Herbal Tinctures?

mise · 06-09-2006, 03:21 PM

Hi,

I'm new here...this is my second post.
I was dx with PCOS two weeks ago...had suspected ti for some time on and off. I probably have it 14 years since bad acne an dincrease in body hair in my teens. I've bene having awful pelvic cramps since the new year. I get them as soon as my period ends and have then all cycle till my period begins the following month. MY old GP kept fobbing me off tellign me it was just IBS but I changed GP and he's been fab and eventually got referral to gynae and was diagnosed with PCOS in minutes. He knew by my skin and by vaginal ultrasound which revealed alot of cysts on my left ovary and a good few on my right.
Anyway he wants me on dianette but I've done my own research and I'm determined to treat this naturally as I dont' see how dianette or any drug can get to the bottom of it. I have a good knowledge of Nutrition as I started reading up loads a few years back when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I happen to be taking most supplements which seem to be common among Nutritionists for using for PCOS. I had bene taking a good multi, lots of omega 3, extra calcium magnesium and zinc as i need these for my MS(multiple sclerosis) , Vitamin D3, probiotics and diestive enzymes at times and I'd been taking chromium picolate sometimes as I had read up on how it helps loose weight.
I gave birth to my baby in Jan 2005...she was born five weeeks premature( i think now PCOS could have been the cause of the premature birth). I started getting more body hair during pregnancy and aroudn 6 months postpartum while still breastfeeding I started noticing a few chest hairs which nearly made me sick. I've had excess hair for year on my legs arms and face but in pregnancy it travelled up my tummy and then I couldnt' believ it when I foudn a few fussy hairs on ym breasts and chest. I have always been too embarrassed to talk to my doctor about the excess hair and honestly just thought I was a freak and I'd to live with it. Anyway soon after these things happenind I started getting diarrhea int eh mornings and sporadic pelvic pain throughout my cycle and both the paina nd diarrhea got alot worse sine the new year. Eventualyl got dx two weeks ago and I am very interested in talking to others here who have had success with diet, supplement and herbs as I hope to balance my hormones this way. I took agnus cactus last September till march as at the back of my mind I knew it was something Gynae and I ahd Marilyn Glenville's book and thought it was worth a shot to help balance my hormones. I'm not sure whether it helped. I get pretty regular cycles anyway, from 28-34 days and I always get a period every month bbut it's the pain that's been horendous between periods and I just ish the time away for the next period to start to get relief. I'm taking buscopan 10mg three times daily to help ease the pain...it makes them a bit mroe bareable. I hate taking drugs and want to get off this as soon as possible.
I restarted agnus cactus two weeks ago and added millk thistle and saw palmetto as they seemed like a good bet from what I've read. I'm not sure whteth they are agreeing with me though as I've been getting bouts of nausea at times but I do get this at times with MS anyway when it's hot and we are having a heatwave here. I dont' feel qualified enough to self prescribe the herbals and was wondering if there was anyone here who could recommend a good site or who knew themselves more about the herbals. I need to know how long they are safe to use...i think I read six months for agnus cactus before but not sure about milk thistle and saw palmetto. I think I might stop the agnus cactus and milk thistle an djsut stay on the saw palmetto for a while...till I find out more. Earlier today I booked a phone consultation with one of Dr. Marilyn Glenville's Nutritionists in the UK. She seems to have a great reputation and at least this way I'll get some qualified help.
Has anyone conquered this PCOS naturally? I'm giving myself at least six months to see if I can loose weight and get some smptosm under control....and then I'll re-evaluate.
Another thing......has anyone taken LDN(low dose naltrexone ) for PCOS??? I've been looking into it as I'm goign back on LDN for my MS and a doctor here in IReland who's a fertility specialist has got success with PCOS patietns on this. It has helped some get pregnant as it seems to help regulate cycles and help ovulation. More info at http://www.ldningo.org then go to the 2006 confernece page and scroll down for Dr. Phil BOyle's clips to listen to.
Anyway hope to meet some more of you here who have or are treating naturally with herbs and other things.
Mise

Pipit · 06-09-2006, 11:03 PM

Hi Mise,

Welcome to the forum, I'm new also. You're making a great choice to try to deal with this naturally!

