This month's Herbal Health Series is all about how to help manage PMS (premenstrual syndrome) and PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) through the use of herbs, supplements, diet, and lifestyle changes.
Anyone who has suffered from either moderate to severe PMS or PMDD will tell you just how miserable it truly is. Many suffer from increases in depression, anxiety, disregulated mood disorders, increased mood swings, irritability, bloating, and more. It can be a truly miserable experience for those who suffer from it. There are four categories of PMS we consider: 1. PMS-A- the A stands for anxiety. This category includes anxiety, tension, irritability, and mood swings. Hormonally- an increase of estrogen to progesterone ratio is occurring at the secretory phases. There are some links to diet as well. Those with a high fat, high dairy diet may benefit from decreasing those in their diets. 2. PMS-D- the D stands for depression. This category includes depression, weepiness, heightened emotions, forgetfulness, brain fog, confusion, and poor sleep. Hormonally, there is an increase in progesterone and a decrease in estrogen. 3. PMS-H- The H stands for hyper-hydration. This category includes an increase in fluid retention, weight gain, bloat, swelling, and tenderness. The body retains sodium so reducing sodium intake may help. 4. PMS-C- The C stands for craving. This category includes increase appetite, sugar and carb cravings, headaches, palpitations, dizziness, and tiredness. Low blood sugar levels and low prostaglandins can be associated with this type. Balancing blood sugar levels with regular small meals and complex carbs, may help. What are some actions that we look for using when working with PMS/PMDD? If hormonal balance is an issue, we would use a long-term course of agnus castus, taken daily. Other hormonal normalizers we can use are, black cohosh, shatavari, liquorice, wild yam, and dong quai. If stress and anxiety are present, we tackle that with long term use of trophorestoratives and nervines with additional support for the days in your cycle when your emotions are heightened. The herbs we use for this would be skullcap, oats, lime blossom, passionflower, vervain, motherworth, damicena, and valerian. A low dose of an adaptogen is used if PMS is seen as an expression of stress. We use nettle seed for this, but one dose in the morning as nettle seed can cause insomnia. Supporting the liver can help too, to help clear things through the system that might be stagnating. For this we use bitters and hepatics. This will help the liver process the hormones, as the liver breaks down hormones which govern the menstrual cycle. These include milk thistle, agrimony, burdock root, or dandelion root. We also help your body correct essential fatty acid imbalances by using evening primrose. Help assist the body is easing fluid retention with nourishing diuretics, such as dandelion leaf, cleavers, wild carrots, and celery seed. We can help relax the body with antispasmodics with a reproductive system affinity herb, such as wild yam or black cohosh. If one gets acne with their PMS/PMDD, we can use red clover, fumitory, cleavers, burdock root, or yellow dock. To achieve these functions we use a combination of long-term and acute blends. The long-term blends tend to be infusions while the acute blends tend to be in tincture format. For the acute blends, we would be using herbs that help with pain, bloating, acne, and stress. The long term blends would be hormonal normalizers typically. PMS and PMDD can wreak havoc on your life, but with a few herbs and supplements and some dietary changes, you can alleviate the worse of the symptoms and get back to feeling like you and living your life. Have you used any of these herbs for your PMS or PMDD? Let me know in the comments. Blessed be, Shannon
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Today's herbal blurb is all about Peppermint. This is a fantastic herb for your digestive system.
The Latin binomial is Mentha piperita. The parts used are the aerial parts or the leaves and flowers. In peppermint, we usually use the leaves. The active constituents are volatile oils (menthol), phenolic acids, tannins, and flavonoids. The therapeutic actions that we use it for are anti-emetic, carminative, digestive, decongestant, diaphoretic, analgesic, and nervine, We use it to ease spasms in your digestive system, especially from IBS or other spasmodic intestinal disorders. It can ease pain from heart burn, indigestion, flatulence. We use it to ease nausea and vomiting. For protecting and encouraging the repair and soothing of the intestinal tract after illness. We also use it for managing fevers, alleviating congestion, and easing pain in the muscles and from headaches. Dosing: 1 tsp of dried herb- 8 oz (240 ml) of water, boiling. pour over dried herbs in a mug and cover. Steep for 10 minutes. Strain and drink. You can do so up to 3 times a day. Tincture: 1-2 ml of 1:5 tincture up to 3 times a day. Caution: Do not use on newborns, infants, or children under 2 years old. Not safe for pregnancy. Please consult a doctor before using during pregnancy. This is a great, well rounded versatile herb to use for many different conditions. Just make sure to abide by the cautionary uses and enjoy a cup of peppermint tea whenever you feel it would be useful. |
AuthorShannon, master herbalist, shares her thoughts, educational information, and more. Archives
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