Because sleepberry has been used as a medicinal plant in Ayurvedic medicine for more than 3,000 years, serious toxicity is very unlikely. Low dosages were mostly used in this context. But also in the context of clinical intervention studies, no side effects have occurred and the extracts from leaves and roots used were well tolerated by the participants.Based on the data available, there are no indications that the sleeping berry has a toxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic (cancer-causing), teratogenic (“fruit-damaging”) or other harmful effects. According to WHO (World Health Organization) data, ingestion of sleeping berry may cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.Due to lack of adequate safety data and the fact that sleeping berry extracts have historically been used as an abortifacient (abortifacient), they should not be taken by pregnant or nursing women. Children should also not ingest sleeping berry preparations due to the lack of data. One case report involves a 32-year-old woman who took 500 mg daily of an extract from the sleep berry leaves due to chronic fatigue. After a few weeks, she lost 10 kg of body weight and experienced symptoms of tachycardia (heart rate > 100 beats per minute), tremor (shaking), and confusion. Based on the measured thyrotropin and thyroxine levels, the primary care physician diagnosed thyrotoxicosis. After discontinuation of the sleeping berry extract, the symptoms disappeared and hormone levels normalized. No other cases of this type have occurred to date.
