Am I 'Kalm'? Not particularly... (Kalms)

Member Name: kirsty_tinx

Product:	Kalms
Date:	10/05/09 (535 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Work for some people.

Disadvantages: Doesn't work for me.

Stress is a natural bodily reaction. However, this doesn't make it something which is fun or easy to deal with. Stress comes in many shapes and forms, and what stresses some people out, won't affect others. Despite this, stress is something which hits us all at some time or another, and sometimes we need ways of helping to cope with it.

'Kalms' was recommended to me by a friend a little while ago when I was going through a bit of a rough time, and just wanted something to ease it slightly. Having a pack for 200 for about £6 was quite a lot, but my friend thought they were amazing, so I thought it was definitely worth a try. The packaging states that it "relieves periods of worry, irritability, stresses and strains" which sounded pretty good to me!

The box is a light blue colour, with 'Kalms' written on the top in large letters. "A traditional natural plant remedy" it states on the outside, as well as I previously mentioned about what it 'relieves'. The box itself looks quite nice, and quite relaxing, giving a good sign as to what the inside contents should do! When opening the box of 'Kalms' inside is a glass jar containing your pills. As the jar is made of glass it is quite heavy, but not impossible to open. There is a safety seal on the bottle, and it says not to use the product if the seal is broken before you go to use it. The lid can be opened quite easily, which is good on one hand, but on the other isn't great considering children could get hold of it.

The product itself is a natural plant remedy, containing Hops Powder BHP 45mg, Extract of Valerian 135mg, Extract of Gentian 90mg and Sucrose, as the active ingredients. It is supposed to 'kalm' you down, relieving daily stresses and strains, and help natural sleep (although I swear I once saw special 'night' Kalms, I can't seem to find them on the internet, so I may have imagined it!) The tablets are quite small, and quite honestly remind me of mini smarties, except they are white instead of coloured! As they are so small, they are easy to swallow, although if left on your tongue for too long I find they don't taste great.

The instructions tell you to swallow two tablets, three times a day with water to relieve stress. These are not recommended for anyone under 12 or if you are pregnant or breast feeding.

Considering one of my good friends found this very reliable and useful when she felt stressed, I didn't really find much difference. I took these whenever I felt things were getting slightly too stressful, and never really found a helpful result. I then thought I would try them at night, as I don't sleep very well anyway and I'm trying to stay away from sleeping pills now, but I didn't find them to help much with this either. I tried them quite frequently for a few weeks to see if they would make me sleep more easily, but nothing much seemed to change. Every now and then I try them again, just to see, but it appears for me that they don't work! I was very disappointed, as for a good night's sleep and a way to feel less stressed, I would be willing to try anything. So if this had worked, I would never begrudge paying that amount of money for these tablets. Alas, I'm still on the first jar that I bought, and I don't think I'll be buying any more in a hurry!

Saying that, having glanced at some reviews on here, some people seem to think this product is wonderful. So maybe it works for some people and not for others, although I don't really understand how, and despite my negative thoughts on the product, it's clear that the creators of Kalms are doing something right to still be producing them, and to have some good reviews from others on here. I suppose what I'm saying is that as much as I think they were a waste of time for me, it's probably worth a try if you think they might help you - because they might. Just beware - they don't seem to work for everyone.

Summary: It's worth trying, because you'll never know if you'll be one of the lucky ones it works for!