Vitex

[[ca...]]

I can't believe I found something that helps my heavy bleeding but it unfortunately caused me anxiety and heart palps.  Does anyone know if this goes away?  Or if a lower dose would still cause this?  I know it increases dopamine but I'm wondering if this is a temporary effect.  I'm so saddened by this =(

[[ca...]]

Just in case someone was experiencing a similar situation, I realized that Vitex was amplifying the DIM effects. DIM was somehow manifesting as more estrogenic symptoms and just as I stopped DIM, I started Vitex and the symptoms overlapped each other.  For now, Vitex is not making any noise so to speak.  This is to be continued since I haven't been on it long enough.  I hope someone with experience will chime in.

[[Pa...]]

Can you provide more information about the heavy bleeding you’re experiencing?  Could you also expound on DIM?

I don’t see any information in your history to allow us to know your current medication status.  Here are the instructions for adding it. 

 

[[ca...]]

Thank you.  Will do so!  I’ve been bleeding for 6 years after naturopath gave me glutathione to detox my liver.  It somehow raised my estrogen or prolactin.  Which I wasn’t aware of at the time.  Since doctors didnt seem concerned about my blood test results.  Then a gynecologist almost killed me with high dose birth control for a month.  It was worse than Benzo withdrawals believe it or not.  So fast forward to today, and DIM (which detoxes estrogens) gives me hot flashes and even more estrogen dominant symptoms.  What i found out is the anyone with a COMT gene should be careful with DIM and it also raises good estrogen making estrogen high regardless.  I stopped DIM and immediately started Vitex to lower my high prolactin and raise progesterone.  I thought it was also worsening my estrogen symptoms but turns out it was just the DIM effects rippling.  I stayed on Vitex and estrogen symptoms did die down a bit.  Im still testing it out at this point.

Edited September 19, 2023 by [ca...]

[[Ma...]]

Can you please update us on the Vitex situation? Has this helped even out your periods and made tapering easier? I am also very estrogen dominant. 

[[Pa...]]

10 minutes ago, [[M...] said:

Can you please update us on the Vitex situation? Has this helped even out your periods and made tapering easier? I am also very estrogen dominant. 

Hello @[Ma...], welcome to BenzoBuddies.

[[Ma...]]

1 hour ago, [[P...] said:

Hello @[Ma...], welcome to BenzoBuddies.

Thank you Pamster. Any idea where I might find out more info on Vitex or people to talk to that have used it to see if it was helpful/hurtful to them? 

[[Pa...]]

Hi @[Ma...], I’d ask about it in the Alternative Therapies Group, just click join and you should be able to ask your question. https://benzobuddies.org/forum/138-topics/

[[Ma...]]

38 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

Hi @[Ma...], I’d ask about it in the Alternative Therapies Group, just click join and you should be able to ask your question. https://benzobuddies.org/forum/138-topics/

Great thank you! 

[[Em...]]

On 19/09/2023 at 08:04, [[c...] said:

Thank you.  Will do so!  I’ve been bleeding for 6 years after naturopath gave me glutathione to detox my liver.  It somehow raised my estrogen or prolactin.  Which I wasn’t aware of at the time.  Since doctors didnt seem concerned about my blood test results.  Then a gynecologist almost killed me with high dose birth control for a month.  It was worse than Benzo withdrawals believe it or not.  So fast forward to today, and DIM (which detoxes estrogens) gives me hot flashes and even more estrogen dominant symptoms.  What i found out is the anyone with a COMT gene should be careful with DIM and it also raises good estrogen making estrogen high regardless.  I stopped DIM and immediately started Vitex to lower my high prolactin and raise progesterone.  I thought it was also worsening my estrogen symptoms but turns out it was just the DIM effects rippling.  I stayed on Vitex and estrogen symptoms did die down a bit.  Im still testing it out at this point.

Castillo this is so interesting. I was looking into the supplement DIM to assist with hormonal problems. It is just a concentrated version of the compound your body creates when you eat cruciferous vegetables right? That’s the way I understood it anyway. To help eliminate excess oestrogen which can lead to all sorts of problems. I am always hesitant to try anything like that as I never know how my body will react and feel it could be a problem if it’s super potent and made in a lab. Not sure though. Also I was told that cruciferous vegetables are goitrogenic which can disrupt the production of thyroid hormones. I’ve heard of people developing thyroid problems eating too much of these. 
 

I don’t know much about the COMT gene? How did you find out you had that? I’m glad you stopped the DIM if it was making you worse. The problem is, when you join any group, they will tell you to do things a certain way as if that is the thing that works for everyone but everybody is so individual and unique. I find most groups are way too dogmatic and black and white for me. It really isn’t that simple. A protocol that really helps someone can make someone else a lot worse. Then the groups blame you if it doesn’t go to plan and you end up feeling super lost and disheartened.

Have you tried any other ways to lower oestrogen in your body? How do you know you have high oestrogen by the way? From what I’ve read the “Dutch test” is the gold standard for testing hormone levels. Other one off blood, urine and saliva tests come with a lot of drawbacks and inaccuracies. Dutch is done over 24 hours using urine.

Edited November 5, 2023 by [Em...]

[[Bl...]]

Just to say that glutathione is a blood thinner. I once took it (NAC) instead of aspirin  for my essential thrombocytopenia.( Raised blood platelets )Im not sure how it is associated with estrogen. Wishing you well.

[[ca...]]

Thanks for the posts everyone!  You can read the last reply to this other thread I made regarding estrogen dominance to get a little update.  Hope it helps.
 

@[Bl...]  thats interesting. It didn’t thin my blood, just made it come non-stop.  I think it detoxed estrogen into my bloodstream whereas before it was accumulating in my liver. This also caused a rise in prolactin.

Edited November 17, 2023 by [ca...]