03-03-2016, 03:04 AM
How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 1 2006 at 10:22 AM Lisa 121 (no login)
Hi guys, I was just wondering if anyone knows, maybe Molly, or SugarQ, or anyone else, how long herbs stay in our bodies after we stop taking them, without doing a cleanse afterwards? I am interested in particular in the effects of Saw Palmetto.
The reason why I ask is because at the moment I am not using birth control pills because it may interfere with Saw Palmetto and I just don't want to take the risk and don't see the point in keeping on taking the BCP if we have to use other protection anyway.
Now I would like to go back on BCP for a few months because I haven't seen my boyfriend for a while and he will be visiting me for a holiday. I really can't be bothered with condoms all the time, but don't want to risk getting pregnant just in case the SP does affect BCP, better safe than sorry. I know many women here do take both and say they haven't fallen pregnant but I have also heard of a woman who did and at the moment I really just can't risk it, I am in the middle of education and would like to finish it before I have little ones coming along. :-)
So I am thinking of still taking Fenugreek but stopping the Saw Palmetto for a while, while I am taking the Yasmin pill, I am hoping that with the androgenic effects of that pill I may still grow, I don't want to stop NBE completely and I can just add the SP to the pill again when he leaves.
Finally, my question is, would be how long before I see my boyfriend would I have to stop taking the SP for it to be safe IF the Saw Palmetto interfrered with the pill? How long is that effect likely to last after stopping to take the Saw Palmetto? This is really just an "if" and "in case" question but to me it is really important so if anyone knows about this I would really appreciate their input, as I said, I really don't want to get pregnant just now.
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to explain.
Thanks in advance, all you girls are always so great and helpful and I am so glad I can talk to you guys here about this,
Lisa 121
Snowflake
(Login GoldSnowflake)
EVE MEMBERS
For Me
June 1 2006, 11:26 AM
I don't know if this will even help,but for me, I think they were still in my system for about 2 months afterwards. I think that because my period was really thin and pale. And I hadn't even taken herbs for that long. A few weeks here and there. And not that much. How are you Lisa?? Hopw this has helped, but you'll get a more informed answer from SugarQ.
Lisa 121
(no login)
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 1 2006, 2:01 PM
Thanks Snowlfake for your reply, I appreciate it. I am well, I have all my exams finished and am just on holiday, relaxing, which is great. How are you yourself?
I know that with birth control they advise you to wait three months before trying to get pregnant since it is still in your system, so what you say kind of sounds similar.
Because I have a hormone imbalance taking the SP influences how I feel, I get sweaty hands really easily and the SP prevents that, as well as mood swings etc. I do notice however if I didn't take it for a day that my hands are sweaty again, so I am a bit confused here since that would indicate that the obvious effects of SP seem to get less already within such a short time and it does not seem to have any affect anymore on those androgen related symptoms within a week of stopping it, so I am hoping that if there is any interference taht would pretty soon stop after taking the SP, some wishful thinking involved here too of course :-).
I really hope that someone can help me out with this, maybe taking milk thistle for two weeks would help clear the system off it, I don't know, I still have some time to figure it all out though.
Also I was thinking about substituting the SP with Nettle instead, I drink Nettle tea as it is and maybe upping it to 3 cups a day will be enough to keep going with my NBE.
Does anyone know about Nettle interfering with birth control? I think I vaguely remember reading something like that but I can't find anything on it now.
Thanks again,
Lisa 121
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 1 2006, 7:24 PM
Does anybody know how much SP one would take before it could infere with birth control? Maybe that is a question a pharmacist could answer, now that I'm typing this. I'm wondering if it takes a certain amount, or if just taking it in general could have an effect.
Molly
(Login MollyH)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 10:34 AM
There is no 100% hard and fast rule for how long a herb or any other substance will be in your system. It varies a lot from person to person depending on such things as amount of body fat and metabolic factors, and it can certainly depend on the amount of the substance taken, because the more you ingest the longer it takes to clear. A plant like marijuana for example, which people are often anxious to have out of their system if they are facing a drugs test, can possibly clear in 3 days if you're lucky but for a heavy user it may take 30 days or more. Some injected drugs can even take 6 months to completely clear the body. At the other end of the scale, alcohol can clear the body in just hours or in a day or two at the most, and chemical compounds found in mushrooms can only be detected in the body for 3 to 5 days at the most after eating the mushrooms. I don't know if any of this helps, as unfortunately I haven't got any specific information regarding Saw Palmetto. The important thing as I said above is that there is no hard and fast rule anyway for any substance. Some athletes fail drug tests when they really thought they would be clean and entirely free of the drug in question, but as it turned out it was still in their system.
