# Vitex/Chaste Berry



## BusyBee (Aug 7, 2010)

I am wondering if any women on here have tried chaste berry herbal remedy? It is generally used to support mentrual and menopausal health due to its effects on regulating hormonal balance.

Many of us believe that DP is caused by a hormonal disruption and this seems to be one of the most commonly renowned herbal remedies for this.


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## Angel_heaven (Jun 1, 2010)

BusyBee said:


> I am wondering if any women on here have tried chaste berry herbal remedy? It is generally used to support mentrual and menopausal health due to its effects on regulating hormonal balance.
> 
> Many of us believe that DP is caused by a hormonal disruption and this seems to be one of the most commonly renowned herbal remedies for this.


I was wondering about that same herb too. I actually bought a bottle but didnt use it yet because I take cipralex and dont know if it can be taken along side. I would also like to know if anyone used it. I did read as you said its used for menstrual purposes. My Dp started after the birth of my son but that was 3 years ago so is it still hormonal related??? I dont know?


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## BusyBee (Aug 7, 2010)

Angel_heaven said:


> I was wondering about that same herb too. I actually bought a bottle but didnt use it yet because I take cipralex and dont know if it can be taken along side. I would also like to know if anyone used it. I did read as you said its used for menstrual purposes. My Dp started after the birth of my son but that was 3 years ago so is it still hormonal related??? I dont know?


Very likely. More people than you'd think experience onset of DP after childbirth and similarly, I belive that is was stress (all stress on the body) that altered my hormones, my sercadian rythem, whatever. People with specific hormone problems such as under-active thiroid often display DP as a symptom.

We have a seperate problem in our horses, called by vets, 'metabolic disorder' (because they are not quite sure what causes it) which is a disruption in the endocrine system. We belive that this is brought on by exposure to fungal grass toxins (not proved).. Never the less, they show improvement when put on a drug called Pergolide. They also showed improvement when put on Chaste Berry, so it must have a profound effect. Recently however, we attmpted to run both along side each other and the horse was quite unwell for a few days.. so I'd check with a doctor before you take it along side your current drug.

I have come to decide that my probelms are either the result of hormonal malfunction which has got 'stuck' or 'out of sync' or a deep rooted emotional fear of the illness itself that is manifesting itself physically- most probably due to low level anxiety causing the body to continually produce stress hormones.

The good thing to remember is that these problems are fixable.. its just finding the key!


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

BusyBee said:


> Very likely. More people than you'd think experience onset of DP after childbirth and similarly, I belive that is was stress (all stress on the body) that altered my hormones, my sercadian rythem, whatever. People with specific hormone problems such as under-active thiroid often display DP as a symptom.
> 
> We have a seperate problem in our horses, called by vets, 'metabolic disorder' (because they are not quite sure what causes it) which is a disruption in the endocrine system. We belive that this is brought on by exposure to fungal grass toxins (not proved).. Never the less, they show improvement when put on a drug called Pergolide. They also showed improvement when put on Chaste Berry, so it must have a profound effect. Recently however, we attmpted to run both along side each other and the horse was quite unwell for a few days.. so I'd check with a doctor before you take it along side your current drug.
> 
> ...


not too sure about the relationship with dp and menstruation..

but sometimes i do get strong racing thoughts with cramps. Maybe with physical pain one can easily dissociate?

one thing that happened when i took Chaste Berry is that it made my cycle irregular.. dunno if thats common with other women. :/


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## BusyBee (Aug 7, 2010)

ellatree said:


> not too sure about the relationship with dp and menstruation..
> 
> but sometimes i do get strong racing thoughts with cramps. Maybe with physical pain one can easily dissociate?
> 
> one thing that happened when i took Chaste Berry is that it made my cycle irregular.. dunno if thats common with other women. :/


Ooh I dont know.. I was hoping it would regulate the hormones.. My cycle is totally irregular if not in-existant which to me is a sure sign something is wrong. Usually when one hormone loop is out they all are. So my aim is to use the Chaste Berry to regulate them all. But perhaps this is not possible :S


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## Guest (May 30, 2011)

BusyBee said:


> Ooh I dont know.. I was hoping it would regulate the hormones.. My cycle is totally irregular if not in-existant which to me is a sure sign something is wrong. Usually when one hormone loop is out they all are. So my aim is to use the Chaste Berry to regulate them all. But perhaps this is not possible :S


oh ok, i took it for something else. I suppose that if you are irregular it will make it regular.


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

BusyBee said:


> I am wondering if any women on here have tried chaste berry herbal remedy? It is generally used to support mentrual and menopausal health due to its effects on regulating hormonal balance.
> 
> Many of us believe that DP is caused by a hormonal disruption and this seems to be one of the most commonly renowned herbal remedies for this.


"_Chasteberry may increase plasma levels of estrogens and progesterone_"

Chasteberry reduces dopamine a little (competitively binds on D2 receptors). It is often used for enlarged prostate (in men obviously) for its testosterone lowering characteristics.

It might be interesting to see if you notice any affect.


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## Paulina (May 26, 2011)

Let me tell you my experience with Vitex.
I have had hormonal imbalance sice pubery (I'm now 30), and as I didn't want to take hormones i started searching for herbal remedies. I come across chaste tree and decided to give it a try.
One week later I received my derealization spell for the first time, I don't know whather this was only coincidence but I promised myself I will stay away from this herb.
If you google this herb you will find out that there are many people who actually have experienced anxiety after taking chaste tree. I also know from my doctor that sometimes change in hormonal levels can cause derealization.
So please be very careful with Vitex
Six monthes after I had tried chaste tree I still have derealization and depersonalization problems.
I tried everything - L-theanine, Fish oil, Passion flower - nothing helped.
Foggy thinking and memmory loss are the worst as I can not do my work properly. I nearly lost my job after my boss got fed up with my inadequate behaviour. he was screaming at me in front of all my colleagues - that was such a humiliation.
But you can not explain to people what a derealization feelks like, they have to experience it themselves to get a picture.
One thing that actually helped my with the above mentioned symptomes iz zeolite.
Here is a link you can find out more about this mineral:
http://www.zeohealth.com/?PM12511

I hope this will be helpful to you too.


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## BusyBee (Aug 7, 2010)

Thanks I'll bear this is mind. I was uneasy about it anyway because it had such ill effects on our horse- mind you he's ok since we took him off it.

I just thought if I saw loads of positive comments I may try it!

Im starting to take evening primrose instead. It looks like it has many benefits and good be a good bet for general health and DP: http://www.botanical-online.com/medicinalsonagraangles.htm


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