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Night Blooming Cereus Herb - Uses And Side Effects

Night-blooming cereus comes from the stems and flowers of a cactus called Selenicereus grandiflorus. This plant is native to tropical and subtropical America, including the West Indies.

A fleshy, creeping, rooting shrub, stems cylindrical, with five or six not very prominent angles, branching armed with clusters of small spines, in radiated forms. Flowers, terminal and lateral from the clusters of spines, very large 8 to 12 inches in diameter, expanding in the evening and only lasting for about six hours, exhaling a delicious vanilla-like perfume. Petals are white, spreading, shorter than the sepals, which are linear, lanceolate, outside brown, inside yellow. Fruit ovate, covered with scaly tubercles, fleshy and of a lovely orange-red colour, seeds very small and acid. The flower only lasts in bloom about six hours and does not revive- when withered, the ovary enlarges, becomes pulpy and forms an acid juicy fruit, something like a gooseberry. The plant was brought to the notice of the medical profession by Dr. Scheile but it aroused little interest till a homoeopathic doctor of Naples, R. Rubini, used it as a specific in heart disease. The flowers and young stems should be collected in July and a tincture made from them whilst fresh. The plant contains a milky acrid juice.

Common doses of Night Blooming Cereus

Night-blooming cereus is available as a liquid extract and tincture. Some experts recommend the following doses:

• As a liquid extract, 0.7 milliliter taken orally every 4 hours.
• As a tincture, 1 to 1.8 milliliters taken orally every 4 hours.

Uses of Night Blooming Cereus herb

Specifically, night blooming cereus may help to :-

• Anemia
• Angina pectoris
• Bladder inflammation
• Depression
• Endocarditis (inflammation of the heart's interior linging)
• Fatigue
• Fluid retention
• Graves' disease (overactive thyroid)
• Heart palpitations
• Indigestion
• Irritable bladder
• Kidney congestion
• Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart wall)
• Rheumatism
• Shortness of breath
• Tobacco poisoning

Side effects of Night Blooming Cereus

Call your health care practitioner if you experience any of these possible side effects of night-blooming cereus:

• burning sensation in the mouth
• nausea
• diarrhea

Interactions

Combining herbs with certain drugs may alter their action or produce unwanted side effects. Don't use nightblooming cereus while taking:

• digitalis drugs used to treat heart failure or irregular heartbeats
• ACE inhibitors, such as Accupril, Altace, Capoten, Lotensin, Monopril, and Vasotec
• drugs for irregular heartbeats
• heart drugs called beta blockers, such as Inderal
• heart drugs called calcium channel blockers, such as Calan and Procardia.

Important paints to remember

• Don't use night-blooming cereus if you're breast-feeding or in the first three months 'of pregnancy, if you suspect you may be pregnant, or if you're planning a pregnancy.
• If you're taking prescription heart drugs, have your health care practitioner monitor your heart rate and blood pressure.
• Immediately report palpitations, an increased pulse, or blood pressure changes.

What the research shows

Although night-blooming cereus contains a digitalis-like chemical, researchers haven't studied it as a substitute for digitalis drugs (such as Lanoxin) or as a treatment for heart conditions. Medical experts strongly recommend getting medical advice before using this herb for heart problems or while taking prescribed heart drugs.

Other names for Night Blooming Cereus

Other names for nightblooming cereus include Cactus grandiflorus, Cereus grandiflorus, large-flowered cactus, queen of the night, sweet-scented cactus, and vanilla cactus.

Products containing night-blooming cereus are sold under such names as Cactus Grandiflorus, Cactus-Hawthorn Compound, Cereus Grandiflorus, and NightBlooming Cereus.