[bettie32]

I THINK I'VE FOUND THE ANSWER!

So I was talking to Bettie and she mentioned something that got my wheels turning and after further research, I think I've finally figured this whole reasoning behind cycling herbs, or at least enough to where it's not so much as a mystery anymore. The analogy she gave me was the Birth Control Pill. If you ever been on it, you know that there is a short period of where you take placebo pills or essentially sugar pills with no hormones in it. When she mentioned this, it was almost as if instantly someone turned on a light switch and brought me out of the dark on this topic. 

From my understanding, because BCP introduces such a high and concentrated amount of hormones into your system, if you don't take that short break from taking the active hormone pills (by taking the placebo pills) then you either won't have your period or will experience irregular shortened periods or spotting. This is because your body goes through natural phases where three key hormones fall and rise in a predictable and specific pattern. During menstruation, typically estrogen is at it's lowest, as well as progesterone. (Testosterone is also low during this time, but it tends to remain low and only rise during that latter of week 2 during a 28 day cycle). I remember reading how some girls who didn't want to have their periods would skip the placebo and go straight on to the next pack of active pills. I even think my own doctor encouraged me to do this at one point because I suffer from dysmenorrhea (read: excruciating and debilitating periods which I have learned through experience how to naturally control to an extent) and she thought it would be a good solution for it, but I never did because I didn't know if that was entirely safe (even though my doc at the time did say that it was perfectly safe as long as every three months I give myself a break and allow my period to come). 

But yeah, so the basic point is that with strong herbs like PM or even with high dosage of certain herbs, if you didn't cycle there's a good chance that it will delay or halt your period completely. And according to some doctors, this doesn't pose a big health risk (from what I have researched), but most women want to remain some sort of regularity with their menstrual cycle and others want to not have to worry about being pregnant. So I guess that is where the whole idea of cycling herbs must have erupted from, but then it must have whirled out of control from there. But plain and simple, the reason for cycling stronger herbs is to avoid messing up your menstrual cycles while also prolonging the positive effect of estrogenic herbs by switching to and rotating weaker phytoestrogens.

So more to the point: cycling can be beneficial if necessary, though it's not always necessary (depends on what you're taking and how much of it you're taking. It doesn't have to be a complicated process, but I did find that others have adopted more involved cycling plans. 

Here is an example of a simpler version/beginner's guide to cycling herbs using PM: Start taking PM pills on either the first day of your menstrual cycle or the first Sunday after your menstrual cycle begins and take it for 3 weeks straight and then give yourself a 1 week break before starting again. See, kind of like BCP if you think about it. During that break week, you can either take nothing or you could take lower dosages or a different blend of weaker herbs or supplements that won't interfere with your menstrual cycle. You could also take certain supplements for the entire duration of the month right along with PM and also during your week break (like collagen or something like that for example that will not pose any interference with your period).

Another method that is a little more involved but still a relatively simple version is monitoring your follicular and luteal phases (there are various ways to do this, but just look online to know how). During the follicular phase is when you want to take the strong herbs like PM, and during the luteal phase you want to take a less powerful blend of herbs/phytoestrogens. Once again, this seems more about allowing your body to have a natural menstrual cycle by creating some type of a balance with your hormones, than anything else, but it may also work synergistically with your body in other ways too. 

So, there you have it. This is what I've uncovered so far, and I'm glad that I finally understand cycling herbs a bit more. I might not have everything right, so please correct me if I've gotten anything wrong, and also let me know if this helps to clear things up a bit. 

Xoxo


If you're interested in reading more about how hormones fall and rise during your cycle, here is a good link: http://hormonehoroscope.com/the-female-hormone-cycle/

All right, high five Zara!  I may have switched on the button for you but you are shedding all the light! I really like how you explained this perfectly, in an easy-to-understand manner. This important topic was (strangely and surprisingly) missing on the forum - I've been trying to find out more about cycling all over the place - so I'm really glad you started this thread and elaborated upon the matter. This is something fundamental for NBE, so many ladies take herbs or are interested in taking them and I'm sure many are going to find this useful. <3