Guest guest Posted September 6, 2010 Report Share Posted September 6, 2010 Thanks for this Sue, I second the confusion. Ruth Trickey states again and again in her book that it is a herb that should be prescribed by a trained herbalist and not self administered, but she doesn't really help with the indications or lack thereof! I generally use 2ml o a 1:1 or 1:2 in the morning. Many people find it hard to stomach. It certainly has a hot energy, to my mind best suited to people with cold or deficient consitiutions and cycles. So long, or scant cycles. I also use it as a general gland balancer, say when there is an underactive thyroid. I use it for erratic ovulation in perimenopausal women, or PCOD or when the second phase of the cycle is lacking (too long). I nearly always use it for cyclical breast pain. I use it for pubescant boys in their acne prescriptions, I do not to use it for young girls unless they are at the point of taking the pill/antibiotics for acne and all else is not enough. I would use it for a raging libido in a male funny enough, since it is an excess thing, but no such male has presented to date! I have used it for fertility/ovulation problems, but with no amazing success. But I find I am using it less and less, mainly because I don't understand what it is going to do, it is unpredictable, or at least I cannot predict how the patient will tolerate it/ react to it. Thanks for the debate Niamh On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 7:31 PM, Sue Salmon wrote: > > > Hi everyone. This is a herb I still find quite mystifying - I really don't > feel I've got to grips with it very well at all. I would welcome other > people's insights into it and would like to hear of any articles on it or > monographs that people have found particularly helpful. > With regards > Sue Salmon, Huddersfield > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 I was thinking about Vitex this morning on my dog walk, and harping back thirty years plus, I used to get far better results with Vitex then than I do now. It cannot be proved but I am now dealing with 3rd/4th generation use of the Pill, and wondered if this had any bearing on my results. Food for thought. Tina.Alder. ________________________________ To: ukherbal-list Sent: Monday, 6 September, 2010 23:57:33 Subject: Re: vitex Thanks for this Sue, I second the confusion. Ruth Trickey states again and again in her book that it is a herb that should be prescribed by a trained herbalist and not self administered, but she doesn't really help with the indications or lack thereof! I generally use 2ml o a 1:1 or 1:2 in the morning. Many people find it hard to stomach. It certainly has a hot energy, to my mind best suited to people with cold or deficient consitiutions and cycles. So long, or scant cycles. I also use it as a general gland balancer, say when there is an underactive thyroid. I use it for erratic ovulation in perimenopausal women, or PCOD or when the second phase of the cycle is lacking (too long). I nearly always use it for cyclical breast pain. I use it for pubescant boys in their acne prescriptions, I do not to use it for young girls unless they are at the point of taking the pill/antibiotics for acne and all else is not enough. I would use it for a raging libido in a male funny enough, since it is an excess thing, but no such male has presented to date! I have used it for fertility/ovulation problems, but with no amazing success. But I find I am using it less and less, mainly because I don't understand what it is going to do, it is unpredictable, or at least I cannot predict how the patient will tolerate it/ react to it. Thanks for the debate Niamh On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 7:31 PM, Sue Salmon wrote: > > > Hi everyone. This is a herb I still find quite mystifying - I really don't > feel I've got to grips with it very well at all. I would welcome other > people's insights into it and would like to hear of any articles on it or > monographs that people have found particularly helpful. > With regards > Sue Salmon, Huddersfield > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 Vitex seems to be often described as a " hormone balancer " but I have never found this to be the case. It seems to quite specifically increase LH and reduce prolactin, and is only really effective in very specific circumstances. Its effects on progesterone levels and androgens seem to be secondary and depend on the body's ability to respond effectively to stimulation by the pituitary hormones. For example, the increase in LH will help in many low progesterone situations (e.g. perimenopausal menorrhagia), but only where the body is capable of effectively making progesterone in response to LH stimulation. If someone has low progesterone with very high LH, Vitex is unlikely to help and often brings about the opposite result, such as further shortening already shortened cycles. In these cases it is more effective to increase progesterone specifically, including addressing adrenal function. Incidentally, Dr Lapraz suggests that Vitex can also increase ACTH, so if low progesterone is due to stress, then using Vitex may make matters worse. Vitex can also exaccerbate symptoms associated with high LH, such as menopausal hot flushes, left sided migraines and so on. Vitex helps with problems due to high prolactin or prolactin sensitivity, such as certain types of PMS and mastalgia. It is generally only of use for infertility and anovulation where this is associated with high prolactin. AnneMarie > Thanks for this Sue, I second the confusion. Ruth Trickey states again and > again in her book that it is a herb that should be prescribed by a trained > herbalist and not self administered, but she doesn't really help with the > indications or lack thereof! > > I generally use 2ml o a 1:1 or 1:2 in the morning. Many people find it hard > to stomach. It certainly has a hot energy, to my mind best suited to people > with cold or deficient consitiutions and cycles. So long, or scant cycles. I > also use it as a general gland balancer, say when there is an underactive > thyroid. I use it for erratic ovulation in perimenopausal women, or PCOD or > when the second phase of the cycle is lacking (too long). > > I nearly always use it for cyclical breast pain. > > I use it for pubescant boys in their acne prescriptions, I do not to use it > for young girls unless they are at the point of taking the pill/antibiotics > for acne and all else is not enough. I would use it for a raging libido in a > male funny enough, since it is an excess thing, but no such male has > presented to date! > > I have used it for fertility/ovulation problems, but with no amazing > success. > > But I find I am using it less and less, mainly because I don't understand > what it is going to do, it is unpredictable, or at least I cannot predict > how the patient will tolerate it/ react to it. > > Thanks for the debate > > Niamh > > On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 7:31 PM, Sue Salmon wrote: > >> >> >> Hi everyone. This is a herb I still find quite mystifying - I really don't >> feel I've got to grips with it very well at all. I would welcome other >> people's insights into it and would like to hear of any articles on it or >> monographs that people have found particularly helpful. >> With regards >> Sue Salmon, Huddersfield >> >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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