cinnamon and period ?????HELP

JoyJoyJoy · 12-27-2008, 01:07 AM

I have been taking 1000 to 1500 mg of cinnamon and 450 mg of saw palmetto since dec 2(???) I was taking it to stop my continuous period. HAPPILY it stopped with a few spoting days since then. I have not started my new cycle as of yet. So should I stop the cinnamon and saw palmetto for a week or so until I start my new cycle? I am really not sure which one stopped it but I fell like it was the cinnamon.
Any help would be appriciated.
Joy

JoyJoyJoy · 12-27-2008, 10:43 AM

bump......any thoughts?

RunnerDuck · 12-27-2008, 11:43 AM

I'm inclined to think the stopping of the bleeding may have been coincidence... but at any rate... lots of women take cinnamon all cycle but stop SP after ovulation. Now recently someone posted about cinnamon causing miscarriage - BUT this is at a much larger dose than most women take for IR.

Do you have any reason to think you have ovulated? If not you could just keep taking both.

It's really hard to say which you should do without knowing if you ovulated. If you have still had spotting since then it sound like things could still be wacky though so ovulation may not happen any time soon. (Unless it was ovulation spotting which is of course another "what if" - sorry not too helpful!)

JoyJoyJoy · 12-27-2008, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunnerDuck

I'm inclined to think the stopping of the bleeding may have been coincidence... but at any rate... !)

No. I have been bleeding for almost 2 years off and on due to my natural experiments. If I didnt take these supplements I would have kept on bleeding. I know that for sure because that is just the way my body is and has been. I am thinking of stopping the saw palmetto for a week and see what happens.

Quote:

lots of women take cinnamon all cycle but stop SP after ovulation. Now recently someone posted about cinnamon causing miscarriage - BUT this is at a much larger dose than most women take for IR.

Do you have any reason to think you have ovulated? If not you could just keep taking both.

It's really hard to say which you should do without knowing if you ovulated. If you have still had spotting since then it sound like things could still be wacky though so ovulation may not happen any time soon. (Unless it was ovulation spotting which is of course another "what if" - sorry not too helpful!)

I am pretty sure I didnt ovulate. But thanks anyway.

DCBailey · 12-27-2008, 02:51 PM

I would continue to take the cinnamon and saw palmetto since it seems like it may have stopped your bleeding. Seems like its trying to regulate you and thats a good thing. Most cysters that take cinnamon take it the entire cycle same with Saw P.

Also I attempted to start Saw P until i read a few places that it is not good for TTC... so be careful with that..maybe some other cysters can comment on the SawP and ttc part.

lexibelle · 12-27-2008, 03:50 PM

I'd stop the Saw Palmetto before I stopped the Cinnamon. The Cinnamon's effect is focused on your insulin levels, not necessarily hormones dealing with AF. In your case, I would give my body 2-4 weeks off the Saw Palmetto and see what happens. If after that amount of time AF is still missing, you may need to consider introducing a hormone-regulating herb like Vitex into your daily routine and/or trying NPC to see if it will bring on a cycle.

Even if you've tried both of them before, it is possible that with the introduction of the Cinnamon that one or the other may work where they failed before.

Just my two cents - good luck

Oh, and in regards to the Cinnamon being dangerous during pregnancy - that IS true. If I'm not mistaken, it has something to do with it being a 'warming' type of herb that can trigger uterine contractions ... or something along those lines. As soon as you get a BFP, it's suggested that you stop taking the Cinnamon supplements as soon as possible.

JoyJoyJoy · 12-27-2008, 05:26 PM

Just wanted to mention my insulin levels are fine, I am not ir.

JoyJoyJoy · 12-27-2008, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lexibelle

I'd stop

Oh, and in regards to the Cinnamon being dangerous during pregnancy - that IS true. If I'm not mistaken, it has something to do with it being a 'warming' type of herb that can trigger uterine contractions ... or something along those lines. As soon as you get a BFP, it's suggested that you stop taking the Cinnamon supplements as soon as possible.

I haven't seen any hard evidence to back that claim up, but if you have some please post. My DH is of Indian/pakistan decent and the women have been using large amounts of cinnamon forever in cooking .I have seen my MIL cook with my own eyes and cinnamon is in every dish and lots of it, so I really dont take that claim to heart.

