Amenorrhea

Amenorrhea

She was under 40, not pregnant, and she hadn't had a period in six months. The doctors had checked her for everything--including endometriosis and cancer--and found nothing.

Amenorrhea--the medical term for lack of menstruation in women who should be having regular periods--is a sign that something in the body has gone wrong. The cause could be anything from a stress reaction or a hormone imbalance to something more serious, and it sometimes takes a while to pinpoint the problem.

In desperation, this woman called me after being referred by Washington's Mind-Body Institute. She thought that maybe her problem was caused by a medication that she was taking, which was possibly altering the levels of the female hormone estrogen in her body.

I told her that she might normalize her estrogen levels with the help of the estrogen-like substances called phytoestrogens that are found in many plants, including soybeans and wild yams. I also mentioned chasteberry, an herb with a well-deserved reputation for restoring menstrual flow. She said she'd try chasteberry and phytoestrogens. Months later, she called again to say she was quite satisfied with the results.

Green Pharmacy for Amenorrhea

Herbs that bring on menstrual flow--for whatever reason--are known as emmenagogues. Back in the days before modern medicine, women often used emmenagogues for two reasons. Some used the herbs as a kind of morning-after contraception, because not much else was available. Others used them to treat amenorrhea.

Emmenagogues are no longer necessary for contraception, but they might still help with amenorrhea. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of emmenagogue herbs and plant chemicals (phytochemicals) in my various databases.

You should see your doctor for a diagnosis if you have amenorrhea. The standard medical treatment is hormone therapy, but hormone treatments are tricky, require sophisticated monitoring and in many cases, fail to get results. In my experience, emmenagogues often restore normal menstrual flow and provide considerable emotional relief. You might ask your doctor about trying these safe and gentle herbs before resorting to hormones.

From the longer list in my database, here are some of my favorites.

Chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus). In one small study, 20 women with amenorrhea were given 40 drops daily of a Vitex extract, then were monitored for six months. Fifteen completed the study, and 10 of them had their menstrual cycles restored.

Amenorrhea is often associated with elevated blood levels of the hormone prolactin, and drugs that reduce prolactin usually restore the menstrual cycle to normal. Chasteberry acts just like these drugs.

Chasteberry An extract of these berries helps restore the menstrual cycle to normal.

The typical dose is 20 milligrams per day of a tincture made from the fruits. In Germany, herbal medicines are widely used and often recommended by doctors. One popular German amenorrhea preparation (Femisana) is a tincture of chasteberry fruits, along with greater celandine, black cohosh and pasque-flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris).

Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) and blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides). These were the American Indians' two favorite herbs for gynecological complaints. It turns out that black cohosh has potent estrogen-like activity, and blue cohosh stimulates uterine contractions.

Carrot (Daucus carota). Many Pennsylvania Dutch have used wild carrot (Queen Anne's lace) seed, which is apparently effective as both an emmenagogue and a morning-after contraceptive. Indian researchers have confirmed that carrot seed has anti-implantation activity in laboratory animals.

Celery (Apium graveolens). Celery seed contains butylidene-
phthalide, a chemical that helps trigger menstrual flow.

Dill (Anethum graveolens). The compound apiole in dill is such a powerful emmenagogue that most herbalists I respect warn pregnant women not to use it in medicinal concentrations. (Don't panic, though--eating a dill pickle is okay.) If you want to encourage menstrual flow, you can brew a tea using two teaspoons of mashed seeds.

Marsh mallow (Althaea officinalis). This herb contains up to 4
percent betaine, a phytoestrogen and emmenagogue that is also found in beets, carrots, chard, chicory, oats, oranges and yarrow.

You might try marsh mallow and yarrow tea. For a tasty vegetable dish that delivers a good dose of betaine, try steamed carrots and chard with beets.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa). Traditional Chinese and Indian physicians recommend turmeric to treat amenorrhea. I have no reason to doubt its safety, but I cannot vouch for its efficacy. It's probably worth a try. For a medicinal dose, you can make a curry, heavy on the turmeric, or simply brew a strong tea.

Assorted herbs. Other herbs that help amenorrhea are so plentiful and widely available that I'd feel as if I weren't doing my job if I didn't list some of them. You could combine dashes of whichever of these herbs you have on hand, pour boiling water over them and steep for 15 minutes. They are agrimony, angelica, betony, calaminth, caraway, catnip, coriander, cilantro, cumin, Chinese angelica (also known as dang-quai), fennel, feverfew, ginger, horehound, hyssop, juniper, lavender, lemon balm (also known as melissa), lovage, marigold, marjoram, motherwort, nutsedge, oregano, papaya, pennyroyal, roselle, rosemary, rue, saffron, tansy, tarragon, thyme, wild chervil, wintergreen, wormseed (also known as epazote), yarrow and ylang-ylang.

I should also note that fruits and roots with enzymes that break down protein (proteolytics) are folkloric emmenagogues. These include figs, ginger, papaya and pineapple.