Tongkat Ali side effects (F, 31)

So here’s my N=1 experience of taking Tongkat Ali (10%, once daily) as a young woman (age 31, 135lb).

I have taken it for a month before having to discontinue due to sides (see below).

What I experienced:

Positives:

- Slightly increased libido (nothing drastic, mildly increased interest. I would not have noticed this effect had I not been watching out for it)
- Seems to have somewhat lowered my social anxiety
- Seems to have slightly shortened period length but this one is hard to judge since I’ve only had one period while taking it

Now the negatives:

- I got cold sores twice in the month I was on TA, after not having any for like a year (I’ve been meticulous with immunity and antiviral supplementation since COVID hit). Not sure what this effect is attributable to, but I hate cold sores so that alone would have had me discontinue.

- At about week four, I started having really weird joint pains. Like “cold” pulling pain in joints, pretty unpleasant. I have never experienced this before so I looked it up and indeed, lowered estrogen can apparently lead to joint pain.

After being hit by the joint pain I immediately discontinued TA, and within three-four days the pain has cl…