Medicinal Herbs

So Terry says "Let's see some activity in the herbs forum on this subject: if it grows big enough to crowd out the other herb threads and needs a separate forum, we'll happily set it up!"

So here's what I'm specifically looking for:

Plant helpers for:
High Blood Pressure
High Cholesterol
Allergies
New sleep helpers might also be good, but most of the ones I know don't work, or don't work well enough. I'm on 100 mg Trazodone right now and I take it most night sometimes double.

I know:
Flax, though not reasonable for me to grow.
Onion
Hollyhock, also not reasonable for me to grow.
Safflower
Sage
and Garlic

Valerian root is a very good relaxant to help you sleep.There are many sites that sell what you can't grow.BTW Valerian is a gorgeus plant.

I was going to try it as a relaxer, but they suggested Kava Kava instead. I should pick some up and see what it does.

Chamomile is a nice, light tea to relax with.

I've tried that. It doesn't seem to do anything for me. I can drink sleepy time when I get up in the morning.

Almost any dried bean helps w / High Cholesterol .
The wife dries Mexican lemon blossoms [ this is a round semi sweet lemon 2 to 3 inches in diameter for sleep ]
Some people make a tea out of fresh basil , cool it and say it helps to fall asleep - doesn't for me .

zhinu, are you also on prescription meds for your blood pressure, cholesterol and allergies as well as the trazodone? If so, there is high potential for interactions just between your meds. Does your blood pressure medicine make you sleepy? Very often, it does that to people. If so, you might ask your doctor if you can take it at bedtime and it becomes a sleep aid as well. Ditto for an anti-histamine (allergy med).

So, if you took blood pressure med and your allergy med in the morning - they could be making you tired and a bit sleepy throughout the day. By the time night rolls around, you can't get to sleep because you've been foggy all day. If your doctor okays it, just taking those two meds before bed might be all you need to sleep. But, please, work with an herbalist/MD/naturopath to remedy the problem.

Also, do you drink caffeine? Foods with dyes in them? Do you have food allergies? Do you eat MSG or aspartame? All those items can cause excitability and nervousness in individuals who are sensitive to them.

Best of luck to you.

My DH has an under active thyroid, which is causing high blood pressure, high cholestreol, and weight gain. He's on meds for the thyroid, but they're waiting to see if the meds affect the rest of the problems. He also has cronic back problems from when he was a kid, and might have some mental health issues (I haven't gotten him in yet, but he over reacts to things far too often, and has some other tell tale signs).

One of the big problems we have with this is I have low blood pressure. My issues are I'm Bi-polar, I have seriously bad allergies, low blood pressure (even though everything in my life should give me high blood pressure), fairly bad insomnia, anxiety issues, and the side effects of all those things.

Sometimes herbs can have reactions to other meds and vice versa. I guess you'd have to talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

There's something I've been wondering...are there any herbs, etc. that help with bi-polar problems?

Not that I know of. I'm sure there is, but it's such a complicated issue. Maybe some that deals with epilepsy since many of the medications that deal with bi-polar were originally introduced as epilepsy medications.

I mainly interested in herbs to deal with the stuff the medication doesn't deal with, or as a boost for the medication. I don't mind taking standard medications, they just don't cover everything.

I haven't taken allopathic (standard) meds in several years. I don't like the reactions I get when I take them (tylenol will knock me out, for instance).

Valerian smells AWFUL and I couldn't bring myself to drink it in a tea so I took valerian capsules. The worked wonderfully for putting me to sleep!

My eleven year old daughter has always had a hard time unwinding around bed time (afraid she was going to miss something), I started making her a cup of chamomile tea with a touch of honey and she would (still does) sip that while I read to her. She now sips her tea while we talk about her day.

Michelle in Michigan

Hartford Hospital has a great site on alternative treatments which includes the use of herbs here:

http://www.harthosp.org/healthlibrary/naturalalternativetreatments/default.aspx

This is a big change from when I was in college and many alternative treatments were dismissed out of hand. For instance, the Harthosp site has a double-blind, placebo-controlled study which showed a homeopathic treatement for asthma-- Asclepias vincetoxicum (a form of milkweed) and Sulphur--improved symptoms.

Here is the page on the site which lists conditions with a link to alternative treatments:

http://www.harthosp.org/HealthLibrary/NaturalAlternativeTreatments/Conditions/default.aspx

Thanks a lot for that!

zhinu...my pleasure. Yale Med School (or Yale New Haven Hospital) has a good site on alternative medicine as well but I can't find it right now. It's great the medical establishment is putting these up. Very nice to know when a double blind study proves something works or indicates it might work. I'm finding a lot of interesting stuff is coming out of India, China and Brazil. They are rapidly developing but because of their population growth simply cannot build the medical infrastructure we have fast enough (probably not a good model to try for anyways) . Here's a report from Hyderabad on the use of tumeric in slowing the onset of cataracts:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/16/stories/2006031601900700.htm

Strong infusions of nettle are excellent for allergies!

Local honey--taken a few spoonfuls a day--is also a wonderful allergy remedy, because you're essentially eating (and acclimating to) the pollen that's making you sneeze. :)

Passionflower and skullcap are also excellent sleep aids, as is oatstraw.

