mise

Hey,

Looking for some advice and hoping someone will be able to help.

At an attempt to help my PCOS I tried herbal tinctures of both agnus cactus and saw palmetto in May '06. I stopped after a month as i developed a breast lump that really worried me. also I got awful headaches and something didn't seem right. Lump is fine, got tested properly....it gets bigger just before AF and then gets smaller after AF goes but never is gone completely.

Anyway it kinda frightened me at the time and I kinda blamed the herbs but it's one of those things that i'll never know for sure.

In the meantime I've been concentrating on trying to keep ym diet as Low GI as possible and have lost some weight but need to loose alot more and keep it off. Might try cinnamon for that side after reading some posts here

But lately I had been thinking of restarting agnus cactus cause I keep reading good things about it for PCOS. Anyway I went to my health store on Monday and got a tincture one, it's actually this one http://www.naturalife.ie/product.asp...hFor=&PT_ID=89
This company has a good name here and most therapists who would be into complimentary therapies trust this brand. The healthstore was out of agnus cactus tablets and this is what i was going to go for. Anyway I said I'd give this one a try as was told it's good still. I get awful PMS the lat two years and would be greatful if it helped that alone but my aim is to get my hormones balanced properly !!

Anyway since I've been taking this tinture i've had awful headaches and i've also had spotting which isn't really normal for me. I never get headaches and i think i've only ever got spotting once in my life. I had been taking 20 drops twice daily since monday. I've not taken anything since yesterday evening and am thinking of taking it once tomorrow and seeing how that goes again. My headache is almost gone today so it does seem to be the herbal tincture.

Also i'm a bit worried that i should have only got agnus cactus in a tinture and maybe the herb mix doesn't suit me but i did reference my Marilyn Glenville book last night and she seems to recommend most of the herbs anyway so i'm hoping no harm???
Here's what's in it ombining four herbs traditionally used for women’s conditions such as Agnus castus, and Black Cohosh which comes to us via the North American Indians and. Also contains Wild Yam and Sage.
It's advertised for being helpful for both menopause an d PMS for balancing hormones.

When I had problems last time on herbs(or maybe it was not related) i basically told myself I'd go to a proper herbalist next time before trying something but there is no one near me. Is it really ok to self prescribe herbal stuff? I'm just afraid of doing mroe harm than good at times. I'm all for getting to the bottom of my PCOS at a naturopathic level and i have had success to some degree.....i'd just love to get the herbal side right now too !

Any help much appreciated!
Thanks for reading