I sincerely want to write this in hopes that this will stop many from the dangers of this. I heard of Somatomax from a friend while on a job.  Everyone lifts heavy and everyone raved about this stuff. When I took it, the effects did just as described, Happier, Longer sleep and higher sex drive.  Now the I took this at 1/2-3/4 scoop every night for 4 months. I left the job, didnt think much of it, 2 days later I was vomiting everything I touched, no diarrhea, but HARD HARD mood swings.  Cold Sweats. Racing thoughts.  Horrible thoughts. Shaking uncontrollably.  I went to ER in foreign country and they gave me very low dosage of xanax to calm me down. There is really nothing a doctor can do other than that.  I hate prescription meds and I never messed with harder supplements when lifting. Skipping forward some time.  I am now going on 5 days each with its own time period of nightmarish cold sweats and panic attacks, I was able to eat as normal on day 4 but still am suffering from the rest. Main thing is when you come off it everything reverses.  You feel Terrible. Don't want to do anything.  No as in 100% NO SEX DRIVE. And the longest I have slept in a 1 straight period was 5 hrs on day 5. Hoping the effects return to normal within a week.  But I swear I will never touch that stuff again.

It works! I have suffered from chronic insomnia for more than 25 years and tried everything from prescription to natural and nothing really worked.  Enter Somatomax. Now I sleep well every night.  My only criticism is that some batches have differing dosage requirements. But my biggest fear is that it might become unavailable for some reason.
 

I sleep like a baby after taking iy, but I got it for the increased HGH benefits to help heal an old ligiment injury in my neck. My neck feels somewhat better after about a month, so I am pleased with that as well.  I have been cycling on and off about every 8 days because of some of the warnings. Ido 7 or 8 on and 4 or 5 off and that seems to be working without any side effects.
 

Used to take it 1-2 times a week to help me fall asleep and recover from a good workout while in the navy. Sleeping on an aircraft carrier was rough and this eased it up.  Never had withdrawals or addiction to it. Did feel somewhat drunk when I would wake up but not a big deal.
 

The side effects for me when coming off of Somatomax have been horrible.
I had previously (the worst of it was decades ago) suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder and had gotten past that through talk therapy (no drugs.) Absolutely agree with the comments about dosage.

First time I took a full scoop. Within 30 minutes my face and arms felt like they had ants crawling on them.  Next day was awful – dizzy, disoriented, sleepy. Cut back to 3/4 and was better, but still not good – had heart palpitations about an hour after taking and was still a bit woozy the next day.  Eventually cut back to about 1/2 scoop for several weeks then started reading about the side effects (some of which I already started to experience) so I stopped cold turkey. Don’t do that.  Lots of anxiety and emotional ups and downs.

So I’ve started trying to taper off of it. Still having significant mood swings, overwhelming guilt feelings and anxiety and then they’ll just go away.  I’m going to contact a psychologist and psychologist tomorrow to try to get some help. I just wanted to add another cautionary tale to the others listed here in the hopes that it will prevent someone from having this same experience.

I’m very happy for those for whom this product works, but I have a lot of sympathy for the folks with the withdrawal symptoms.  Good luck to those of you who have withdrawal symptoms – I suggest getting some sort of support to help you through them.

I'm over half way through my first jar of fruity Somotomax. The first time I took it, I took the usual heaping scoop in 8 oz. water.  About 1 hour later I was woozy, sleepy, lethargic and a bit dizzy/wobbly. I slept deeply and woke in a stupor that lasted all day.  The pluses are that it works. I sleep better than I have in months.  I have virtually NO anxiety. I woke not caring about much of anything...it's all good...I was able to perform my usual chores but feeling drugged. I plan to cut back to only taking it two to three times per week.  It has the same traits of a loader. My performance at the gym was notably better and my skin has improved remarkedly.  I'm hungry for healthy foods and water. It definitely works and I'm a total skeptic.  If you have a tendency to be anxious though, take it judiciously/cautiously and don't stop taking it cold turkey. Wean yourself off slowly.
 

This product is very effective at inducing sleep due to its very powerful ingredient Phenibut. The ingredient Phenibut crosses the blood brain barrier, and acts on the neurotransmitter GABA causing sedation, euphoria, drowsiness, reduced anxiety and muscle relaxation.  It affects similar neurotransmitters in the brain as benzodiazepines like Valium.

Taking this product on a daily basis for an extended period of time, and then suddenly stopping it, can cause some nasty withdrawal symptoms. For example, like severe insomnia, constant anxiety and panic attacks.  This product should be used sparingly (2-3 times a week maximum, with several days in between usage). I wish the company would put a warning label on this product.  I talked to the guys that work at the store where I purchased it and they take it on a daily basis. They say they barely get 1-2 hours of sleep at night when they don’t take it.  Again, the product is very effective, but use it sparingly!