I really need to harvest some nettles.

My aunt says to make tea from catnip leaves for insomnia. I posted a thread on here maybe a month ago and there were a few posts about what to add to the tea because they say its not very tasty by its self.

I agree with HerbalBetty regarding swapping AM pills to PM. I've been going to a Behavioral Medicine Institute (pain management shrink) (ha-ha that's my story anyhow) and I've learned alot about 'letting' your body wind down at night. If you can try to change some habits and start doing things on a schedule, you 'take the guesswork out of it'...and soon sleep becomes a habit.

cuz you know, worrying about not sleeping, or worrying about what's wrong in your life isn't helping a thing. its a viscious circle, I know.

Using herbs in a steam will help for allergies as well. I use mint and eucalyptus with a few others like lavender. I throw in some sea veggies for a little facial benefits too.

this one is an antioxidant anticancer source; sea buckthorn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-buckthorn.

As for blood pressure and high cholesterol, those may be a genetic disposition. First requirement is get rid of animal foods from your diet.
Second. Learn to relax - i.e. yoga. And stop fussing about things you can't do anything about.
Last: Green Tea.

blueberries!

This is from a Type 2 diabetes forum.
http://dailystrength.org/c/Diabetes_Type_2/forum/474648-blueberries

QUOTE:

jody0385 View More Posts Reply #4 - 07/19/07 11:47am

Here's what I found:

New York, March 27 Eating blueberries may help fight cancer and diabetes, US scientists believe.

Researchers at Rutgers University and the US Department of Agriculture have found a compound in blueberries, a natural antioxidant that mops up highly reactive harmful molecules and may help fight bowel cancer and diabetes.

The key ingredient, pterostilbene, may be good for lowering blood cholesterol, previous studies had shown. Similar antioxidants have already been identified in grapes and red wine. Pterostilbene is also found in cranberries, sparkleberries, lingonberries and grapes.

Researchers led by Dr Bandaru Reddy gave rats a cancer-causing agent and fed them pterostilbene. They found that the rats had far fewer pre-cancers in their bowels than other rats, reported the online edition of BBC News.

The blueberry compound also reduced inflammation and the rate of cell division in the bowels, which are both considered to be cancer risk factors.

The researchers suggest the compound could be put into a pill although they said the best advice is to eat a healthy, balanced diet rather than rely on specific 'super foods'.

Although experts do not know the exact causes of bowel cancer, the disease has been linked to a high intake of saturated fats and calories.

Dr Reddy and colleagues believe pterostilbene may be able to reverse this process, possibly by lowering fat levels like cholesterol.

Experts already recommend eating plenty of fruit and vegetables - at least five portions a day - to guard against cancer and other diseases.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles...

This message was edited Jul 20, 2008 1:01 PM

http://www.pfaf.org/index.php

Here's a data base for medicinal and useful plants

The last link that Gloria just gave us is the one I use to verify the information that I learned at the knees of Aunt Bett. I would never write an AB article for DG without using this data base source. I can tell you it is excellent.

Another point that I would like to make is that among the things I learned, an herbal remedy doesn't stand alone, it is most likely to be used in combination with another.

My articles only cover one plant at a time, because I feel they are easier to read. I always validate the use of each herb as I write about it, but I am limited in my knowledge because I grew up in the moist fertile land of the Appalachian mountains and only have first hand knowledge of the plants that would grow there.

However, a medicinal herb/plant forum would be a great thing for us to have, as long as our sources are valid.

I'm still new I have not figured out how to do all the fancy stuff, but if you have Arthritus look up arthrtus today magazine /supplement guide/alternative therapys. Many of the supplements they have tested and give you results like how long it will take to feel affect, if its just a waste of money dont bother sort of thing,,

1st - don't believe everything you read . Take it slow . Just like alcohol - the effects are different - can be major - for each person . READ what the side effects are and watch for .
Things to pat attention to are juices , and veggies .
They can eliminate or increase effects .

Hey Zhinu!

Terminalia arjuna or Arjuna bark is good for cholesterol, heart problems, skipped beats, etc. I was on that trazadone years ago along with zoloft and developed morning sickness! I developed high levels of prolactin and my testosterone plummetted. The doctors were ordering cat scans etc. but neglected to look up side effects of antidepressants, which were the cause. I'd wake up and vomit within 1/2 hr., just like I was pregnant!! No more, never!!
Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs; better to quit eating corpses rather than eat them and take rx to counteract them.
He-shou-wu is also good for cholesterol-Polygonum multiflorum. Make sure it's the processed root.
With Valerian, I started sweating the stink out so I no longer take it.

Zoloft has a lot of side effects. Im not sure if its still on the market. If it is it shouldn't be.

I can't remember what it was I was on, but I had "morning sickness" on one of my medications; though if I remember correctly it was caused by a combination of dry throat while I was sleeping and allergies. I'd cough so hard I'd throw up. I stopped taking that quickly.

I am so happy with my medications right now. I'm on Lamictal for bipolar, Trazadone for sleeping and I'm working on getting my allergies under control. It's the best I've ever felt.