Lisa 121
(Login Lisa121)
EVE MEMBERS
Molly
June 2 2006, 3:22 PM
Thank you Molly so much for your elaborate reply.
I think I will just stop taking the SP now, that gives me over a month until I see my boyfriend again and I think that should be safe. I will do a liver cleanse as well before then for about two weeks I hope that that will help and then since no one really seems to be sure if SP does interfere with BCP I am hoping that whatever may still be in my system by then will be such a minimal amount that it won't interfere. I would rather be safe than sorry so I guess if I want to use bcp again on it's own I have to take a backstep with my NBE and hope that I will still grow without the SP and using the Nettle instead.
Thanks again,
Lisa
SugarQ
(Login SugarQ)
SENIOR MEMBER
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 4:09 PM
i dont know how long it takes for Saw palmetto to leave to system but if its a major you can consider swapping it out. there are other herbs that are DHT blockers so you can see if they too have any effects on birth control. many women have dont well in routines without DHT blocking herbs.
Lisa 121
(Login Lisa121)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 6:32 PM
Thanks SugarQ, I am thinking about using Nettle instead, I only have it in tea form at the moment and since I am androgen dominant I was wondering how much tea I would have to drink in order to have similar results as I have with the 320 mg of SP extract?
Also, do you know of any other herbs that block dht?
Thanks so much for your help, all of you,
Lisa
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 6:57 PM
I am extremely interested in knowing this too. I don't know anything about Nettle - does it come in a different form besides tea? I would be interested in knowing if there are other choices too. Thanks.
Christina
(Login ChristinaABC)
Hey Lisa
June 2 2006, 11:43 PM
I have no idea how long the SP stays in your system or any other herb for that matter.
BUT, unless my family DR, 2 nurses from Planned Parenthood and a Pharmacist are all wrong, taking SP will NOT have any effect on your BCP's effectiveness at all.
Plus, from things I have looked up and looked at myself, typically if any medicine or other pill might interfere with BCP, they list it on the bottle. For example, I think St. Johns Wart has a warning like that on the bottle.
Also, I was just at Planned Parenthood yesterday for my year exam and I asked the nurse again about the herbs and them effecting my BCP. I told her what I was taking and she said not at all.
I also told her that I have heard that you should get off BCP's for a while if you want to get pregnant. Again, this is 100% FALSE. You CAN get pregnant right after you stop taking them. That is why so many women get pregnant if they forget to take a few pills. So, you do NOT have to be off your BCP's for a while before you can become pregnant.
So, I say for you NOT to worry about getting pregnant. Start taking your BCP's and get it on with your boyfriend. And if you really are that worried about it DO call any pharmacist, they know exactly what can and cannot be taken with BCP's because they HAVE to know that.
Good Luck
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Christina
June 3 2006, 4:49 AM
Hi. You are so right. A person CAN get pregnant right after you stop taking your pills. I know a friend who had that happen.
This information is helpful. Thanks. I feel a little more reassured.
Lisa 121
(Login Lisa121)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 3 2006, 3:44 PM
Chritina thanks for your response, but I never said that you couldn't get pregnant for three months after stopping the pill or that my doctor told me that, but that she said that you SHOULD wait three months before you get pregnant because the hormones stay in your system for so long and therefore could affect the baby. I wasn't talking about the effectiveness of the pill at all. I know you can get pregnant if you only miss a pill for more than 12 hours, anyone who reads the instructions does, so it would be slightly stupid of me to think that you couldn't get pregnant for three months after stopping. :-)
Also I have read on most of the websites that write about Saw Palmetto and it's use in women to lower androgen levels that it may interfere with birth control pills and I really don't want to risk it. As for it not being stated on the bottle, it is usually used for prostate health so they may not refer to that for those reasons, I can only guess though, and on my bottle it only states the most basic info, as in what it contains, and no other recommendations at all.
I just don't trust doctors and nurses that much, they have been wrong before, in my case more times than they have been right with so many things, and if I do fall pregnant it doesn't help me that they told me that it won't interfere. As I said before, I would rather be safe than sorry and it really does state on most sites on the web that SP MAY interfere with BCP's, and "may" is enough for me that I don't want to risk it, so I would rather use something else instead.
Everyone can chose for themselves and I am not telling anyone not to use SP and BCP together and that one can get pregnant when doing so, I just don't want to do it myself as I have read that it may effect the BCP's effectiveness.
I think I will just drink nettle tea instead, I will start with two cups and work myself up to three from there if I don't see it helps, and with the yasmin it will hopefully reduce my androgen levels enough not to hinder NBE.
Lisa
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 3 2006, 3:57 PM
There's just not a 100% guarantee is there. I am learning so much from all of you. I appreciate everybodys thoughts/wisdom.
