Question about Vitex

[crystal-light]

I'm going to start Vitex in a few months to regulate my cycles and balance out my hormones. I'm pretty sure I have higher than normal T levels. Anyway question is, do I take it everyday, even through AF or stop during AF? How would it be taken when I start swaying?

[atomic sagebrush]

That is really up to you. Some people do like to take it every day for a couple months before TTC and that is what most naturopaths advise. I have read that you should stop it during AF just to give your body a break, but I don't think any actual research has been done, this is just speculation. I do know it worked for me when I took it only AF-O (restored my ovulation while breastfeeding).

When you do start TTC, you should ONLY take it AF-O. It may be safe during pg, but we're not entirely sure. And in some people, taking vitex every day has almost acted as a birth control pill and kept them from getting pregnant. The concerning thing is, what happens when we quit vitex cold turkey? Could it cause a shortage of hormones and a miscarriage to just stop it like that??? But I know that lots of people on IG have taken vitex just AF-O, stopped it cold turkey, and had a perfectly normal pregnancy - I don't PERSONALLY believe it is dangerous to take vitex af-O only, because if you do get pg your body will be producing its own hormones in the corpus luteum and will basically take over for the vitex.

The other option would be to take vitex for a couple months every day and then the month you stop taking it, try really hard to get pg that month. I don't like this for swaying though, because you would have to pull out all the stops to get pg that month and that would entail throwing away most of swaying.

So what I think is best FOR MOST PEOPLE is, start off taking it only AF-O and see what happens. But Crystal, I know you're in a special situation because you won't be TTC for some time, so FOR YOU, I think it would be a great thing to try taking it every day and just seeing how it made you feel, if it was any different and if you noticed any changes. IF it seems to work, you can always dial it back and see if less works equally well to maintain the changes.

[crystal-light]

Thanks Kristin

[crystal-light]

Got another question, does Vitex help level out estrogen levels too?

[sunnyinflorida]

I took vitex af-o my first two DD's I had no idea about swaying at the time but it did help me get pg. I took soy cd 3-7 with Eva

[atomic sagebrush]

Got another question, does Vitex help level out estrogen levels too?

I actually just edited my Vitex essay with some new info I found. It DOES affect estrogen in some way, this we know for sure. Dr. Susan Love says it raises it, but this was in a book for women undergoing menopause, where your estrogen is dropping. Herbalist Susun Weed says it lowers estrogen but this is advice for younger women with wonky cycles that are caused by imbalances between estrogen and progesterone (estrogen dominance). I think it's most likely that vitex BALANCES estrogen/progesterone in proper proportions, by acting on the endocrine system itself and getting it functioning optimally regardless of your age. So if you're low on estrogen it can raise it, but if your estrogen is too high in proportion to your progesterone, it will lower it and put it back into proportion. Estrogen is not necessarily the enemy, estrogen dominance is.

[crystal-light]

that's what I needed to know Thanks!