# ginseng anyone ?



## jenny25

has anyone or is anyone on this to help their fertility ? i dont really know too much about it and would love to hear if anyone is used or using it x


----------



## Toots3495

Hi Jenny, my oh takes ginseng as it's supposed to be very good for :spermy:
:dust::dust:


----------



## jenny25

thank you hun how much does he take ? i bought a bottle from boots and their 75mg is that safe to take with zinc ? xx


----------



## Toots3495

That dose should be fine. Oh also takes vit c, zinc, omega 3 fish oil, multi vit and vit b complex. I went to my fertility appointment the other day at the hospital and the nurse their also suggested he take selenium as that's good for sperm as well. Dose him up:thumbup:


----------



## jenny25

thank you hun for your information do you know if it helps women ? xx


----------



## Toots3495

I've googled it and one site says ginseng positively affects hormone levels, tones uterine muscles, supports healthy uterine function and enhances fertility. I guess from that it's worth a go:thumbup:
Grapefruit juice is supposed to help increase fertile cm, I drink loads of that. It doesn't taste great but anything to help!


----------



## Briss

I have recently ventured to a chinese clinic, am totally clueless in this area but the whole experience seemed quite disturbing (and a terrible rip off, I must add). Anyway, am at the stage where I am ready to try just about anything. I was given the following supplements:

guhan yangshengjing pian
ren shen pian
shi quan da bu pian
ren shen shou wu jing (oral liquid)
sheng mai yin (oral liquid)

no idea what they are but it seems like most of them contain chinese ginseng. 

Has anyone have any experience with these supplements? any information is appreciated


----------



## Briss

I am considering for the next couple of weeks to stop all my vitamins and supplements and only take chinese one i.e. ginseng. anyone thinks this is a good idea? I have been on my vitamins and supplements for 4 months now and I should probably have a short break, not sure how healthy it is to be on vitamins non stop for months?


----------



## Gingersnaps

I think there is nothing wrong with taking normal vits all the time..That is if your diet is healthy overall. I see vits and sups as supplements not to supply all I need. i am leary of TCM and well things produced in China in general for health reasons....they have such poor environmental controls. I posted an article here a few days ago and on the regular ttc side. Let me see if I can find it. Btw I am not advocating against ginseng per say just the TCM concoctions.

Here it is:
https://www.babyandbump.com/trying-conceive-over-35/981523-caution-those-using-tcm.html


----------



## Briss

thank you! I was not sure I have heard that you should take a course of vitamins and then repeat it if necessary may be a few times a year.

I read this article when you posted it, got really scared actually but I think ginseng is a mainstream herb and I can buy it in H&B not necessarily from Chinese shops. Wonder if it works though...


----------



## Gingersnaps

I never tried ginseng but after seeing this thread, was inspired in the shop today to get a tea containing it:flower:


----------



## Briss

Great, let us know if you see any improvement. I have seen this tea but decided to wait until I used up all the stuff I got from the Chinese clinic. I am taking tonic (once a day) that has ginseng and polygonum in quite large doses (something like 2500-3000). A Chinese doctor gave me this tonic. I checked that polygonum seems to help with grey hair, she probably noticed that even though I am only 35 my hair is turning grey, not sure if this is relevant for conception though. I stopped Pregnacare conception but am still taking 15 zinc, 200 selenium and 400 folic acid as well as lots of other stuff :)


----------



## Gingersnaps

Briss said:


> Great, let us know if you see any improvement. I have seen this tea but decided to wait until I used up all the stuff I got from the Chinese clinic. I am taking tonic (once a day) that has ginseng and polygonum in quite large doses (something like 2500-3000). A Chinese doctor gave me this tonic. I checked that polygonum seems to help with grey hair, she probably noticed that even though I am only 35 my hair is turning grey, not sure if this is relevant for conception though. I stopped Pregnacare conception but am still taking 15 zinc, 200 selenium and 400 folic acid as well as lots of other stuff :)

I am not sure the amount of ginseng in the tea is likely to have an effect. It is oolong tea with ginseng (95 percent oolong and 5 percent ginseng powder so the amount may vary in how long it is seeped). Usually I buy regular tea that states it is organic or white organic tea.
I tend to have two or three cups a day pre O and then one cup of tea a day post O but will switch back to white tea after O.
I never heard of polygonum so just looked it up. Apparently, alot of plants fall under it's umbrella. Since polygonum can include various herbs it may be best to stop around O.
I take a prenatal as well as other vits but try to buy whole food as much as possible for better absorption.


----------



## Briss

I agree, am going to stop all the Chinese stuff and various herbal teas (except for nettle tea which is great for uterus lining) after O


----------



## JaneJohnson

Hi, I am a Chinese medical herbalist. Ginseng is very powerful. Like a lot of medicines it should be prescribed according to the individual person's issues and constitution. Ginseng has a powerful warming property, strengthens the immune system, stimulates energy but also calms the nervous system.
It's great for women who tend to have lower BBT's, sluggish Luteal phase temps that don't "hold up" or women who have pre AF spotting and women who feel nervy and anxious that also feel cold easily do well with ginseng as do women who get lower backache and feel cold.

Women who have "warm blood" indicated by acne, red skin blemishes, sensitive to chilli peppers who feel bad tempered easily and who have higher BBT's should only take ginseng if they are advised to do so IMO.


