Warning: severe side effects
So I was doing somewhat better. Then over the weekend, I crashed. Badly. I started to consider taking my own life. Seriously consider it. The pain and the overwhelm was just too much.
In the middle of all this, I remembered I had felt like this once before. I felt like this when I tried to use the ring and then the patch for birth control. At that time, I went on antidepressants, went to a therapist, and well, wasted a lot of money until I figured out the source. Too many damn female hormones. The dose of hormones in the birth control were making me crazy. Literally.
Too much progesterone in your body will make you depressed. Most women are not as sensitive as I am, but it is a known effect.
Flash forward to yesterday, and I realize there is one herb I have been taking that is intended to mess with my hormones: Vitex. Or, the devil as I will now be calling it. I am an information addict, so as I start to research this herb, I learn it messes with progesterone, and that many other women have had the same reaction as I.
Vitex is often recommended by Chinese herbalists to regulate menstrual cycles. It should not be taken with the pill as it may increase the side effects and decrease its effectiveness. Needless to say it increased the side effects x100 for me. I am no herbalist or doctor, but if you tend to react badly to the pill or hormones in general then please stay away from this one. If you do take it, please be aware that it may affect your moods severely and quickly.
Many women have taken this with no problems, but with my reaction being this extreme, please beware. Vitex can be very dangerous!
Frankly, the lack of information about adverse reactions to this herb concerns me a lot. I know it has helped many women, but there is hardly any information out there about the potential side effects.
Vitex alternative:
Dopamine helps prevent PMS and irregular cycles. Rather than risk the side effects of Vitrex, you can take vitamins to increase your dopamine levels. The Vitrex is essentially a band-aid, not a cure for low levels of dopamine which causes PMS and irregular cycles. Vitamins are safer, and they are less expensive. Win-win, I say.
Here’s what you should take: Magnesium citrate 600 mg/day, B6 (in a complex of 25-50 per B vitamin) and Zinc (40 mg/day) for 6-12 weeks.
Hi, I came across your blog while I was doing some research on the less than favorable side effects of vitex/chasteberry. I had the same experience on vitex (actually I was on Fertilaid). After taking it 3x a day for about a week and a half, I had a sudden onset of depression and apathy. The only other time I’ve experienced these feelings was several years ago when I was toying around with switching birth control pills.
I’m curious, how long after stopping the Vitex did you begin to feel normal again? I stopped cold-turkey several nights ago and am feeling a bit better each day. I am still feeling some anxiety and was wondering if you had any lingering symptoms after you stopped and if so, for how long?
Thanks! Hope you’re feeling better!
Hi,
Thanks for the post, and yes I am feeling better. Once I stopped taking the Vitex the extreme symptoms subsided after abou 48 hours. However, it increased my abdominal pain significantly—it took nearly 2 weeks for that pain to subside. It took about 5 days for the other symptoms to subside: bloating, cramping, mood swings, anxiety, tenderness, etc.
Hope you are feeling better as well.
Hi, I took magnesium and B complex for my PMDD but, also I took vitex for about a month. Two days ago I have a panic attack with a very bad derealisation. (during my menstruation). for vitex and anxiety and I found this post. I stop vitex for 2 days now. But I am a little depressed and a little anxious. I hope I feel better soon.
Thanks for posting this!!!
I just wanna let u now that vitex really helped me a lot so don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. It helped with regulating my cycle and instead of the usual 25-26 day cycles ive been having my entire life, my cycle days were regulated to 28-29 days. A lot of my friends whom I have suggested to use vitex have also came back with extremely good feedback in terms of their period and cycle days. So I don’t really buy all the negative talk about vitex. Besides, it has been used since and during ancient times to promote fertility in women.
Although I took many other fertility supplements to help me conceive, I am positively sure that vitex was one of them that helped and on 15th January 2011 I finally got a BFP!!! I conceived some time around 29-30 December 2010.
I would really recommend vitex, royal jelly, red raspberry leaf capsules and cordyceps. Do not be afraid of taking many fertility supplements at any one time because they function differently yet synergistically. I would suggest to take vitex and royal jelly first thing in the morning on empty tummy upon rising and take the red raspberry leaf capsules and cordyceps (together with a pre natal supplement with adequate folic acid) right after lunch.
This recipe worked for me and I hope it does for u too!!! All the best!
Hi, Thank you so much for your post. I just started to take vitex 2 days ago and I believe will help me too.
Um, Pomme, did you not read the post?!? She DID try it and had extreme physical and mental side effects. I am glad Vitex helped with your fertility, but please don’t negate other people’s bad experience with it.
