Re: Can VITEX cause similar symptoms to progesterone dominance?

 Tx for that, i've taken on board about supporting the liver and noticed that i haven't been drinking enough water. When i take the bitters and drink lots of water i find most of my bloating, fatigue symptoms disappear and energy comes back.

Yes, when using bitters it is essential to drink plenty of water throughout the day.  Bitters will cleanse the liver, which also contributes to the breakdown of body fat that also stores toxins.  All the garbage being released back in to the bloodstream needs to be hyperdiluted and flushed from the body or they can make the person feel sicker.  Same reason I also recommend starting out slow on the bitters.

Indeed i am seeing for myself the importance of liver/kidney support. Makes me wonder is this why the whole endocrine system is struggling. Even seems to help control insulin problems and the adrenal tonic seems to get much more potent. So i shall persist! - by the way i do take TMG also.

Anyway, just a few more questions if ok.

1. When previously taking vietx and wild yam combined i had the same symptoms as taking progesterone cream (bloating, soar breasts - estrogen dominance symptoms or progesterone dominance-confusing). So therefore does Vitex also set off the estrogen receptors also, as apparently does progesterone cream. And is this only temporary effect of hormone balancing? And a sign also that i need to to increase liver detox?

Vitex will stimulate the body's own production of progesterone, but it is very slow to do this.  It takes several months for vitex to even start kicking in.

As I pointed out earlier though both estrogen and progesterone dominance both share many of the same symptoms.  One of the biggest differences is that progesterone dominance kills the sex drive while estrogen enhances it.  This is why vitex is also known as "chaste tree berry" and why progesterone is used to "chemically castrate" men.

2. I've read phytoestrogens should be tried one at a time - true?

No, not true at all.  In fact, phytoestrogens are found in numerous plants we eat on a daily basis such as garlic, onions, apples peaches, grapes, etc.  They would be virtually impossible to avoid unless you went on a completely all meat diet.  Then you would have to deal with real estrogens that are hundreds to thousands of times stronger than phytoestrogens.

3. What is then the best way to get your hormones tested?

There is no accurate way to test hormones.  But multiple blood tests over time to get an average would be the closest to accurate.  

4.Hypothalamus dysfunction- is there are treatment/cure?

Alfalfa, seaweeds and parsley are supportive to the hypothalamus.

By the way, despite what the progesterone peddlers have said to me, very LOW ESTROGEN is indeed an issue (have all the classic signs and serum and salvia tests confirming) and I can't see how ignoring this fact and adding progesterone to the problem is going to fix that. How can they say it's not a problem when my body is crying out that it is.

To begin with saliva tests are the least accurate of all hormone tests.  And again, even serum tests must be repeated numerous times to get an average of production to get anywhere near accuracy.  Symptoms are one of the best indicators of what is going on.  But again, estrogen and progesterone dominance share many symptoms making differentiating difficult sometimes.  Other than sex drive a few other things that can indicate progesterone dominance include acne, water retention and increased aggression or irritability.  Estrogen can cause thyroid suppression, although so will many other things, and can increase body fat, although so can progesterone.

Good to be back by the way! Hopefully with some most excellent guidance again, i can disappear again!