Yeah, tried all those things. They always make my hormonal symptoms worse. Black cohosh, dong quai, vitex, they all killed me. Everything that is supposed to "balance" hormones kills me.
I have really short periods, its just the PMS and the day I start, the cramps get so horrific I cant function. I usually only have to take ibu a couple days, but I have to megadose it to get it to even dull the pain.