June 1 2006 at 10:22 AM Lisa 121 (no login)
Hi guys, I was just wondering if anyone knows, maybe Molly, or SugarQ, or anyone else, how long herbs stay in our bodies after we stop taking them, without doing a cleanse afterwards? I am interested in particular in the effects of Saw Palmetto.
The reason why I ask is because at the moment I am not using birth control pills because it may interfere with Saw Palmetto and I just don't want to take the risk and don't see the point in keeping on taking the BCP if we have to use other protection anyway.
Now I would like to go back on BCP for a few months because I haven't seen my boyfriend for a while and he will be visiting me for a holiday. I really can't be bothered with condoms all the time, but don't want to risk getting pregnant just in case the SP does affect BCP, better safe than sorry. I know many women here do take both and say they haven't fallen pregnant but I have also heard of a woman who did and at the moment I really just can't risk it, I am in the middle of education and would like to finish it before I have little ones coming along. :-)
So I am thinking of still taking Fenugreek but stopping the Saw Palmetto for a while, while I am taking the Yasmin pill, I am hoping that with the androgenic effects of that pill I may still grow, I don't want to stop NBE completely and I can just add the SP to the pill again when he leaves.
Finally, my question is, would be how long before I see my boyfriend would I have to stop taking the SP for it to be safe IF the Saw Palmetto interfrered with the pill? How long is that effect likely to last after stopping to take the Saw Palmetto? This is really just an "if" and "in case" question but to me it is really important so if anyone knows about this I would really appreciate their input, as I said, I really don't want to get pregnant just now.
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to explain.
Thanks in advance, all you girls are always so great and helpful and I am so glad I can talk to you guys here about this,
Lisa 121
Snowflake
(Login GoldSnowflake)
EVE MEMBERS
For Me
June 1 2006, 11:26 AM
I don't know if this will even help,but for me, I think they were still in my system for about 2 months afterwards. I think that because my period was really thin and pale. And I hadn't even taken herbs for that long. A few weeks here and there. And not that much. How are you Lisa?? Hopw this has helped, but you'll get a more informed answer from SugarQ.
Lisa 121
(no login)
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 1 2006, 2:01 PM
Thanks Snowlfake for your reply, I appreciate it. I am well, I have all my exams finished and am just on holiday, relaxing, which is great. How are you yourself?
I know that with birth control they advise you to wait three months before trying to get pregnant since it is still in your system, so what you say kind of sounds similar.
Because I have a hormone imbalance taking the SP influences how I feel, I get sweaty hands really easily and the SP prevents that, as well as mood swings etc. I do notice however if I didn't take it for a day that my hands are sweaty again, so I am a bit confused here since that would indicate that the obvious effects of SP seem to get less already within such a short time and it does not seem to have any affect anymore on those androgen related symptoms within a week of stopping it, so I am hoping that if there is any interference taht would pretty soon stop after taking the SP, some wishful thinking involved here too of course :-).
I really hope that someone can help me out with this, maybe taking milk thistle for two weeks would help clear the system off it, I don't know, I still have some time to figure it all out though.
Also I was thinking about substituting the SP with Nettle instead, I drink Nettle tea as it is and maybe upping it to 3 cups a day will be enough to keep going with my NBE.
Does anyone know about Nettle interfering with birth control? I think I vaguely remember reading something like that but I can't find anything on it now.
Thanks again,
Lisa 121
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 1 2006, 7:24 PM
Does anybody know how much SP one would take before it could infere with birth control? Maybe that is a question a pharmacist could answer, now that I'm typing this. I'm wondering if it takes a certain amount, or if just taking it in general could have an effect.
Molly
(Login MollyH)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 10:34 AM
There is no 100% hard and fast rule for how long a herb or any other substance will be in your system. It varies a lot from person to person depending on such things as amount of body fat and metabolic factors, and it can certainly depend on the amount of the substance taken, because the more you ingest the longer it takes to clear. A plant like marijuana for example, which people are often anxious to have out of their system if they are facing a drugs test, can possibly clear in 3 days if you're lucky but for a heavy user it may take 30 days or more. Some injected drugs can even take 6 months to completely clear the body. At the other end of the scale, alcohol can clear the body in just hours or in a day or two at the most, and chemical compounds found in mushrooms can only be detected in the body for 3 to 5 days at the most after eating the mushrooms. I don't know if any of this helps, as unfortunately I haven't got any specific information regarding Saw Palmetto. The important thing as I said above is that there is no hard and fast rule anyway for any substance. Some athletes fail drug tests when they really thought they would be clean and entirely free of the drug in question, but as it turned out it was still in their system.
Lisa 121
(Login Lisa121)
EVE MEMBERS
Molly
June 2 2006, 3:22 PM
Thank you Molly so much for your elaborate reply.