RunnerDuck · 12-27-2008, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyJoyJoy

I haven't seen any hard evidence to back that claim up, but if you have some please post. My DH is of Indian/pakistan decent and the women have been using large amounts of cinnamon forever in cooking .I have seen my MIL cook with my own eyes and cinnamon is in every dish and lots of it, so I really dont that that claim to heart.

If there is any truth to it, the amount required is way more than you'd get eating it for spicing your food... something like 3 tablespoons a day.

This was posted on this board a little while ago.

Cinnamon can cause miscarriages

If you google you can find some other stuff about it but most of what I have found has been pretty vague.

Anyway unless you are INSANELY hungry for cinnamon in your food it's unlikely any degree of putting it in your food is going to matter.

JoyJoyJoy · 12-28-2008, 01:08 AM

Thanks. I saw that awhile ago and dont really think it is credible data.IMO Anyways ,I am sure eating tons of cinnamon is not good just as eating big macs for dinner every meal is not good either.
I googled and didnt see any studies, but oh well ,maybe one day someone will produce one.

Thanks

DCBailey · 12-28-2008, 01:13 AM

I dont know how true it is either..but i have heard it alot...i remember reading posting from maybe 2 cysters on here that had to stop because they noticed some strange/scary things happening during pregnancy and when they stopped things got better...

I know this isnt much to go on but just thought id mention...

lexibelle · 12-28-2008, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyJoyJoy

I haven't seen any hard evidence to back that claim up, but if you have some please post. My DH is of Indian/pakistan decent and the women have been using large amounts of cinnamon forever in cooking .I have seen my MIL cook with my own eyes and cinnamon is in every dish and lots of it, so I really dont that that claim to heart.

You can eat it, but taking it in concentrated amounts as a supplement is dangerous.

http://www.naturalmedicine.com/healt...tentID=4435007

That's just one article that lists the Cinnamon as an herb to avoid during pregnancy.

A quick Google search should produce a few other items relating to the subject.

Also, just because your doctor hasn't diagnosed you as IR, doesn't mean there still isn't something off with your insulin levels. Cinnamon acts directly on how your body processes sugars and insulin, just like Metformin - so *something* in that process was out of whack.

RunnerDuck · 12-28-2008, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyJoyJoy

Thanks. I saw that awhile ago and dont really think it is credible data.IMO Anyways ,I am sure eating tons of cinnamon is not good just as eating big macs for dinner every meal is not good either.
I googled and didnt see any studies, but oh well ,maybe one day someone will produce one.

Thanks

I don't think you are going to find any studies because using it as such is akin to a do-it-yourself abortion. So studying it would be somewhat controversial.

When I had my first miscarriage I went looking for at-home ways to induce the actual loss (didn't want a D&C, was scared of the cytotec pills, but was having no bleeding whatsoever or any signs my body knew it was up) and everything I found was kind of like folklore... woman to woman type stuff... take high doses of vitamin C was one of them... I don't recall seeing anything on cinnamon then but I can find stuff now, and it's all like "reported to cause miscarriage" - no hard and fast directions.

So at best you will find don't consume to much in pregnancy - but you won't find exact limits of how much is too much. But even if you are taking the capsules you would have to take a fair number to arrive at that reported 3 tablespoon level - I have never measured out the capsules but just eyeballing it I would think even 6 of them a day would be less than 1 tablespoon.

Don't quote me - feel free to measure and correct me - like I said I haven't measured!

JoyJoyJoy · 12-28-2008, 01:00 PM

Thanks, but I still dont see enough proof. Just a bunch of opinions and opinionated websites and no studies.

lexibelle · 12-28-2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoyJoyJoy

Thanks, but I still dont see enough proof. Just a bunch of opinions and opinionated websites and no studies.

Sadly, when it comes to studies regarding herbal remedies - especially in relation to safety during pregnancy - it's going to be extremely hard to find more than suggestions.

I guess personally (and for many other women in similar situations) I would feel safer stopping medicinal use of an herb that *could* increase an already high risk for a m/c than continuing it just because there's not enough concrete evidence.

I wouldn't cut it out of my diet, because there's no indication to do so, but I wouldn't be taking concentrated dosages like the ones we use to control IR.

Really though, if you're going to be using herbs during pregnancy the best route would be to go to an herbalist or TCM practitioner and get recommendations of what to avoid since they've actually been educated in the effects of certain herbs and alternative remedies.