I'm considering taking it, I've already tried saw palmetto but saw no difference in my acne (did I really think there is something out there that might actually change it..not really).
Either way I'm going to give vitex a go considering it's a natural way to help balance hormones. Do I think it's going to affect me, nope haha but I do have a question.
If vitex has been used for many years to help woman balance out their hormones how come woman take it for several years? Ideally ..if it does what it says..why doesn't it just balance out the hormones and then you can stop taking it? Doesn't really make sense why you'd have to keep taking, I realize something like that is too good to be true but it's something that has always confused me about certain things that promise 'changing' results yet it's only changed whilst you're taking whatever it is. It seems like it's impossible to actually take something that 'changes' you...but you stay like that.
It's interesting too, how people with acne have done SOMETHING to make it happen, whether it was stress or epigenetics etc..maybe the final straw to a notably damaged liver..yet people spend years and years eating perfectly, exercising, sleeping etc and most still don't see a difference. like you cant change back. It's like it's incredibly easy to change your body into a worse off state yet impossible to repair it back to the way it was before the changed state even if you're doing things above and beyond good for the body.
Much like hormones its like once your hormones are messed up..they're messed up forever no matter what you to.
Ok this post is turning into a rant lol, just annoyed that nothing has affected my body for years yet clearly ive done something to start the acne and just cannot believe diet and lifestyle hasn't affected me even a little bit, it's really hard to believe it even has the power to, I mean it doesnt - not for me. I'm glad it does for others but it's just weird how it affects others and not myself, we're all human :/ I suppose I just really hate reading the whole internet say to eat this or that and sleep at this time and drink this much water etc etc and your hormones will treat you right but it's not true or it would work for everyone :/ I'm a very very healthy person, docs have been questioning me for years why I keep coming back when i've been considered the healthiest person they've ever come across (perhaps my lifestyle is making me such) however..I still have disgusting acne. how can I be so healthy and have a face like this :/ I'd rather have other issues like high cholesterol or notable allergies or vitamin issues or whatever than acne, this is just exhausting.
anyway. vitex..
actually come to think of it..I'm on the pill so would vitex do much? >.<
haha
I have tried it and I don't recommend it. Within a few days, I felt extremely hormonal and my face was covered in like 10 new cystic acne. My face just exploded and I felt so awful. Birth Control pills do the same thing to me. I stay away from anything promising to "balance hormones." How can you do that if you don't know what's wrong with your hormones to begin with? In my experience, anything that affects hormones is a big no no. It's bad how they are, worse when I mess with them.
I have tried it and I don't recommend it. Within a few days, I felt extremely hormonal and my face was covered in like 10 new cystic acne. My face just exploded and I felt so awful. Birth Control pills do the same thing to me. I stay away from anything promising to "balance hormones." How can you do that if you don't know what's wrong with your hormones to begin with? In my experience, anything that affects hormones is a big no no. It's bad how they are, worse when I mess with them.
Thanks for your reply.
Hm. maybe I won't get it today :/
That makes me a little worried, vitex was one of the things suggested to get into when coming off the pill.
That's what I don't really get about it, how it goes about with 'balancing' the hormones but I guess wouldn't that just mean removing excess of what you have and helping more of what you need come about?
I guess maybe I also shouldn't take something like such on bcp also...I really don't know.
The saw palmetto did nothing so I've been looking for other alternatives to help with my hormones, even though I don't really know my issue all I know is I break out worse 2 weeks before my period yet on a strong bcp and have the suspicion my androgens are mental
is there anything you could recommend I start taking? I've pretty much tried everything under the sun but surely there has to be something out there that is guaranteed to have a positive effect ? :/
hm.
Others have had a different experience than me, so don't take it as a reason not to do it. I just felt that I should throw it out there. Also your acne sounds really, really different than mine, considering you get lots of little bumps all over and I get big, nasty cysts. I'm not sure how it would interact with the BCP, but just the fact that being on birth control doesn't make your acne worse and it makes mine worse suggests maybe your hormones are different than mine.
It's really not a very good experiment anyway, since it was a long time ago when I tried vitex and I wasn't yet gluten free and hadn't done any of the other things I've done that have helped. So who knows...but my reaction was so bad that I'm not willing to try it ever again.
If I was going to suggest anything I'd suggest getting off the pill and letting your body go back to whatever it normally is and then go from there...but I'm pretty against the pill in general so I don't know. No hormonal things have ever worked for me. All that's helped my situation has been the gut-healing stuff and benzoyl peroxide, but I'm not willing to suffer the side-effects of that stuff anymore.
