My experience with different Herbs

[SurvivorSyster]

For the past 1 to 2 years I have been using my body as a science experiment and have tried almost all the herbs out there. Please note that you might not experience the exact same results since your body is different but I still feel your experience may be similar.

Here are the List of herbs from best to worst:

1) Saw Palmetto: This is by far the most helpful herb. I think every woman with PCOS should start out with saw palmetto. It is supposed to reduce DHT and I did experience significant improvement with unwanted hair and acne. Ofcourse nothing is good in excess, I have heard saw palmetto increases prolactin levels which is not good so dont over dose on it and stick to the recommeded dose. I heard it is good if you take pygeum along with it, since pygeum reduces prolactin levels. I have not tried it yet.

2) Apple Cide Vinegar: People use it to lose weight however I didnt experience any results in that area. On the contrary it increases belly fat so watch out. However I think it helps a great deal with DHT. My rate of unwanted hair growth slowed down to an ants pace and even when they did grow back after ages, the hair was very fine. It is also an excellent remedy for acne. All my acne disappeared BAM! very quickly. But once again please dont take excess of more than 3 tablespoons a day.

3) Cinnamon: It is good for insulin problems and for loseing weight. However I do feel it somehow affects hormones and it gave me a few pimples so watch out.

3) Stringing Nettle Tea: It is a great remedy for hair loss on the head. But I think it doesnt help much with other symptoms of DHT. It can make unwanted hair grow at a faster pace.

4)Red Clover: It will give you lots of acne, please be careful.

5) Vitex: I have read about vitex all over this forum. It might help you ovulate as mentioned but it will screw up your hormones big time. Please dont take it. I cant say enough. Maybe I should say it in BOLD.

6) Lemon Juice: This is one of the best remedies for losing weight. The pounds melted off in no time. However if weight is not an issue please dont take lemon juice not in this life, not in the next. It seems to increase testosterone big time. I started growing big hair on my nipples and chin and my acne broke out like crazy after taking lemon juice for a month. I still have some of the acne scars till today. I think the same maybe true for orange juice but not sure.

7) Evening Primose oil: I think it reduces estrogen, but I am not sure. But it doesnt seem good for the hormones.

8) Black cohosh: It seems to help some symptoms like acne and hair growth. But it will make you gain weight like crazy like a beluga whale, so if you are already overweight please dont take it.

9) Coffee: It is good for weight loss, I lost some few pounds but I think it may increase unwanted hair. I am not sure.

I might have missed out some herbs, I will post later. Hope this list helps.

[allinthesame]

My best friend swears by Saw Palmetto but I'm not sure how many of the others you have listed she has tried. Definitely good information! Thank you!

[bettylanguage]

4)Red Clover: It will give you lots of acne, please be careful.

5) Vitex: I have read about vitex all over this forum. It might help you ovulate as mentioned but it will screw up your hormones big time. Please dont take it. I cant say enough. Maybe I should say it in BOLD.

6) Lemon Juice: This is one of the best remedies for losing weight. The pounds melted off in no time. However if weight is not an issue please dont take lemon juice not in this life, not in the next. It seems to increase testosterone big time. I started growing big hair on my nipples and chin and my acne broke out like crazy after taking lemon juice for a month. I still have some of the acne scars till today. I think the same maybe true for orange juice but not sure.

9) Coffee: It is good for weight loss, I lost some few pounds but I think it may increase unwanted hair. I am not sure.

thank you for sharing your personal experiences with the herbs...but it seems that it's just your own experience (which i'm not discounting, because as you said in another post, we need to pay attention to our own bodies). but have you also done research on this? for instance, how did vitex "screw up your hormones"? i've had nothing but positive results from taking it.

as for the red clover, it works as a blood purifier, and cleanses the liver & kidneys, it could be that you're breaking out as part of the detoxification? i don't know, but it's a possibility. our livers process hormones, so a healthy liver is imperative for anyone with pcos.

i'd be careful of any diet that leans heavily on something like lemon juice (like the master cleanse)...too much of anything can throw our bodies out of balance...and as someone with pcos, balance is our ultimate holy grail. any citrus is going to be helpful, though, since everyone needs more vitamin c in their diets. the excess hair could've been from throwing your blood sugar levels off, which is such a big problem for anyone who is IR--if you did the master cleanse, you're not doing any protein, on top of which, you get most of your nutrients from sugar (i'm not sure if this is what you did, but i know i've seen other people try this on this forum).

also, i'd avoid any form of caffeine. it is hard on our adrenal glands, which also produce male hormones (androgens & dhea), and works with our ovaries, thyroid, pituitary, etc..., and again, throws the endocrine system out of balance. using it as weight loss could be counter productive (i LOVE coffee, by the way, but only drink decaf these days). and since much caffeine is paired with sugar (i.e. pop, lattes, etc...), sugar could be an evil =)

i'm interested in more of your experiences, as i'm a big herb-geek =)

[sterlids]

i agree with betty. i don't think you should come on here and say this and that won't work don't take it. that isn't fair to those of us who have had positive results with the herbs you have had negative results with. also as betty said the acne was most likely part of the cleanising process. when you start using a new face wash, like proactiv, it will make you break out like crazy. it brings up all the bad stuff and then cleans it away. thanks for sharing our experience but it won't be the same for all of us.

