hi everyone..i just posted up my program just wondering if anyone had any comments or suggestions. Id also like to thank everyone on this forum for helping me get to this point i couldnt have possibly done it without all of your help:) Also does anyone know of any videos there might be on massaging I have looked at the massages recommended here but im just terrible at written directions im much more of a visual person. any help would be great:) good luck and best wishes to you all this new year!

I just found something that might be of interest to you. It might indicate that taking red clover may interfere with your vitex. Red clover seems to be anti-progesteronic and the vitex is trying to increase your progesterone. You may not get the results from vitex you are seeking.

(sorry for the long post)

PROGESTOGENIC HERBS ELUSIVE

Over 150 common herbs were tested to see how well they bind to human breast cell receptors to compete with the female hormones. Of the common plants studied, the most estrogenic were soy bean (Soya glacine), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), red clover (Trifolium pratense), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), turmeric (Curcuma longa), and hops (Humulus lupulus). Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), yucca (Yucca species), and yellow dock (Rumex crispus) also showed significant hormonal activity. Since the ability to bind receptors does not mean that herbs act hormonally in the body, they were further tested by measuring hormones in women's saliva. (Saliva is a highly filtered version of serum so it gives a good idea of what hormones are in the blood.) Estrogenic herbs, especially soymilk, were active. Dong quai (Angelica sinenis) produced very low estradiol and may suppress this type of estrogen. Some herbs reputed to be hormonal, such as flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) and black cohosh (Actaea racemosa aka. Cimicifuga racemosa), didn’t change saliva hormones at all. However, they may work in other ways, perhaps as estrogen precursors. (Flaxseed’s estrogenic compounds are created by flora in the bowel.) Also, false results can occur when substances such as tannins are present. The six most potent common herbs to bind progesterone receptors were oregano (Origanum vulgare), verbena (Verbena species), turmeric, thyme, red clover, and damania (Turnera difussa). Herbs with anti-progesterone activity were red clover, licorice, goldenseal, pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), and mandrake (Podophyllum peltatum). Most progesterone-binding herbs were not active or were anti-progestogenic in the body (such as pennyroyal). Wild yam (Dioscoria villosa) increased progesterone receptor binding in 20-30% of women, but appeared to suppress progesterone. Researchers concluded that diosgenin, the yam compound used to synthesize progesterone, “did not convert to progesterone in the body.”

In AHA Volume 15: Issue 2, 1999.

REFERENCE: Zava, DT, et al. 1998. Estrogen and progestin bioactivity of foods, herbs, and spices. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 217(3):36.


Best wishes,
waxingmoon

wow that info is great! hmm i wonder now what i should take then for progesterone...should i take just the vitex???and what about wild yam if it states it doesnt convert to progesterone in the body...im gonna read it over a few times and see what i might replace it with if at all...any suggestions anyone???