I've taken Vitex 2 years ago and it cleared my chin and jawline acne in about a month. I actually just bought a new pack a few days ago, and I think I may start taking it again, but I'm taking Primrose oil at the moment. Vitex actually promotes your natural progesterone secretion, which helps lower testosterone. I had a bit of high testosterone when was in high school, right now I'm not sure where my hormone levels are. Getting tests is a bit too expensive at the moment. If you know that progesterone may be low in your case, it would be very good to take Vitex. I'm not sure how low was mine, but it did help lowering testosterone.
To answer your question about balancing hormones naturally. It can be done, but the problem is that you have a certain genetic pattern that influences the production of hormones and so on. It is of course very easy to do damage and very hard to repair the damage. Same as building a house, very hard to build, but very easy to destroy. I think taking birth control makes things much worse in many cases. I really regret taking it for so many years, and I think it affected my skin and my overall health in a bad way.
Plant treatments require long term exposure in order to have some effects. I can tell you they do act on a very subtle level, compared to medications that totally disrupt our balance. Our body is actually a very sensitive mechanism, so anything can put it out of balance. Problem is, when one function is out of balance, all others can go out of balance too. If a certain organ is weak, it takes energy and disrupts other organs too.
What we can do is try to see what our body needs and what it doesn't need. In our quest for good skin or good hair we can end up with worse problems from different medications and creams...
Back to balancing hormones, have you tried Primrose oil? I currently take 1000mg twice a day, as well as Omega 3 from salmon oil, and I can see that something is happening in the good sense (after 1 month of taking these). Oh, and if you do decide to take Vitex just take it for 3 months. Taking it for 3 years non stop would be way too much. You need about 3-6 months to see the effects, and then you should take a break. The thing is the body may go back to its old ways, but something does changes over time (although very slowly, but without the side-effects and damages that synthetic medication does).
Thanks for that info about vitex, Lola. Interesting how you say it promotes your natural progesterone. Isn't that what BC pills have in them too? I wonder if that indicates I have too much progesterone naturally? The fact that I break out badly from both the BCP and vitex.
Well kind of, but birth control pills contain synthetic hormones that can actually have pretty bad side-effects. Most of them contain a combination of estrogen and progesterone, and Diane 35 contains some substances that inhibit the production of testosterone. As I said, I think that the effects of b/c pills can go unnoticed for years, and I really regret taking those. They may clear up the skin in some women, but even so...I think the risks are too high. Especially for a woman that may want to conceive later on in life. So I would advise anyone to stay away from any synthetic hormones.
Vitex on the other hand has a more subtle effect and it takes months for it to work. Also, I think the risks are minimal. Vitex regulates the functions of the pituitary gland, so it is actually supposed to balance out all the hormones, but especially progesterone. It was taken in antiquity by women who couldn't conceive due to irregular menstruation. For how long did you take Vitex? It seems weird that you would break out just from it, but anything is possible.
As mentioned, the effects of Vitex can be seen after a few months of daily use (3 capsules a day). However, they should not be taken while taking any other hormonal medication. The effects can be unpredictable in that case. Maybe in your case you need more estrogen. Try drinking liquorice and yarrow tea daily for one month and see if this helps with acne. Liquorice did help stop my hair loss some years ago.
Currently I am going to give Vitex another go because it was good for my chin acne, but I am also taking Primrose oil (2000 mg per day). Omega 3 supplements are also essential when it comes to balancing hormones. Our diets are generally very poor in Omega 3 and too rich in Omega 6, so that leads to many imbalances.
I have researched Vitex some more and it seems that its main function is to regulate the pituitary gland which controls the estrogen-progesterone ratio. So it seems that it is very beneficial for women with PCOS, but it can be very beneficial for any women that experiences hormonal related symptoms such as PMS, acne, irregular cycles etc.
I've started taking Vitex again and it seems to have already reduced some of my jawline acne which was very annoying. Also, it seems that I get less inflammed acne on my face, I only have a few white heads at the moment. I would normally get a few red bumps every week but now I have only one. I do have PCOS so I definitely think that Vitex will help me. Anyway, I will report back on Vitex...
Normally Vitex has to be taken at least 3 months (1000 mg per day). I'm taking 1200 mg per day at the moment ( 3 capsules). And I am also taking primrose oil capsules (2000 mg) per day because it has an alkalizing effect and it also helps regulate hormones.