I'm a mushroom forager and make my own reishi tincture using the dual extract method. Recently I've started making 'extra-strength' doses and I've been gratified with the results but I'm wondering if there could be any side effects from taking daily strong doses? 

Does anyone have experience taking strong doses of reishi longterm? Did you notice any side effects?

I take what the manufacturer suggests and heed their warning "Do not exceed 2 capsules per day".

I gotta believe there's a reason, otherwise they could sell a LOT more without that warning?

ATB - I’m interested in learning more about your experience with foraging and extraction. I do believe what 9West said is correct. The recommended dose of RR is the standard practice.

Hey Steve, Sure thing, here's the basics of DIY reishi shroom tincture extraction...

I'm in upstate New York and the main type of reishi I find grows on hemlock stumps or fallen trees, Ganoderma tsugae. The reishi sold online is usually a commercially grown red reishi or Ganoderma lingzhi/lucidum. Research shows they have the same benefits. 

Once collected the fresh reishi needs to be sliced thin as possible and completely dried. At this point you could grind it up into powder and put it in capsules but I make a tincture. 

To get all the benefits you need to do an alcohol soak first...You take the sliced and dried reishi and cover it with alcohol, I use vodka because it's cheap. The soak should last at least 3 weeks and you should occasionally shake the jar with the vodka + reishis. Drain and filter the vodka.

Then you take the reishis and cover them with water and simmer them 3 or 4 hours, filter again. I reduce the water so it's 2x as concentrated as the alcohol.

The tincture ratio should be 2/3 alcohol to 1/3 water. This way it will keep for a long time. 

The medicinal components are split into 2 groups, the polysaccharides (water extraction) and the triterpenes (alcohol extraction).
Polysaccharides: thought to be good for maintain healthy blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.
Triterpenes: which support our ability to utilize oxygen, regulate immune function, liver function, and lower DHT levels. 

This is probably more than you wanted to know so I'll wrap this up. 

There is one possibly important point I'd like to make before I go...I've noticed that a lot of tinctures sold on Amazon are alcohol free. Maybe I'm missing something but I can't see how it's possible to include the triterpenes without alcohol so I would recommend either the pills or an alcohol based tincture.

Sorry to go on to long. Let me know if you have any questions.

I appreciate your detailed response. My wife recently got into foraging, and I was interested to learn that reishi does grow here in my Metro Atlanta County. Right now I drink Reishi Tea every day, so I’m always interested in learning more about healthy living. The last six years we’ve been growing our own vegetables, two years ago we started raising chickens and the last six months we’ve been 100% pure raw organic & free range, grass fed foods. I’ve lost 40 lbs and feel better now than in the last 25 years. So, thank you again!

I take what the manufacturer suggests and heed their warning "Do not exceed 2 capsules per day".

I gotta believe there's a reason, otherwise they could sell a LOT more without that warning?

True, and I don't want to encourage anyone to take risks, but I think it's possible they're keeping their dosage conservative to protect themselves from lawsuits in case someone has a bad side effect from taking a high recommended dose. 

Since I have so much of my homemade tincture laying around I started taking some pretty high doses and after a week my breasts started to bud so now I'm curious if there are others here taking large doses and what side effects they've had if any.

I notice that some personal programs use high doses like this one...
https://www.breastnexum.com/showthread.php?tid=29722
From the current daily regimen on page 3:"2700mg Reishi (my T is a real a-hole and needs a sledgehammer to knock it down)"

I may send a pm.

I appreciate your detailed response. My wife recently got into foraging, and I was interested to learn that reishi does grow here in my Metro Atlanta County. Right now I drink Reishi Tea every day, so I’m always interested in learning more about healthy living. The last six years we’ve been growing our own vegetables, two years ago we started raising chickens and the last six months we’ve been 100% pure raw organic & free range, grass fed foods. I’ve lost 40 lbs and feel better now than in the last 25 years. So, thank you again!

I didn't know reishi grew so far south, that's great...And congratz on the healthy living changes and weight loss. I started foraging for mushrooms about 10 years ago and took to it immediately. What's not to love? You're out hiking in the forest...if you find some 'shrooms great, and if not you've had a lovely walk in the woods. 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Hey Steve, Sure thing, here's the basics of DIY reishi shroom tincture extraction...

I'm in upstate New York and the main type of reishi I find grows on hemlock stumps or fallen trees, Ganoderma tsugae. The reishi sold online is usually a commercially grown red reishi or Ganoderma lingzhi/lucidum. Research shows they have the same benefits. 

Once collected the fresh reishi needs to be sliced thin as possible and completely dried. At this point you could grind it up into powder and put it in capsules but I make a tincture. 

To get all the benefits you need to do an alcohol soak first...You take the sliced and dried reishi and cover it with alcohol, I use vodka because it's cheap. The soak should last at least 3 weeks and you should occasionally shake the jar with the vodka + reishis. Drain and filter the vodka.

Then you take the reishis and cover them with water and simmer them 3 or 4 hours, filter again. I reduce the water so it's 2x as concentrated as the alcohol.

The tincture ratio should be 2/3 alcohol to 1/3 water. This way it will keep for a long time. 

The medicinal components are split into 2 groups, the polysaccharides (water extraction) and the triterpenes (alcohol extraction).
Polysaccharides: thought to be good for maintain healthy blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels.
Triterpenes: which support our ability to utilize oxygen, regulate immune function, liver function, and lower DHT levels. 

This is probably more than you wanted to know so I'll wrap this up. 

There is one possibly important point I'd like to make before I go...I've noticed that a lot of tinctures sold on Amazon are alcohol free. Maybe I'm missing something but I can't see how it's possible to include the triterpenes without alcohol so I would recommend either the pills or an alcohol based tincture.

Sorry to go on to long. Let me know if you have any questions.

That begs yet another question. 


What do you do with the Vodka? I'm imagining using it with a Russian wild cherry soak.

Bonjour, 

Hello, I find that in the posts there is no real answer to what is the maximum. 

Cordially
 
John (Jean)

Bonjour, 

Hello, I find that in the posts there is no real answer to what is the maximum. 

Cordially
 
John (Jean)

The investigation is ongoing...There's a member here who uses 2700mg daily as part of their daily regimen (linked above). I'm using even more than that, probably along the lines of 4000mg daily. I plan to continue using this high dose for the next several weeks to see if any negative side effects develop.

My dose: I use 20ml tincture daily, 250mg dried reishi / 1 ml tincture. That works out to 5000mg assuming the extraction was 100% effective. I think 80% is more likely that's how I arrive at 4000mg.