I can say for a fact that I slept deeper and longer. However, I was dizzy, nautious and clammy for about 24 hours when I woke up the morning after talking it.  I could not get out of bed.

I was recommended this supplement and was desperate to cure my anxiety/insomnia. I tried it for 3 months, less than a full scoop each day and it worked great.  I skipped 1 day because I drank some beer and had a full on panic attack the next day. Dr's gave me atavan at the hospital but even taking that I suffered horrible withdraw symptoms for 10 days.  Worst experience of my life. I'm currently taking 3 different medications to try and get back to feeling normal.  Please do not take this stuff and if you do taper off of it slowly.

This product contains a drug that is available only by prescription in some countries: Phenibut. It’s under the radar right now in the US.  Phenibut is like a benzodiazepine (depressant) and you can experience everything consistent with benzodiazepine withdrawal.

I am 6 weeks into a rebound / withdrawal from Somatomax. I took it for 2 weeks straight. Then I had a panic attack in the gym a couple of days after I stopped. I’ve never been an anxious person and have no history of panic or anxiety disorder. The panic attack expressed as tremors, numb arms and legs, blood pressure spike, chest pain and tachycardia (rapid heartbeat.)

I was taken to the ER and was admitted to the hospital while a team of cardiologists tried to figure out why the event happened and why I was experiencing near-syncope and tremors every time I walked around.

All of my tests and imaging came back “unremarkable."Q My complete metabolic panel showed everything was within normal range, no blood clotting disorder, no lung issue, echo - normal anatomy and valves work well, stress test - normal sinus rhythm, and nothing found by neurology as well. I was asked about supplements and the cardiologists and neurologist all pointed to Phenibut in Somatomax as the culprit.

In my case, the following has been true:

- Sympathetic Nervous System was excited because I had become dependent on a GABA agonist (Phenibut) and upon cessation of the ingredient my GABA uptake diminished.  GABA is a neurotransmitter responsible for inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system.
- My Parasympathetic Nervous System (“rest and digest”) was inhibited by excitatory neurotransmitters produced by the Sympathetic Nervous System
- My digestion was impaired and I started experiencing acid reflux and nausea.
- Stomach acid leaked into my lungs and caused asthma. I was prescribed an Albuterol inhaler and told to not eat close to bedtime and to sleep with my upper body elevated.
- I had symptoms consistent with symptoms of MS and Parkinson’s (internal tremors - a vibrating energy in my chest that felt like the second you get startled, only it stayed like that for 4 days.)
- Panic Disorder. I’m still wrestling with this after 6 weeks.  Physiologically, my body is freaking out when I exert myself and raise my blood pressure or heart rate beyond a certain point.
- Breathing difficulty and low oxygen while sleeping. For a week I had trouble going to sleep because every time I fell asleep I would wake up immediately gasping for air with spiking blood pressure and heart rate. There were times during the day that I felt I had to consciously keep breathing. My O2 sat while sleep was going down to 81% and staying below 90% for a total of 5.5 mins during a 4 hour period at times.
- I suffered autonomic instability with heart rate, blood pressure and breathing.
- Heart rate would shoot past 100bpm upon standing and blood pressure would spike to 178/120 upon sitting up or standing.  It was a normal 120/70 while lying down. This happened for 2.5 days until I was prescribed a high blood pressure medication.
- My physical therapist is helping work through some neck and back pain I’ve been experiencing since first experiencing tremors during my severe panic attack.  She is having to approach my case like she would a traumatic brain injury (TBI) patient. Apparently, TBI patients also suffer brain chemistry issues that excite the Sympathetic Nervous System.  The Physical Therapist told me NOT to hype myself up to do anything that might trigger a panic attack. She said to slowly expose myself to higher heart rate and blood pressure by incrementally walking faster and lifting more weight over time. The PT says that if I try and hype myself up and trigger a panic attack it could have very bad consequences on my heart and brain.  From heart attack to aneurysm and seizures.
- I had most of the Phenibut withdrawal symptoms with the exception of the most scary - psychotic behavior and hallucinations.
- Like most conditions TIME is the most important factor. My rebound and recovery is largely dependent upon time.  That’s the case with most temporary conditions and pain, even though voodoo non-medical doctors will try and throw supplements and costly fake treatments at you. You’ll recover after a few days, weeks or months and think that what they recommended or their treatments actually work.  Unless you have a real, lab-verifiable deficiency, herbs, vitamins, and back cracking don’t do anything.

Stay away from this stuff. Not everyone suffers severe withdrawal like I have, but it’s not worth taking the chance.
 

A co-worker told me about somatomax for sleep. I was excited to try it because I wake up a lot at night.  I used it the last 3 nights as directed and I was awake much of the last 3 nights. I am very disappointed in the results.