Visiting a herbalist

I'm reading, researching, and learning all sorts at the moment. I'm struggling to find the time to turn information into blog posts - especially as I don't know where to start! A post on what happens when you start your periods, continue on your menstrual cycle and hit the menopause might be a good start but today I thought I'd write about my visit to a herbalist.

I know that evening primrose oil is meant to help regulate hormones and is recommended as a natural solution for perimenopausal* women. I spoke to a pharmacist about it who said it was unusual for it to be proscribed through traditional medical professionals. He also said that he wouldn't recommend it for girls who are just starting their periods. I also assume that it wouldn't be recommended for young women who are within their first two years of starting their periods. However the pill is - which I completely disagree with. I'll tackle that in another blog post! http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT058.html A link to research by oxford scientists which suggests to be that the effects have not undergone any thorough or conclusive clinical testing - why bother when research for the pill is much better funded by drugs companies! One of the theories (mentioned by webMD) on why it may help with PMS symptoms is that it contains essential fatty acids that we may be lacking in our diets. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/evening-primrose-oil gives more information about the history and composition of evening primrose oil.

Evening primrose oil is something I'll be looking into further as I continue my research and training. I mentioned this to the herbalist and asked what other natural product were available. She recommended agnus castus "the woman's herb" sometimes used to regulate hormones. I'll leave and IOU on here for now for more information as it's getting late and I have to sleep occasionally! The most useful information I've found so far is this site - http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-agnus-castus.html which doesn't name it's sources. It's written by a group of educated individuals, not professionals (although 'professionals' wouldn't have suggested trying the herb in the first instance!). 

*The perimenopause is the description of the body building up, or winding down to the menopause (which is official only 12 months after your last period). I've read somewhere that the average age of onset for the menopause is age 42 but according to Lara Briden (www.larabriden.com) the normal age range is between 45-55. Again, I'll write more about this later!

Researching

I've decided that before I start looking deeper into any one aspect of the menstrual process I need to brush up on my knowledge! It's been a long time since I've studied any biological or even psychological aspect of the process. So I'm starting with a few books on the endocrine system (the glads that regulate hormones in the body). It's about time I built up on what I can remember! I'll get some diagrams drawn up and really feel like I'm back at university!