I don't know about milk thistle. Vitex (agnus castus) should be safe to keep taking. I've seen up to 18 months recommended for PCOS, but at least a minimum of 3 months. If you're not sure about it, use it 3-6 months, take a month off and start again. Some women think vitex capsules are more effective than tinctures. Saw palmetto may have a slight risk of causing birth defects so it isn't recommended if you could get pregnant. But it does reportedly help with excess hair.

I'm not sure I can claim to have "conquered" PCOS but at my last gyn visit we went over some recent bloodwork and she said, "looking at these numbers, I wouldn't say you have PCOS." I've been ovulating regularly since January so hopefully no new cysts are forming, and the best thing is that my testosterone is 36 now (normal is 8-60) whereas 4 years ago it was 93! Unfortunately I'm still dealing with some hair where I don't want it but oh well. I've tried a lot of natural stuff including natural progesterone cream (npc), juicing (a daily liver cleanse recipe), vitex (didn't work for me), more exercise, fish oil, spirulina, avoid dairy, reduce sugar and white flour, stop consuming soy, 6-wk colon/parasite cleanse, lose a little weight, try to alkalinize, take an estrogenic herbal powder, and I think having a baby a couple years ago helped reduce the cysts although I still didn't ovulate for a year and a half after that. Anyway now my cycles are 30-35 days and I'm ovulating with good blood lab numbers. I should mention I never had insulin or weight issues so I think that made it easier. Also I believe prayer helped a lot.

Sorry you're in so much discomfort cramping between periods! I've never heard of that, only cramps during. Have you been tested for hyperplasia? Something that may help relieve the pain is red raspberry leaf tea. Make sure it's tea from the leaves and not the berries. Drink as much as you can, it won't hurt you.

It's great that you're getting expert advice. I know I relied a lot on my chiropractor who is also trained in naturopathy, nutrition, and herbs.

mise · 06-10-2006, 05:36 PM

Hi Pipit,

thanks so much for your reply. Sounds like you have done really well treating this naturally, well done!!! you are an inspiration!!

For some reason I developed all the cysts since having my baby.... i think the hormones of pregnancy and what not progressed my PCOS. The cramps have me baffled too .... I never heard of hyperplasia, did a google on it and read cancer a few times but got no real answers

Can you tell me what it is? My Ob/gyn took no notice of my pain explanation and diagnosed PCOS very fast really but then again it was pretty obvious i thnk. I have a high pain tolerance but I can't go on tolerating this pain forever. my lower stomach is quite hard and bloated but there was loads of cysts expecially on my left ovary on the scan.

I'm going back on LDN(Low DOse Naltrexone) next week. Not sure whethre you've heard of it but a doctor in New York discovered it's use for auto-immune conditions 20 years back and the last few years so many poeple ahve got success on it. I take it for MS(multiple sclerosis). It's a tiny dose of naltexone( formally used for heroine atddicts) and it increaes endorphins and helps balance the immune system. The extra good news is that through my own research I've found out a doctor here in west ireland uses it for PCOS patients in his fertility clinic as it seems to be helping PCOS women ovulate and get pregnant. He now seems to think PCOS is someway auto-immune too. BTW Low Dose Naltrexone(LDN) is very safe, at such a low dose of usually 3 - 4.5mg it has no side effects. I wouldnt' take it otherwise. I was however on it from last september and my pain still got slowly worse but I came of fit at the end of MArch getting sceptical thinkng it may have been the cause of my pain to start but low and behold my pain has been alot worse since. I did stop vitex at same time too....i'm back on that an dhoep to be back on LDN next week and please god maybe the pain will reduce again. I fit does i'll be ditching the buscopan straight away. If you want to find out more on LDN, info at www.ldninfo.org and there's lots of other sites now around too.

