Swanson Women's Anti-Stress Formula Lactium, 167 mg, 60 Capsules, 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.

It took about a week to 10 days for this to kick in. It definitely helps me get a better night's sleep. Mild. I still wake up once or twice but usually go back to sleep quickly rather than being awake an hour or more. It also has helped take the edge off my little rescue dog's nervousness and getting used to her new surroundings. I give her half a capsule sprinkled on her morning ration. She is not so nervous and skittery, yet she is not drugged either, still playful and happy. Again, this takes a few days to take effect. She weighs 30 lbs.

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.

Yes - this really works, but I use it for my dog who has anxiety and stress from fireworks. This is an equivalent to a pet brand, but at a much lower price. It has calmed her down, is easy to use by just sprinkling over her food and the ingredient is the same as recommended by the pet brand. I am so glad I found this.

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.

Great for the stress in our 14 year old dog.

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.

Love them i take two and sleep like a baby without any anxiety.