Vitex : Vitex

I eat a very healthy plant based diet, drink over a gallon of water per day, exercise regularly, sleep 8+ hours per night, and do yoga and meditation to manage my stress. Despite all of this, my cystic acne has only gotten worse and I figured that I must have a hormonal imbalance. I wanted to avoid harsh medications like accutane, retin-A, birth control, antibiotics, and spironolactone so I decided to take the natural route. I stumbled upon vitex and only found positive reviews, so I decided to give it a try. Probably one of the worst mistakes I've ever made. I ended up in the ER because of heart palpitations and acute anxiety. I could not sleep because my heart was pounding and I would wake up in the middle of the night and look in the mirror and not be able to recognize myself. Sometimes when I closed my eyes, I experienced some form of psychosis and saw terrifying images and hallucinations. I couldn't concentrate at all and I became unable to read, hold conversations, or perform simple addition. I put on weight because I was ravenously hungry and no amount of food could satisfy my cravings. The worst part is that my skin broke out in a severe, itchy, acne-like rash and it had never looked more terrible or swollen. I took it for approximately 1 week and stopped it cold turkey after taking a higher dose (two 400 mg pills, 12 hours apart) and suffering severe diarrhea the following day. It has been nearly 3 weeks since I last took it. Fortunately, my period is still regular, but the anxiety and the derealization/depersonalization remain. I'm getting better day by day but this has been not been an easy journey. I was lucky to get out quickly and to be young (I'm 19 years old) and fairly healthy, but I have read stories of women who stuck with the pill for months and even years despite the side effects and permanently damaged their bodies. Please, please reconsider taking vitex until you have gone to a doctor, gotten your hormones tested, and been told that your progesterone is low. I don't want to discount that vitex has been a miracle worker for so many women. However, it is NOT for everyone. I feel that after the pain I have endured, it's my duty to share my experience so no else has to suffer like I have. If you do wish to start vitex, start with VERY small dosages. A lot of my anger stems from the fact that the Whole Foods brand has pills with 400 mg of the herb and the instructions recommend that you take 1 to 2 capsules per day. IMPORTANT: THE RECOMMENDED DOSAGE IS ANYWHERE BETWEEN 50 MG AND 250 MG (MAX!!!!) DAILY. I took 800 mg only ONE day and I have not been the same since. So start with small doses or avoid the herb all together. Trust me, clear skin is not worth your health or your sanity. Update: It has now been nearly 4 months and I am still not even close to 100%. My acne is the worst it's ever been, my period comes later and later each month, and my anxiety is through the roof. DO NOT TAKE ANY SUPPLEMENT WITHOUT CONSULTING A DOCTOR OR A LICENSED HERBALIST. I'm devastated and I would never wish this pain upon anyone.

I wrote "yes" for recommendation simply because I'm sure it would work for some women out there-- but don't expect miracles. Stop it if you get funky periods and bloating.

This works well for a lot of people, but not for me. After about two weeks, I started getting terrible migraine headaches, rashes, and acne on my chin/jawline. After about two weeks more, I stopped taking it because none of the side effects had dissipated. More than a month later, the side effects have still not dissipated and the acne is actually considerably worse. It's left large swaths of my skin red, pimply, and flakey.