I must try the red raspberry leaf tea too to see if it helps.thanks for that suggestion! Can i ask what you found best for excess facial and body hair? Mine drives me nuts and I just cant' go on living like this iykwim. I pluck daily and wax my body, odd time shave but I find shaving makes it worse. I am on saw palmetto now , only on it two weeks and fingers crossed it will help. one think i have noticed since starting the herbs is that my face feels a bt dryer than usual so i see this as a good sign. I'd extremely bad acne from my teens till early 20's. I took rooaccutane in the end....sorry now i did but I knew no better then....it did clear it but i'v elearned since how highly toxic it is. My skin isn't as bad the last few years, no acne, occasioanl spots but it would be a bit on the oily side again since pregnancy/childbirth but i wonder if the saaw palmetto is making my face drier....if so it would probably mean my testosterone levels may be dropping already.

One other thing to ask.....I have not got blood hormonal result sback yet. Lab lost my ones taken over a month ago I think, although GP's secreatry said they clotted on way....i think there was a mixup or they lost them cause they had my thyroid results form same batch. When I got dx at alst two weeks ago , I didnt' want to delay anymore time so started agnus cactus, milk thistle and saw palmetto the following morning. I'm thinking now becasue my bloods need to be taken again at day 3 of my next period that I should be off them to get accurate results but I dont' want to stop the herbs to delay balancing my hormones any longer. I must get my GP to check my insulin too....and whatever else needs doing. Any tips on what I Shoudl ask for to be checked. The OB/GYN who diagnose dme said i shouldnt' need to go back to him again if i get the weight down and get on dianette all should be in control. If I do need to go abck to someone again i wont' go back to him as he wasn't interested in me realyl doing anything but dianette which bugged. me. I've heard a ENDO can be better for PCOS. Teh doc in the fertility clinic here using LDN has a sister who I know...long story but she found LDN through her husband having MS and he was doing really bad. Her husband is now doing great cause of LDN and her brother the doc here in teh fertility clinic was interested and that's how he ended up researchign LDN more and using it himself in his clinic. Anyway my point is cause I kow his sister she is goign to contac thim for me and get any info she can to help me. She is such a nice woman

Anyway sorry for the long reply....fair dues to you if you've read this far. I'm irish so I've an excuse for talking so much

Mise

Pipit · 06-12-2006, 05:57 AM

Hi, sorry I wasn't specific on hyperplasia. I forgot there are several kinds! Hyperplasia is basically an overgrowth of tissue. I was referring to endometrial hyperplasia which would be an overgrowth of uterine/endometrial tissue due to excessive estrogen stimulation. If you have lots of cysts then you most likely aren't ovulating and would therefore not be making the progesterone you need to balance the estrogen. I have no idea if cramping is a symptom of it, but that was the first health condition I could think of that would be worse between periods. Hyperplasia itself isn't cancerous, however if you did have any atypical cells they could multiply more rapidly. One of the most common signs of endometrial hyperplasia is extra heavy or extra long periods, but other things can cause that too. Women with PCOS are at a higher risk for it (I think due to low progesterone production). The RRL tea is supposed to relax the uterus and some women say it helps with cramps during their period - that's why I thought of it for you. I don't have any medical training so please don't rely on my word - it's just a starting point for your own research.

I hope the saw palmetto works for you. It's slow-acting and could take several months to start making a difference, and the change would probably be gradual over a year or more. I never tried it because of ttc. My hair problem isn't so bad. I shave my chin daily and don't worry about what's covered by my clothes because DH doesn't care one way or the other.

I skimmed the info on LDN. If it's helping you, go for it. You may want to keep searching for natural treatments for autoimmune conditions because I really think there are almost always natural ways to accomplish what a drug can do. Sorry I don't know more about autoimmune disorders, but I know I've heard success stories of people who beat them naturally.

