervous system.
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Actions
Anxiolytic, mild sedative, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, hypnotic, hypotensive, anodyne
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Indications
• Anxiety, especially before surgery, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), ADHD, stress
• Insomnia
• Nervous conditions including tachycardia, headache and restlessness
• Spasmodic conditions including dysmenorrhea, asthma, whooping cough
• Neuralgic pain especially with anxiety
• Epilepsy, especially generalised seizures
• Adjuvant for opiate withdrawal and symptoms of opiate withdrawal
• Cardiac rhythm abnormalities, hypertension
• Sexual dysfunction
• Menopause -
Energetics
Neutral, bitter
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Use in Pregnancy
Passion flower has demonstrated the ability to increase uterine contractions in vivo Whether this has any adverse effects in pregnancy remains unknown. Caution is advised until safety is better established.
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Contraindications & Cautions
Whether concomitant use of high doses of passion flower adversely affects people’s ability to drive a car, or operate heavy machinery, should be evaluated on an individual case-by-case basis.
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Drug Interactions
Caution with barbiturates, benzodiazepines and central nervous system depressant drugs.
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Dietary Information
Vegan friendly. Gluten and dairy free
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Substitutes
Valerian, Hops, Lavender, St. John’s Wort, Magnolia, Lemon Balm, Skullcap, Saffron, Californian Poppy, Zizyphus