Natural Remedies for PMT and Acne - anyone any ideas?

[leoemma]

Being a bitch from hell with acne at the age of 29 is getting boring!! Has anyone got any natural rememdies they know might work? The prescribed acne ointments are now having little or no effect.

shark liver extract rebalances the oil producing glands under the skin!!
other than that with PMT too, it will often be a case that your hormones are not being excreted from your body quick enough, so building up in soft tissue.
if prescribed acne treatments not working I would almost certainly assume that it is oestrogen based acne and is connected with the PMT.
my older sister had this till I 'prescribed' her agnus castus, milk thistle and artichoke, that treated her PMT and the acne went along with it. did use a bit of shark liver too to kick start the process but with usual acne, you would have to continue to use this a couple of times a month, but she doesn't use it anymore as it was the PMT/oestrogen that was the acne base

findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19960225/ai_n14449663

www.thefinch leyclinic.com/shop/agnuscastusformula-p-47.html

Oooh I suffered from horrendous PMT. I cut down on caffeine and it had a BIG effect. None of the herbal remedies worked for me for PMT but everyones different.
I also had acne until the age of 30 and tried EVERTHING. I took some harpophagutum (sp?) or Devils claw. I took this for soemthing else actually but found within a day it started having an effect and my acne dissapeared! All those years! I took the tincture form. This is supposed to be more effective than the tablets. This is the only herbal remedy that ever has worked for me.

Ooh those sound really interesting - thank you. Acne has got to the point where I just would rather stay in and my dh will probably leave me if the PMT carries on. Do either of you know where I could get the devils claw and shark liver extract?

Devils Claw in Boots or Holland And Barrat. I thought it was an anti immflammatory, how does it help acne?

Sorry just read your post properly

IMO and IME, hormones are the only thing that causes acne and PMT, so going on the pill is the only way to control both symptoms, I know that is not what you wanted to hear as you are looking for natural methods only but I've yet to come across anything 'natural' that works. Pregnancy for me dried up my skin and stopped my acne!

For me, I hated being on the pill so I just put up with the acne and I found all the spot treatments useless because at the end of the day it is something inside, i.e hormones, that are unbalanced so putting something on your skin to 'cure' it is just treating the symptoms and not the cause. St Johns Wort or evening primrose can help some people with PMT.

Cutting out all refined sugar worked for me, especially for the bad skin, but also helped with my mood too.

I found Fish Oils to be very good with PMT, better than Primrose/starflower oils. I take a high dose everyday. The Jan De Vries flower remedies are good leading up to your period. You can get one called Femalle Essence and you sip it in water.

if you self prescribed natural meds ellideb I have no doubt nothing would work, but for saying going on the pill is the only way to treat both problems, unless you are a doctor, that is a dangerous thing to say

I really dont want to go back on the pill as until I had my ds now 3 I had been on it for at least ten years. Tried the jab and it gave me headaches and made me put on weight. Really dont want to be pregnant again although it did work on both counts!! Celery I suffer from candida so might look into the sugar thing more closely.

shark liver sold as ketsugo in good health shops, devils claw in many places.

look up your nearest independent health food shop (not so much H&B as they do not give advice there, only sell things where in independents, you often have qualified staff to offer advice) or if it is really that bad and you have other med probs, go to a qualified herbalist, www.NIMH.org.uk to find you nearest qualified herbalist

candida will certainly be having an effect on your body overall and can be a major cause of hormone imbalance so it may be better to treat that and see what happens with the PMT/acne. please don't self med though on naturals, see someone or ask in store, labels only have what a maintainance dose would be, you need theraputic doses.

I clearly stated 'in my experience' misi, so no, it wasn't a dangerous thing to say because it was what worked for me and it was from my experience. If anybody takes anyone's medical advice on here without consulting a professional afterwards it could be dangerous. That's why there is a disclaimer at the top of the page. I am only responsible for myself, not the actions of others but I am entitled to share my own personal knowledge and experience without it being misconstrude as dangerous.

leoemma I understand how you feel about the pill and the injection! I know that candida can play havoc with a lot of your body's workings, have you visited this website here ? Good luck and I hope you are feeling better soon

ellideb thanks I have just done the questionnaire so will see what they come back with. Amazingly our local boots had heard of the devils claw but didnt have any! I live in hope!

Devils claw is an anti inflamatory and I have no idea how it worked with me. I was always a bit of a sceptic tbh but as I say this is the only thing that worked with me. (I think it is a liver cleanser too, might be wrong here?)

I agree with finding an independant rather than mainstream store. Also try the internet.

DC is not an anti inflamatory, its action is not fully understood, but the anti inflammatory effect it has is as a consequence of its actions not because of it.

it dismays me the number of websites that say it is an anti inflam. it is true, we herbalists do use it as such because it is effective but there is no actual anti inflam properties with devils claw, its the effect it has on other actions that causes a secondary reaction but maybe this post should be in the pedants threads?

devils claw is one of the herbs undergoing testing for the EU herbal directives. when tested it should be able top have medical statements on its packaging which will be for this herb.

as devils claw can be very effective if used correctly, I strongly suggest no self medding on this, a qualified herbalist knowing what they are doing is important as DC can interact with drugs (by having simialar effects can over do something if that makes sense?)

www.NIMH.org.uk for your nearest herbalist
www.nahs.co.uk/nahs/exhibitorsearch.asp for your nearest independant health shop

My 2nd dd is 2 and i have started to get occasional horrible spots again. Def connected to pmt and hormones. I hate it. Pregnancy was great for clearing up spots and for some time after i thought right that's it, no more spots but no, they are coming back - and i am 35!! Not as bad as before really but just make me feel rubbish.

I have recently cut right down on refined sugar and hardly drink alcohol anymore. I think this helps. I take eve. primrose oil and just started taking agnus castus again. It is just annoying isn't it cos you can eat all the right things and sleep loads and walk loads and still get them.

I saw agnus castus in boots but need to look up what all these things do I think.