[SurvivorSyster]

Hi Ladies,

I dont know why you'll are upset. I clearly mentioned at the start of my post that "Please note that you might not experience the exact same results since your body is different". Instead I tried to tell in another post that our body is the ultimate judge about the helpfulness of a herb, and other peoples posts only serve as pointers or to give an idea as to what to expect.

I posted my experience here bec someone needs to be the devils advocate. I see ladies if their experience with a particular herb is contrary to the public opinion then they either try to increase the dose or take it for a longer period of time thereby harming themselves more without realising that their body may be different. I too was pretty shocked about vitex because it is a very popular herb on this forum as well as it is one of the main herbs mentioned in many articles about PCOS.

When I took vitex I noticed increase in shedding of head hair and I also started growing hair on my nipple which I didnt have before. I think vitex is very popular on this forum bec it helps with ovulation and conceiving. It causes and increase in LH which is necessary for ovulation. It also increases progesterone which can help in conceiving. However my main problem in unwanted hair and androgen excess which it seems to make worse. Bec women with PCOS already have low FSH and higher LH, so vitex by increasing LH further makes the balance even worse which can lead to more testosterone. It also increases progesterone which causes SHBG to reduce and SHBG is like a sponge which sucks up all the excess testosterone. Ofcouse once again ur experience could be different because ur hormone profile is different from mine.

As regards to lemon juice or citrus fruits, they are high in Vitamin C..and vitamin C is an aromatase inhibitor that means it inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. Well this is good for body builders who dont want estrogen but it is bad for women like me who want to be girly girls with no unwanted hair.

Well the thing I wanted to say is that our bodies are complicated with so many different hormones and the herbs they effect our body thru so many different pathways. So it is very difficult to tell how a herb with effect you. the best thing is to try it and note down carefully any changes u notice. Ofcourse it definitely helps to read posts so that we know what to expect. Like if I read 10 ladies posts who had a +ve experience then I can hope that I too will have something similiar.

[sterlids]

i think what upset me was how you delivered your message about the different herbs. i'm not upset with you just the deliverence of your message. i do agree though that you shouldn't increase dosage or take it longer if it is supposed to have quick results. but some herbs and meds have a cumulitive result. i know didn't spell that right.

[bettylanguage]

please don't take offense where none was meant to be given...i think it's important for us to share our information and experiences. explaining more in depth why vitex didn't work for you is much more helpful than just saying "don't take it."

we're all just trying to figure this out, usually on our own, so the more information the better.

and, as you've said, we're all different. pcos is not an exact science, it's a group of disorders and we all experience it differently, which means we'll all experience various treatments differently. if you've had a negative experience, it's really helpful to share that because someone else might've had the same experience.

[MarianneUnfaithfull]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with different herbs. It would be really interesting if everyone could list which herbs they've tried and their experiences on them, although not many people could do this as we tend to take a combination of herbs together, and then don't know what's doing what!

I would like to add that my experience on vitex was a very positive one. I'd had irregular periods and bad cystic acne for almost a year since coming off Dianette the first time. I started on vitex and my cystic acne cleared within a month. I was left with a non-cystic acne, but it improved on vitex, although didn't clear. I also lost about 4 pounds at this time, and my stomach flattened slightly. My periods were 50 days apart and after starting the vitex, gradually came down to the "normal" 28 days. I didn't notice any difference with my hirsutism at all, but my experience on it was a very good one, and I'd recommend it to anyone!

[August]

As regards to lemon juice or citrus fruits, they are high in Vitamin C..and vitamin C is an aromatase inhibitor that means it inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. Well this is good for body builders who dont want estrogen but it is bad for women like me who want to be girly girls with no unwanted hair.

If you could, please provide some documentation re: this assertion.

[Ms. WF]

Wow. Thanks for this!

[Feathers]

I gave the master clense a crack - the fact there was nothing in my stomache from fasting except the lemon concoction and water gave me reflux resulting in damaging my esophagus from the acidity of the lemons. Very painfull.
I also ended up with massive water retention in my legs and bruising. Blood test showed I was very iron deficient and my liver was completly off kilter. Still trying to work out what caused what etc. I know not all of this is the clenses fault.
As I said I'm not sure what caused what, I dd it by the book. I am now just trying to get my iron level back up then going to do more tests but it is something I'm never going to try again!
That said on day 5 I felt fantastic and I know many people who sware by it. Just not me!
I also think that sharing each others personal experiences is very helpfull to all- But each individual needs to be aware that no two people are the same.