But, everyone reacts to medications differently and why we need to be so careful with herbal remedies. I get weird side effects more than most. For instance I'm on Prednisone right now, I have aggravated tendonitis, the first listed side effect is "may cause difficulty sleeping", no where is causing sleepiness listed, yet it's causing me minor headache, muscle ache, and causing me to be hosed.

"hosed"?

The symptoms I had from Zoloft were extremely dry mouth and throat, dizziness, and nausea.


I have learned over the years that the best way to stay healthy is to take the minimum possible of medications, eat very well, and exercise.

Some people seems to be extremely pain sensitive. I don't have this & I don't understand the constant and excessive use of pain killers.

Hosed - extremely tired, no mental or physical energy.

I agree that you shouldn’t take unneeded medication, but if I don’t have medication I’m not functional. I have trouble taking care of myself, much less my daughter, keeping down a job or any of the other things you are expected to be able to do, and that’s just my bipolar.

My insomnia is so bad it’s kept me up for days a couple times and I’ve regularly gotten so tired without being able to sleep enough that I’ve broken down in tears.

My allergies symptoms include headaches, sore eyes, low grade fever, runny nose, post nasal drip, sore throat and nausea.

I think it’s stupid to take drugs you don’t need, but I also think it’s stupid not to take drugs that will significantly improve your quality of life. Remember that herbs are also drugs, just not purified like prescription drugs are.

I guess I should be grateful. I have no allergies. I sleep when I go to sleep usualy 8 or 9 hours - or until my dogs wake me up. If I get tired I take a nap.

My neice is bipolar. Recently though she found a very sympathetic boy friend and most of the symptoms seem to have disappeared.

Being in a good situation does help a lot. Situational issues aggravate the underlying issues a lot.

Managing stress - or avoiding stress is good for everybody.

The niece was so relieved for being in a happy situation she took out all her pierced decorations: nose, tongue, and bellybutton!

Laura, I take Hawthorne berries(in pill form) for HBP. a recent study shows that fish oil is good for Congestive Heart failure.

Has anyone heard of an herbal remedy to prevent kidney stones.
I've got one useless kidney that does nothing but create stones. Seems there is not a western med that prevents them and diet has'nt worked.

This is a great thread.
Thanks
Vickie

I had them too .
Since I stop drinking Rum they have not come back .
The only other thing I do different is I drink cranberry / raspberry juice and or cranberry / grape .

DH had some really strange side effects from Zoloft. He lost his spacial orientation...didn't know up/down from side/side, tended to fall on occasion. Tremors started slight but got bad. Nightmares also. And strangely enough, the doctors couldn't figure it out. Finally he and I got together and decided it all started soon after he started Zoloft. This after weeks had gone by. I just took him off it. The change was very obvious and he was normal within a couple of days.

Yes. I had falling down unexpectedly with the Zoloft also.

Kidney stones sounds like an error calcium metabolism. There are other organs and tissues that can become calcified also. I just researched this for calcified deposits in lungs.

Calcification can happen if Vit. K or magnesium is off.

For all herbal medicine approaches, nutrition comes first.

Human bodies are big chemical factories and if you start chug lugging some products it can throw every thing else out of balance.

The best approach is to get into balance in the first place, then whatever you experment with will not do so much damage.

Tony, I don't drink except maybe a glass of wine at Christmas. Cranberry juice flushes them out of urinary system but does'nt help prevent them. On second thought maybe cranberry juice would flush them out before they got big enough to cause trouble,which is what i'm looking for aftr 3 surgeries.
Linda, your poor DH, i've seen inner ear problems mess up spatial orientation. It is not fun. Glad you were on the ball.

Gloria, I think it's a metabolic problem too. Calcium deposits as in gallstones, been there too. I knew about the magnesium but not the
vitamin K. Thanks.

You're right on about the healthy eating. I eat healthy. EXCEPT, My big downfall is diet cokes. Keep going back to them. Doctor that operated on me said cokes do not cause kidney stones. Should i keep an open mind? LOL

An open question. Is everyones chemical balance the same? Or is everyones chemical variations completely different? I know there is an average balance to consider,but how average is average?: )
Vickie

i think metabolism is pretty much the same for everybody - but there does seem to be a variation in basic health.

I know a guy who does everything unhealthy you can imagine to his body - never goes to the doctor - and he really never does get sick. In early 60s.

I have always been healthy as well, and have no tolerance for impaired energy and other symptoms of "age".

Some other people tend to have asthma low immunity and one illness after another - even though the seem to be doing what they should for their health.

I knew a woman who had schizophrenia. she refused to go to the doctor. Why? she said, he would have no understanding of what is happening inside me! She belived she was so unique that her case would never have been in a medical book!

Diet pepsi; It is my addiction of choice, also but I recently gave it up. I learned that the aspartame in it causes tumors. Not something I want.

Now ive switched to ginger ale - naturally sweetened.

I thought this was an excellent article on getting your diet in shape:

http://www.wholeliving.com/article/healthy-from-the-inside-out?lnc=6d390c8668ec9110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&page=2&rsc=articlecontent_whole-health