I have had social anxiety for as long as I can remember. The kind where you rehearse conversations in your head before they happen, replay them afterward looking for mistakes, and feel physically tense around people all day. I tried ashwagandha (made me sleepy), L-theanine (helped mildly), and magnesium (helped sleep but not anxiety) before discovering Gotu Kola through a Reddit thread on r/nootropics.
I bought a standardized extract (20% triterpenes) and started at 250mg once daily, increasing to 250mg three times daily by week 2.
The first two weeks were uneventful. I had some mild nausea the first few days, which I solved by always taking it with food.
Week 3 was when I first noticed something. I was at work helping a customer with a complicated return -- the kind of interaction that would normally spike my heart rate and make me fumble my words. I handled it smoothly. Not perfectly, not like a different person, just smoothly. The anxiety was present but it was one voice among many rather than the only voice in the room.
By week 5, co-workers commented that I seemed "more relaxed" and "easier to talk to." I had not told anyone I was taking anything. My girlfriend noticed too -- she said I was less "in my head" during conversations and more present.
The best way I can describe Gotu Kola's anxiolytic effect is this: it does not eliminate anxiety. It creates space between you and the anxiety. The worried thoughts still arise, but there is a buffer zone where you can observe them rather than being immediately consumed by them. If you have ever experienced that effect from meditation, it is similar -- and it is probably not a coincidence that Gotu Kola has been used by meditators for thousands of years.
I have now been taking it for 4 months with an 8-weeks-on, 2-weeks-off cycle. The anxiety reduction persists through the off weeks, though it is slightly less pronounced. I consider this an essential part of my supplement stack.