----------



## Briss

JaneJohnson said:


> Hi, I am a Chinese medical herbalist. Ginseng is very powerful. Like a lot of medicines it should be prescribed according to the individual person's issues and constitution. Ginseng has a powerful warming property, strengthens the immune system, stimulates energy but also calms the nervous system.
> It's great for women who tend to have lower BBT's, sluggish Luteal phase temps that don't "hold up" or women who have pre AF spotting and women who feel nervy and anxious that also feel cold easily do well with ginseng as do women who get lower backache and feel cold.
> 
> Women who have "warm blood" indicated by acne, red skin blemishes, sensitive to chilli peppers who feel bad tempered easily and who have higher BBT's should only take ginseng if they are advised to do so IMO.


Jane, thanks for the info, this is really helpful! I wonder whether you can overdose on ginseng? I was prescribed quite a large dose (daily) consisting of: 

3 of guhan yangshengjing pian - https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=古...&w=805&h=592&ei=ktKwT72_EYOKhQfJ75XsCA&zoom=1

1 of ren shen pian - https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=r...&w=429&h=573&ei=4tKwT-HLF86IhQfwn-z7CA&zoom=1

1 of shi quan da bu pian - https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=s...&w=290&h=400&ei=_dKwT5vlEdG4hAed_pXpCA&zoom=1

1 of ren shen shou wu jing (oral liquid) - https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=r...&w=600&h=301&ei=INOwT920H8a7hAe9y7nuCA&zoom=1

1 of sheng mai yin (oral liquid) - https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=s...&w=193&h=144&ei=PtOwT_PYBoemhAeL2fjaCA&zoom=1

Is it safe to take all of it every day? At present I am taking just one thing (either one tonic or one tablet) a day.

I was probably prescribed ginseng because I get lower backache and feel cold most of the time. Although my acne got much worse recently, I wonder if this can be from ginseng?

Can you please also recommend a safe place to buy Chinese herbs in London?


----------



## JaneJohnson

Hi Briss,
Your prescription is likely to be sound. If you trust your practitioner it is important to follow the dosage otherwise you won't be getting the right amount in your system to take effect.

If I was in London I would go to The Womens' Natural Health Practice rather than Harley Street. It is in Richmond and that's too far for you I would call them and ask them to recommend someone more local. They are the centre for post graduate training in TCM gynae. I hope to study there myself later this year. I can't supply the web address because I'm a new member but if you Google "naturalgynae" you should find the website.

Otherwise the Association of Tradtitional Chinese medicine has a directory of affiliated members. I can't vouch for individual practitioners though and some may not speak good English although their TCM skills are v. good. I would start with the clinic in Richmond. Let me know if you need more help finding someone. Jane


----------



## Briss

That's brilliant! thank you Jane! I will certainly check the Womens' Natural Health Practice's website.

I am not sure if I trust my practitioner, I have been there only once, spent a lot of money and do not want to come back if I am honest. she is Chinese and seems very experienced but I felt some of the things she did, did not work as they should for instance, she did acupuncture, cupping and something she called scrubbing (extremely painful!) which left me with terrible bruising for a week. Is it supposed to be like that? I know cupping will leave you with marks which is totally fine but awful bruising from scrubbing was a bit too much. My DH got a shock when he saw me he thought someone attached me :) May be if I was Asian my skin would not react this way but I felt she should have adopted her technique to suit my type. Again I am not really an expert so may be it is supposed to be very painful and leave marks to achieve any effect.


----------



## JaneJohnson

The techniques she is using is to help clear the "heat" from your blood. There are several "exits", or excretory organs to clear heat - urine, poo, skin are the main ones. This is one reason drinking water is so important to clear "excess heat" via the urine. You have heat in blood because your skin has some sign of that. Saying that you also mentioned feeling cold so like a lot of us you have some organs with heat (blood, liver) and some with cold (kidney). The TCM doctor knows where the heat and cold is and balances with therapies and/or herbs. Your doctor is probably good but IMO a woman with fertility issues needs to able to communicate properly with their doctor/therapist. This why the clinic in Richmond is so good (my practice good too in Cambridge  ).


----------



## Briss

it is all very interesting, so basically all these manipulations were designed to clear "excess heat" via my skin? She did say that if everything was normal I would not have been in such pain, pain was an indication of some sort of stagnation so she placed even more pressure where it was most painful presumably to clear the stagnation and improve the flow

If I lived in Cambridge I would definitely come to your clinic :) you are right because TCM is something quite new to most of us it would help if practitioners explain what they are doing. for example, the doctor gave me this moxa box with some herbal sticks. I understand I am supposed to burn the sticks inside the box and place the box on my stomach to warm my uterus. I have done a bit of research and it seems that it is not recommended after ovulation. do you know if this is so? I have not tried this moxa treatment yet as do not have enough information to make sure it is safe.


----------



## JaneJohnson

The doctor would have said don't do after ovulation if that was an issue. The thing to remember is that every one has a different balance of heat and cold so treatment is individual. The modern / scientific think always tries to make generic rules. Some rules are more valid that others. If there's a doubt it's best to check with the doctor that gave you the advice... again can be challenging if they are Chinese. Another thing to add is that it's always best with TCM to have a therapist working with you rather than buying medicines and then your left to own devices. Doubt is bound to creep in when you're not able to discuss your understanding of why take those medicines and it's easy to read generic rules that also add to doubt. Chinese medicine is very very good and so is Ayurverdic (Indian medicine) for restoring organ systems back to their full potential. It's the net effect of organ imbalance that causes problems..... I hope this helps


----------