You're doing yourself a favor to change doctors if your gyn isn't paying attention to what you want and just throwing a drug at your symptoms. A regular endo will probably also recommend the pill. You may want to try a reproductive endocrinologist. A naturopathic or other "natural" doctor would be the best but I don't know if they practice in Ireland.

When you mentioned hardness and bloating in your lower stomach it made me think of a colon cleanse. I recently finished a 6-wk colon and parasite cleanse. Cleansing is really good for most any health problem. Are you sure your cramps are in your uterus? Because if it's your stomach or colon/intestines, that's a very different story. A cleanse would consist mostly of taking a fiber blend (one with psyllium husk in it), drinking loads of water, and using a laxative tea if needed to keep things moving. I also took parasite-killing herbs but I've traveled to many unsanitary locations. I won't be rude and ask about your elimination habits, but you eat 3 times a day and should be eliminating about the same. If it's difficult or less than once a day then fiber should help you a lot. Omega-3 fatty acids would also help for that. Fish oil is a better source than flax oil but you can use either. Fish oil take 1 teaspoon daily, flax seed would be 1 tablespoon. OK, I think I got rambling off the topic........

I wouldn't stop the herbs for the bloodwork. It could take a couple months to get them completely out of your system anyway. An insulin check should be a fasting glucose tolerance test, 1 or 2 hours between draws. I hope the lab gets it right for you this time!

brightflower · 12-08-2007, 04:26 PM

Mise - how is it going on the low dose Naltrexone? I have been reading a lot about this and trying to get more information from people who have actually taken it.
Please keep us informed! Thanks!

brightflower 33 yo
DH Ryan 34 yo
DS Noah 4 yo
currently ttc #2
Clomid 50 mgx2 No O

ekuhr · 12-17-2007, 06:30 PM

Hi!! I just thought I would put my two cents in here about natural therapies. I tried it the pharmaceutical way and ended up sicker!! I know alot of people do and are fine but it was horrible for me. Since I have been aggressively at this natural thing since about August and I have had a period every month since. They are not great or completely normal but they are coming and I am thankful for that. I have a long way to go but I think I finally found the therapies for me and that is "all natural"!! So good luck to you and I think you mad a good decision to go natural with it.

kita123 · 12-24-2007, 04:53 PM

ekuhr, wat herbs are you taking?

ekuhr · 12-26-2007, 06:00 PM

I am currently taking an herbal tincture of Chastetree berry and a combination tincture of false unicorn root and something else. Sorry I can't remember the other. I will post it again either tonight or tomorrow. My herbs are changing all the time. I see the herbalist/naturopath once a week for reflexology and just an update on how I'm doing. I will let you know.

Erin

ekuhr · 01-02-2008, 02:42 PM

Okay, sorry it took me so long.

I am on a combination of chaste tree berry, crampbark, and false unicorn root. Those are three that I have been consistently on. There are a few others that I take occasionally also.

Hope this helps.

Erin

soulfulqween · 01-07-2008, 09:58 PM

I posted this elsewhere but I think it will be helpful here as well:

Hello
I have been making a tea with herbs that I get fro the health food store. Now you may want to check with your Dr but they have been doing wonders for me.
I make different teas for different reasons but my PCOS tea contains:
Black Cohosh- for HBP and menopausal symptoms
Dong Quai- Anemia, regulating blood sugar which can help with IR
Thyme- antispasmodics (stops cramping of smooth muscle)
Primrose- softens cervix and uterus
Yellow Dock Root- Blood cleaner

I tend to get Leucorrhea aka "the whites" the following herbs help with that...they would also help if you had a cold...
Fenugreek Seeds- (must be roasted in the oven for about 3 mins at 400 degrees to stop the bitterness) They reduce mucus and help regulate blood sugar
Calendula- anti-inflammatory, skin soothing (great for the skin!!!!)
Plantain Root- diuretic, anti inflammatory, antibacterial

AND a health dose of cinnamon

It take a while for herbs to work and you have to be consistent. I make a tea with them everyday and drink about two cups. To do this I mix all of the herbs together in a ziploc bag. Then get a tea seeper. You can find all different kinds at your local food store. Scoop a heap of the herbs into the seeper and place in hot water until the water turns color. It should be brownish tan in color. If it is too dark it'll taste HORRID. Actually it will taste bad at first anyways. I add honey (organic) it helps with the taste.

