QUESTIONS ON VITEX.....HELP! :)

vester · 10-21-2002, 12:12 PM

Hi all,
I'm not TTC, but want my periods regular (i'm sure you know what I mean.)

I dont want to go on the pill because it increases insulin intolerance as I'm sure you all know thus leadingme down the path to diabetes faster.....no!

So I started taking fish oils (omega fats) pills, and hair/skin/nail pills (vitamins) and now vitex (the kind from GNC in the hormonal balance package.)

Are these ok to take all together?
Should I just take the one pill it says to take or two? and how do I know?
Should we EVEN be taking vitex because I heard it raises LH levels, and dont we already have high LH levels?

Thanks for ANY INFOMRAITON you can give!

Sheri · 10-23-2002, 01:30 PM

I personally don't have any concerns over the LH raising. I think this info has been misconstrued. The study I read stated that some of the study women had raised LH from taking vitex but that the LH remained in the normal range. These were women with no apparent hormone imbalance. My theory is that perhaps their LH was slightly low for what their body needed. Vitex will adapt to different hormone imbalances and work to balance them.
The things you are taking are fine to take together but you might want to add some things to help the vitex work more efficiently. One of the most important things is something to clean and tone your liver. Some herbalists believe that cysts are your body's way of storing excess toxins and hormones when the liver is too overburdened to process them. All sex hormones must pass through the liver for synthesis to be usable by the body and finally while your health is improving the contents of the cysts on your ovaries needs to eliminated from your body. So some herbs for the liver include...Milk Thistle, Dandelion root, Burdock root, Oregon Grape root, wild Yam root, Yellow dock root
If you suffer with anxiety/depression/insomnia (any of these) you may be in need of something for adrenal stress. I take Siberian Ginseng. When we are stressed out our adrenals send out not only adrenaline but also male hormones making our condition worse. I have had much improvement in my anxiety/insomnia since being on herbs.

If you have weight issues or suspect a problem with your thyroid you may want to add Kelp or other seaweeds to your diet.

There are other hormone balancers like False Unicorn root and Dong Quai which can enhance the action of the vitex.

Some books I love...
Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar
Herbal Remedies for Women by Amanda McQuade Crawford
The Complete Women's Herbal by Anne McIntyre
Overcoming Infertility Naturally by Karen Bradstreet
Infertility Solutions by Shana Albo (I know you are not ttc but these suggestions will help regulate-its all the same)
The only one which speaks specifically about PCOS is the last but the others have great info on herbs in general and if you follow your symptoms will find a ton of great information.

Best wishes on healing,

Sheri

vester · 10-23-2002, 01:49 PM

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR ADVICE!!!
I will definitely go look up those books....
Now another quick questions...I have PCOS FOR SURE, but I dont have cysts actually. Any advice as to whether I should still take the herbs you were speaking of??

Ive heard scary things about dong quai....could you reassure me?

I will definitely look into getting those books.

Also, I dont have hair LOSS but I have hair breakage just recently. I"m on the hair/skin/nails formula at GNC...any advice on what else to do for that?

Oh, and as far as vitex goes, I"m only on 40 mg per day, is that enough??? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!!

Annette

paigettie · 10-23-2002, 02:12 PM

I personally question the dong qui, I did not do well with it. It raised my estrogen levels and It made things worse. What did work for me is B-complex. I am a true believer in it. If you can, find some of the other threads I've replied to about it. It works wonders, but you have to keep up on it.

(dong qui stimulates the estrogen levels....if I understand that right) as for the 40mg/day, you probably want to keep it between 400mg and 1200 mg per day....

vester · 10-23-2002, 02:15 PM

wow 400mg!!!!! That seems like a lot since the one I have is only 40mg....are there any known side effects/drug interactions with vitex?

I think my multivitimin has B vitamins....how much do you take a day?
Any advice on breaking hair???!?! (vitamins to take??)

Again, thansk for the info!

Annette

paigettie · 10-23-2002, 02:26 PM

as far as the vitex, is it mixed with other herbs, or does it stand alone? Mine is just vitex, and that's all. it's actually not alot, if you search in the research articles under vitex, there is a reference for how much to take. You will need to scroll down quite a bit until you hit the natural approach section...also take a look at the vits and minerals listed.

as for hair, b's play a big role. I use a "reconstructor" on my hair. It had vitamin b in it and i always notice a difference when I don't use it. I use "ion" brand...I really like it.

