Seed cycling

So I was thinking about trying this to see if it would help balance my hormones a bit. Has anyone tried it?
Atomic I remember you mentioned that flax seed it large amounts wasn't good. This is 1 Tbs a day until O, obviously not for a 60 day cycle but I can't seem to find any negative related studies regarding flax. Do you have any to share so I may read?

Ok, but I really hope you guys know at this point that whenever I recommend or don't recommend something like this it's because I have done the research on it already. I don't recommend the things I do out of misplaced paranoia, it's because after having seen things that seem to be causing issues again and again, I look into them and find out dismaying things and then feel obligated to share them with you.

I have an explanation why not to do seed cycling in this thread. https://www.genderdreaming.com/forum...g-cycle-2.html

Here's one showing flax = premature labor: https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...1027140817.htm
Here's another, linked to cancer in the offspring of rats who took it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3615982/

And those are a drop in the bucket. There are several others that I went through when I was researching this including linking a fairly low intake of flaxseed to deformities of the genitals in boy babies whose mothers were eating it but I can't find that in a reasonable time searching.

There are dozens of hits for "flax delayed ovulation" where people are sharing their experiences and that is what I've seen on this site over and over again. The claim that "flaxseed extends LP" is based on ONE study done in 1993 done in 18 people. I trust my personal observations over that especially since most of the people promoting seed cycling are selling flaxseed. I also have personally eyewitnessed people eating flaxseed smoothies daily in pregnancy who had premature labor and in one case a genital deformity and were told by their docs it was caused by the flaxseed (which is how I found out about it to begin with.)

Here it is right from Web MD: Flaxseed is POSSIBLY UNSAFE and should be avoided during pregnancy. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/in...o-991/flaxseed
Now you may be thinking "but this is during pregnancy" but the REASON it does stuff during pregnancy is because it interferes with your hormones. Web MD mentions that Flaxseed may oppose estrogen. Your hormones are already out of whack. The LAST thing you need is inundating yourself with plant hormones that will interact with your hormone receptors. I understand the instinct to want to try to do something to "fix" the situation but by far and away what I've seen is people causing more harm than good taking these things.

You know I trust your judgment. Thank you. Its like the vitex so many ( including a scientist) are recommending it to me and I guess I feel like I want to tryyyyyyyyy anything, ugh! I also know there is no magic fix either, so maybe a small part of me is hoping for a magic fix.
Thanks for linking those, I'll read them now.
I do know the amount of time and research you put into your studies and advice here on this site, although its probably wayyyyy more than I even think! It does not go unnoticed or unappreciated, so really........thank you xoxo

The thing is that many things like Vitex, since they can help PCOSers (by interfering with excess hormones) can help some people, and scientists have not seemed to get the memo that there are multiple reasons why O can be irregular. So for anyone taking vitex for reasons like HA or perimenopause where their hormones may already be lowered it's like throwing gasoline on a fire. But since the herb people have seen them work for some people (PCOSers), they're loathe to give up on them. They assume wrongfully that a woman who had been having an irregular cycle who goes onto vitex and gets an even more irregular cycle is hitting menopause or needs MORE vitex or some other miracle herb, and the cycle goes on and on till that woman hopefully shows up here and I tell her to stop taking them!

(and there are better more effective ways of fixing PCOS anyway, just that they're harder work)

Flaxseed is a bit different, because it's ok for non-pregnant and TTC people to take (and may even be helpful for a variety of health issues) it has garnered an air of "health food" about it and doctors have been slow to realize that while some is good, more is not necessarily bettter. And of course some sites profit from selling things like that. So we see people eating insane amounts thinking they're helping their baby. The woman who had the baby with the birth defect possibly caused by flax was having 2 flax smoothies a day for her whole pregnancy. Just like with the vitex, though, any time a woman is havng an irregular cycle and goes to the herbalist, and they say "flax" and her cycle gets MORE irregular, they just don't draw the connection since she was having issues to start with. They blame the issues, and not the flax. (and then usually tell her to take vitex, too, LOL).

Not to mention there are plenty of people who never seem very affected by anything, who can shake off these things and get pregnant anyway...it's all very hard to tease out cause and effect.

I was just super fortunate to have been basically handed by God/fate a couple instances back on InGender where I was able to see vitex causing very obvious dramatic issues for people without having been previously indoctrinated with pro-vitex info, or I wouldn't have known either. It's just sheer luck I was able to see that and if I hadn't been perfectly situated to have that doubt in my mind from the first moment I'd probably be right there alongside of them recommending it without realizing the potential for harm. :)

All of it is so interesting and I see what you are saying and it seems to make a lot of sense. Someone also commented to me when I mentioned possible bad effects from vitex that ,"well it's already bad so it can't get much worse" to me! Referring to my cycle
And most people often don't know the intricate details that you know and have learned about many womens cycles so if you say not to use something, esp.in my case as you do know my history, I'll trust it. I already ordered the seeds, flax and pumpkin, since I think AF showed today, not sure you saw my other post yet. But I'll return them when they come. I really don't want to add any more irregularity/damage to my already irregular cycle
I wish I could get femara!

That would only be true if you had super bad PCOS though. What they're basically telling you is "you're dying of a virus, so you should take antibiotics because hey, can't get any worse!" But of course it can because antibiotics have side effects too and aren't going to make you better!

Flax and pumpkin seeds are fine a couple times a week as a part of a healthy diet, just not massive amounts of them daily for days at a time.

I do wish you could get Femara too - or at the least could get Provera when you needed it to end these longer cycles. :)

Yes that's exactly what I was thinking and in my opinion, things can always get worse!
Well since I ordered the seeds do you think there would be any benefit to eating them 3 days a week? I certainly don't want to delay ovulation at all this cycle. If not I'll just return them.
Well I don't need provera thankfully, AF is here. I just wonder if I ovulated? I suspect I probably did but I guess there isn't much difference in a breakthrough bleed and regular period?
Anyways I'm glad that at least my body can reset and try again hopefully!

3x a week is fine for pumpkin, stick to 2x with flax.

I had some questions about your thermometer in the other thread before I reply about ovulation.

Either way it's a reset hormonally on the cycle so whether AF or BB it will still kickstart a new cycle (hopefully a normal one this time!)

Thanks for always answering xxoo