Best of luck to anyone who tries this...it has really helped me.

Pale Pink Aura · 01-12-2008, 03:02 AM

I just remembered the name of a herb/natural product that I used to take before I was pregnant. It's called Indolplex (DIM) - it's basically an anti-oestrogen, great for us cysters with oestrogen dominance. I'm so glad I remembered it, because I'm going to start taking it again. Mise you mentioned low dose naltrexone - isn't that the one that people with breast cancer take because it's anti-oestrogen also? If I'm thinking of the right one, then Indolplex is a good natural alternative for it.

Ange1973 · 01-14-2008, 03:18 PM

I’m new to this forum, but I though I would add my piece! I have had PCOS for many years, causing miscarriage hirtuism and mood swings, as well as fluctuating weight. This as well as adopting a healthier lifestyle prompted me to look into nutrition and naturopathy, the study of the ‘ person’ rather than the medical view, the study of the disease and eitology. I am now in year 3 – the final year, studying Naturopathic Nutrition at the College of Naturopathic Medicine, which has branches in London, Birmingham, Brighton, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Belfast: http://www.naturopathy-uk.com/home/main/ of the UK .As well as lots of places in Ireland. and I'm ovulating and stabilised my weight and my hirstism has reduced considerably. This has been down to visiting a herbal clinic and following this up with a visit to a decent naturopath with furhter trainning in herbal medicine.

Although I admire many ‘ self medicating' and researching possibilities, as this is a frustrating disorder, I know! , the best advice if you are having side affects from medicinal drugs if you have bad PCOS symptoms, or you want to help alleviate PCOS would be to book up a ‘diagnostic’ meeting with a local Naturopath, as its all about the diet and herbs and excercise with PCOS and you have to be so strict and follow a really healthy regime to make a difference. Also some of the herbs people are mentioning on this site are quite potent and unlike Pharmaceutical medicine which is regulated ie you can’t self prescribe, with herbs you can do allot of harm by self assessing the situation. Many of our lectureres are from Australia, which is swimming with Natropaths and they are quite shocked that herbs are available OTC in the UK for us to self prescribe, as they need a qualified individual who can prescribe for them over in Oz. At the the College of Naturopathic Medicine - students have to complete 200 hours of clinical cases, which will qualify them to practice and if they want to specialise a further 2 years is needed in for example study herbal medicine, or other disciplines.

That said we are always looking for case studies! You’d be surprised how many people have PCOS and hormonal issues. http://www.naturopathy-uk.com/home/resources-clinics/For herbal clinic and info@naturopathy-uk.com for naturopathic clinic.

However as we are sharing on this page in relation to supplements which can be useful and can do no harm. I have come accross one with good feedback in clinical trials. It is a medicinal mushroom called: Maitake in a product calle Maitake SX. This product is used to help with insulin resistance . Since PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) is considered to be caused by insulin resistance using a product like this may be beneficial for Insulin Resistance and PCOS http://www.maitake.com/whats_new.php?news_id=22&

Good luck

Ange xx

Paola · 03-17-2008, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekuhr

Okay, sorry it took me so long.
I am on a combination of chaste tree berry, crampbark, and false unicorn root. Those are three that I have been consistently on. There are a few others that I take occasionally also.
Hope this helps.

Erin

Hi, can I ask you something......what does the false unicorn root do ?
I've read about it, but not sure, does it contain progesterone ?