Last but definitely not least, I took b-100 to start and then I decided to take half a b-50 three times a day since the body sluffs it off. It works really well. I also have my multi vit, but I've found it's just not enough, I need a separate b-complex.

you know, I just noticed in your signature that your are/were bulimic....Did you know that anorexia/bulemia are associated "deathly low" b-levels?

vester · 10-23-2002, 02:33 PM

My vitex is JUST vitex. I wonder why its so low comparitavely???

Can you please explain what a b-100 or a b-50 is? Thanks!!!

And I was bulimic when I was a lot younger. That hasnt been party of my life for about 6 years now.
The reason I mention it is that there have been stuides that corrolate for some reason IBS, Bulimia, gallstones, etc. and PCOS> Interesting!!!

I will definitely try the ion reconstructor (I actually never shampoo, only condition my hair.....its a curly hair thing!!!!! Shampoo dries it out....even the best ones that say they are for curly hair, the phospahte laurlate in ALL of them dries curly hair out.....you just have to work hard with conditioner!!!)

Annette

paigettie · 10-23-2002, 02:43 PM

Wow! I didn't know that about curley hair! No wonder I have problems. I'll have to try the reverse, no shampoo, just conditioner....But, My guess with the studies on the pcos link with the other is still the lack of vitamin b. I did a lot of research on it, and confirmed it with my doctor that vitamin b, or lack of it can aggrivate/start pcos symptoms. Kind of complicated, but if you are interested I can email it to you....assuming I still have it.

a b-50 (or 100 for that matter) just explains the mg/mcg of b vitamins in it, ie.

thiamine 50 mg
riboflain 50 mg
niacin 50 mg
b-6 50 mg
flolic acid 400 mcg
b-12 50 mcg
biotin 50 mcg
pantothenic acid 50 mg
PABA 50 mg
choline 50 mg
inositol 50 mg

if it were a b-100 the mg/mcg would be 100 instead of 50. Does that help?

vester · 10-23-2002, 02:50 PM

Wow, that completely helps!!! I will try all that out! I really believe in vitamins to try to make yourself "ok."

As far as the curly hair thing, since I'm talking to another "curly girl" I'll explain. The curly hair hates to be dried out....every shampoo that suds up (which is every one because of s. lauralyte. however you spell that.) will cause your hair to dry out. EVERY SINGLE ONE.

There is a great book out there called "Curly Girl." I met with the person who owns a shop in New York and wrote this on her book tour. she is unbelievable. Very cool. Anyway, people ask...hey isnt your hair dirty? NO!!! Because what causes it to be CLEAN is the friction...not necessarily the shampoo. If your SCALP needs a touch of shampoo then ok, but htat is it....do NOT put it on your full hair....scalp and hair are DIFFERENT creatures! hahaha!

Her book is great, has a ton of home made recipies to help curly girls out.....and I know my curls are awesome because of it. I also use back to basics curl relaxer, which doenst relax my curls, but makes them stick together along wiht their gel, which is awesome.

I actually ahve super thick hair, I'm just noticing now that it is breaking (you know your own hari) and that it is a BIT thinner. I want to do somehting now before its too late!

Sorry this was so long, but i know how it is to have curly hair!!!

paigettie · 10-23-2002, 03:13 PM

definitely try to get it under control. five years ago my hair was not too thick, but really full to say the least. Now it is very thin and breaks easily. THe ion keeps in under control, but even my curls are struggleing because it's just getting too thin....I miss it. I'll have to work on it for sure.

You may also want to try using progesterone cream too....I notice It doesn't get worse with the progesterone cream. check out the threat that kat posted today for dr. lee. It's basic, but it explains it a little. it's under alternative remedies, under complimentary therapies on the base message board titled "sources for natural progesterone" (scroll all the way to the bottom)

vester · 10-23-2002, 03:17 PM

so are you saying progesterone is a pill you take or a cream for your hair? Just curious...do you need a prescription then for that?

paigettie · 10-23-2002, 03:21 PM

it's a natural progesterone cream, but not for your hair. If you check out the article I mentioned, you will probably understand a little more. No Rx needed.....

vester · 10-23-2002, 03:26 PM

Ok...well I went and read that...but I dont have cysts jus tirregular periods, do you thnk this will help me? Oh...and progesterone is supposed to help with hair too???

paigettie · 10-23-2002, 03:55 PM

yep. (to both) if you have pcos without the cysts it is my opinion that if you wait a couple of years you will have the cysts. You have caught it in time to take care of it early on. If you have all the symptoms, the progesterone cream will still help....

vester · 10-23-2002, 04:05 PM

OK I know that this may sound stupid....but is this hand cream? I mean where do you put this cream? I'm sorry ... I'm a bit embarrased asking.....