Swanson Women's Anti-Stress Formula (Lactium) - Helps Counter Stress, Promotes Relaxation and Sleep Support - (60 Capsules, 167mg) 1 Pack

First off, I'm a 54 year old guy. Not sure why this is marketed toward women because lowering stress/cortisol is not specific to one sex or the other. There is significant evidence that Lactium does in fact lower the cortisol response of the body to stress. BUT, before buying this product, you should google: "the mood cure - eliminating the top causes of insomnia" and read this excellent PDF article. To wit, if your issues are due to neurotransmitter issues (i.e. insufficient Serotonin/Melatonin or insufficient gaba) this product may not do much for you. IF, on the other hand, your issue is high cortisol this is an excellent product.In my case, my cortisol was elevated to the high end of the "normal" range in the early morning. This manifested as early wake-ups (3:30-5am) with great difficulty going back to sleep. High cortisol also causes elevated A.M. blood sugar. I'm an athlete with a spot-on diet, low body fat, etc. so a morning blood glucose reading in the 90's was way higher than it should be.After my cortisol was tested I purchased this product (Lactium) as well as Seriphos. Essentially the Lactium works quickly to reduce cortisol but is not long lasting. The Seriphos is long lasting but takes 1-4 hours to kick in. I took both first thing AM, another Seriphos early afternoon before lifting weights and then another lactium at bedtime. I also kept one more lactium on the night-stand in case of an early AM wake-up. This protocol helped almost immediately. Within a couple of weeks I was sleeping much better, waking more rested, and my A.M. blood sugar went to 75ish, (which is excellent) a sure-fire indication that my cortisol level had decreased significantly.All in all, a great product for the person with cortisol issues. My hunch is that a lot of the negative reviews are from people who have no idea what is causing their issues or how their stress is manifested, have never had their cortisol level checked, and basically are buying "anti-stress" products willy-nilly hoping it'll make them feel better. If your issues are neurotransmitter related and not cortisol related this product won't help you. So do your homework.

This is a very good product if your anxiety is menopause related and is not severe. This will NOT substitute for a benzo or other anti anxiety drug. It also will not work as an anti depressant and may, in fact, make depressed people worse as it tones down mood and can be slightly if ever so, sedating. It is nice to cut the edge when you feel hyper or wired but there is a very fine line here between anxiety from stress and anxiety from depression. Know which type you are trying to deal with first. May not work as well for men but this is a milk derivative product and it may take more for them to get a similar result. I find one cap will ease mild tension. It will only last about three or four hours max. I wont' double it up as I suspect it would act like a major downer for me. If you have issues with milk products, stay away!

I combine it with Seriphos to lower nighttime cortisol and it helps me sleep. It works fast but doesn't last long where Seriphos takes hours but the effect is longer. I ran out the other day and had an awful nights sleep. Luckily I got it yesterday and slept better last night. If I wake at night, I take one Seriphos and 1 of these and I can go back to sleep shortly after. I was tested and have high/normal nighttime cortisol.

I read in the book The Diet Cure that casein was supposed to be "the champ" at reducing cortisol--these pills are encapsulated casein. I'm allergic to dairy, so Hubby takes these instead of drinking milk. So far, it seems his cortisol problem has gotten WORSE instead of better. Maybe it takes time for these things to work...or maybe they don't work on men.

This product is really new on the market. In reading the materials found here and online, since it's an isolate of milk, it is advertised as being harmless, with an intended effect of reducing anxiety and improving sleep. In my case, it did neither of those things and in fact, was instrumental in causing a lot of gastric distress and throwing my entire system off balance for an entire week. It's entirely true that we're each a unique organism and we all react differently to different foods, medications and such but this was one of those instances where it seemed to be a good thing and turned out different in every way.My advice: proceed with caution as there's just not enough known about this product to say if it's really effect and safe.

I use this product on my cat for anxiety/over grooming. Works amazing, is much less then the calming products and is the exact same ingredients.

I ordered this for my canine child that has severe separation anxiety. I do not want to put her on puppy prozac. I have used L-theanine, but this works much better. We can really tell if she has had her "chill pill" or not. She goes in her crate on her own when we leave, and she doesn't drool or bark the whole time. I will continue giving this to her. I was really afraid she was going to hurt herself in her crate. She has to be crated when we leave the house due to being a chewer. She eats shoes, toys and the couch! I give her one capsule in the morning. Does not make her groggy or change her personality.

I recieved a piece of junk mail selling a miracle sleep aid which included lactium, probiotics, and other ingredients, not being able to sleep during the night I was intrigued and found this lactium only supplement because I wasn't willing to pay the price for the sleep aid. I don,t know if this works for stress Im male and take it daily but I can sleep at night now. I was shocked truthfully and figure itll stop working but Im on my 4th bottle. If you can't sleep I would give it a try have to take it about four days I'd say and I can not take it for a few days and still sleep not like melatonin where you have to time it with sleep but that is how I take it, a couple hours before I plan to sleep. That other product may be really great too but I'm sensitive and this seems to be the main ingredient.