That wasn’t negating anything Amy G. Some ppl might have had bad experiences with vitex n other herbs but that itself doesn’t necessarily mean that the percentage is high. Most people do not get adverse reactions using vitex, only some do maybe due to the already high progesterone present in the body. But certainly a few bad experiences cannot scare ppl off vitex or any other herbs for that matter. Maybe u shud learn to read my entire post in the present context before jumping into conclusion that a good experience negates some unfortunate soul’s bad experience!
Pomme, I did read your entire post. You wrote “I just wanna let u now that vitex really helped me a lot so don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” From this sentence it seems that you didn’t read her post. That’s all I was saying.
I said nothing about high percentages of success or failure on Vitex. All I was asking is to respect her experience as a negative one and not necessarily jump to prescribing a mix of herbs including one that has made her ill.
I am glad that I found this… I thought I was going crazy!
I started taking vitex this month to regulate my cycles. My husband and I have been TTC our 3rd child for 7 months now with no success. Along with that, my cycles have gone wacky, anywhere from 29-39 days and it have been really bothering me… so this month I started vitex 3 times a day and soy (CD5-9 only for the soy), and I ACTUALLY ovulated on CD15! I couldn’t believe it! I was so excited, plus I didn’t seem to be having any side effects… fast forward another 4 days and they have hit me like a ton of bricks!
I started about 2 days after O, my skin broke out like it hasn’t since I was 15yrs old (I am 31), then I started to notice that I was extremely bloated, followed by tiredness, very sore breasts, and weird depression like symptoms… 2 days ago, I could hardly get out of bed and when I did, I ended up crying all afternoon… Finally today, I almost had a panic attack. I took my last Vitex last night and I DON’T plan to take another. I started it shorten my cycle and relief some of my PMS symptoms, and this is worst month I have ever had…
I know that it does work for some people, but you need to also be careful. The first couple of days, I thought these might be pregnancy symptoms, but now, at 9DPO, I am pretty sure they are not… I will update this if anything changes!
Thank God I found this post. Have been taking Vitex, to help with perimenopause, and have felt worse. I mean like I have been taking crazy pills! I’ve never had depression, or anxiety, this bad. And like the other person above just feeling spaced out. Could not figure what was going on, felt like long-term PMS! Thanks so much for posting, because all I could find were links on how there are really no side-effect. I guess some people are just sensitive to it.
How long were you on the Vitex? Sometimes symptoms can get worse before they get better as the hormones regulate. How much vitex did you take? It is advised to start out with low doses.
Were you on the pill? Any medication?
been taking vitex for 3 months – great at first period – less breast swelling, cramps and bloating – but since then – WEIGHT GAIN!! NO THANKS! fell very off, had the worst period of my life last month, and i’m 39! i haven’t taken it for 2 days now and hope it just gets out of my system soon – anyone else experience weight gain? just hope it doesn’t screw up my system coming off it….
I just want to throw in my two cents concerning the negative side-effects with Vitex. Blessings to those of you who are experiencing success with the herb. Everyone is unique and has a unique blend of hormone levels. I am now coming to an understanding that if you don’t have a problem with your progesterone levels and you rarely miss a period, you probably shouldn’t take it. I had a period until I took myself off of it (10 days). I felt like I was going crazy.
I certainly don’t want to knock the good experiences. Some ladies do need help with progesterone levels and, in my humble opinion, natural is best. However, it has been months since I took the herb… trying to conceive a second child. My hormones have never returned to normal and I am now working on finding out what is causing increasing pain in my lower abdominals and irregular bleeding. As with everything, please use more caution than I did before you try this herb. Some are stronger than others. I was working under the assumption that “It’s just an herb, it can’t do any harm.” I am now being diagnosed with possible hyperthyroidism, endometriosis and possible cysts. It is my fault for taking the herb without properly researching it and asking my dr. I don’t know that the herb caused all these problems. All I know is that these issues did not start until I took it. I just want to add to the warnings, because when I researched prior to my first dose, I didn’t find anything concerning negative side effects. Now I’m concerned that I may never be able to conceive again.
Once again – - blessings to those of you who are finding help with this herb. It just didn’t work with my chemistry. Please look into this carefully before trying this particular herb.
Glad I stumbled upon your post. Have been taking 100 mg of Vitex for 3 months (started out with 50 mg per day). Noticed the higher dosage was definitely contributing to really really bad PMS symptoms (mood swings, irritability, depression and higher appetite) and caused spotting before my period. For those of you seeking immediate relief in getting you back to “normal” you may want to schedule a session with a skilled acupuncturist. I just came back from my visit with may acupuncturist and feel so much better now (and yes, will be stopping vitex for good).
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