I think I will just stop taking the SP now, that gives me over a month until I see my boyfriend again and I think that should be safe. I will do a liver cleanse as well before then for about two weeks I hope that that will help and then since no one really seems to be sure if SP does interfere with BCP I am hoping that whatever may still be in my system by then will be such a minimal amount that it won't interfere. I would rather be safe than sorry so I guess if I want to use bcp again on it's own I have to take a backstep with my NBE and hope that I will still grow without the SP and using the Nettle instead.
Thanks again,
Lisa
SugarQ
(Login SugarQ)
SENIOR MEMBER
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 4:09 PM
i dont know how long it takes for Saw palmetto to leave to system but if its a major you can consider swapping it out. there are other herbs that are DHT blockers so you can see if they too have any effects on birth control. many women have dont well in routines without DHT blocking herbs.
Lisa 121
(Login Lisa121)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 6:32 PM
Thanks SugarQ, I am thinking about using Nettle instead, I only have it in tea form at the moment and since I am androgen dominant I was wondering how much tea I would have to drink in order to have similar results as I have with the 320 mg of SP extract?
Also, do you know of any other herbs that block dht?
Thanks so much for your help, all of you,
Lisa
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 2 2006, 6:57 PM
I am extremely interested in knowing this too. I don't know anything about Nettle - does it come in a different form besides tea? I would be interested in knowing if there are other choices too. Thanks.
Christina
(Login ChristinaABC)
Hey Lisa
June 2 2006, 11:43 PM
I have no idea how long the SP stays in your system or any other herb for that matter.
BUT, unless my family DR, 2 nurses from Planned Parenthood and a Pharmacist are all wrong, taking SP will NOT have any effect on your BCP's effectiveness at all.
Plus, from things I have looked up and looked at myself, typically if any medicine or other pill might interfere with BCP, they list it on the bottle. For example, I think St. Johns Wart has a warning like that on the bottle.
Also, I was just at Planned Parenthood yesterday for my year exam and I asked the nurse again about the herbs and them effecting my BCP. I told her what I was taking and she said not at all.
I also told her that I have heard that you should get off BCP's for a while if you want to get pregnant. Again, this is 100% FALSE. You CAN get pregnant right after you stop taking them. That is why so many women get pregnant if they forget to take a few pills. So, you do NOT have to be off your BCP's for a while before you can become pregnant.
So, I say for you NOT to worry about getting pregnant. Start taking your BCP's and get it on with your boyfriend. And if you really are that worried about it DO call any pharmacist, they know exactly what can and cannot be taken with BCP's because they HAVE to know that.
Good Luck
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Christina
June 3 2006, 4:49 AM
Hi. You are so right. A person CAN get pregnant right after you stop taking your pills. I know a friend who had that happen.
This information is helpful. Thanks. I feel a little more reassured.
Lisa 121
(Login Lisa121)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 3 2006, 3:44 PM
Chritina thanks for your response, but I never said that you couldn't get pregnant for three months after stopping the pill or that my doctor told me that, but that she said that you SHOULD wait three months before you get pregnant because the hormones stay in your system for so long and therefore could affect the baby. I wasn't talking about the effectiveness of the pill at all. I know you can get pregnant if you only miss a pill for more than 12 hours, anyone who reads the instructions does, so it would be slightly stupid of me to think that you couldn't get pregnant for three months after stopping. :-)
Also I have read on most of the websites that write about Saw Palmetto and it's use in women to lower androgen levels that it may interfere with birth control pills and I really don't want to risk it. As for it not being stated on the bottle, it is usually used for prostate health so they may not refer to that for those reasons, I can only guess though, and on my bottle it only states the most basic info, as in what it contains, and no other recommendations at all.
I just don't trust doctors and nurses that much, they have been wrong before, in my case more times than they have been right with so many things, and if I do fall pregnant it doesn't help me that they told me that it won't interfere. As I said before, I would rather be safe than sorry and it really does state on most sites on the web that SP MAY interfere with BCP's, and "may" is enough for me that I don't want to risk it, so I would rather use something else instead.
Everyone can chose for themselves and I am not telling anyone not to use SP and BCP together and that one can get pregnant when doing so, I just don't want to do it myself as I have read that it may effect the BCP's effectiveness.
I think I will just drink nettle tea instead, I will start with two cups and work myself up to three from there if I don't see it helps, and with the yasmin it will hopefully reduce my androgen levels enough not to hinder NBE.
Lisa
js89
(Login js89)
EVE MEMBERS
Re: How long do herbs take to leave the system?
June 3 2006, 3:57 PM
There's just not a 100% guarantee is there. I am learning so much from all of you. I appreciate everybodys thoughts/wisdom.