Herbs for Infertility
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Robin
Posted on: June 7, 1998

I have adhesions on the outside of my tubes that are interfering with egg pickup and transport. My Dr. seems to think that these adhesions resulted from a c-section I had with my son 14 years ago. On June 19 I am having a 2nd laparoscopy and would appreciate and herbs you could recommend to help us overcome our infertility problem. I have been taking prenatal vitamins for a year and 2 days ago began taking Dong Quai.

Amanda McQuade, in "Herbal Remedies for Women" (Prima publishing) suggests that in some cases of surgical scarring, herbal remedies may not be sufficient if the egg transport is blocked. She suggest that the following may help: weight loss if you are carrying any excess weight; avoid excess dietary sugar, starches and alcohol, which create an alkaline pH that causes the sperm to become sleepy; castor oil packs applied over areas of scarring (gently heat 4 ounces of castor oil, pour into the centre of a hand towel sized piece of flannel, fold the cloth to hold the oil, and place over the lower abdomen); since high stress levels can cause infertility, reproductive and nervine relaxants such as motherwort, skullcap and pasque flower can be useful.

Rosemary Gladstar, in "Herbal Healing for Women" (available at Richters) recommends a good diet and healthy lifestyle as prerequisites for fertility, especially when there is a problem such as scarring. In her experience, herbs help heal the reproductive organs, balance hormone levels and restore overall health and vitality. She suggests a herbal tonic of 4 parts rehmania (a Chinese blood tonic), 1 part astragalus root (immune stimulant), 1 part dong quai (a good general female tonic), 2 parts false unicorn root (uterine tonic), 3 parts wild yam root (contains a sex hormone precursor)and 1 part vitex berries (hormone balancing). As a tincture, she recommends taking one fourth of a teaspoon of this mixture 3 times a day. In addition, she recommends taking 2 capsules of dong quai 3 times a day except during menstruation, and Liquid Floradix Iron with herbs, following the dosage on the bottle. These recommendations apply to men as well, substituting the dong quai by ginseng in the formula and taking 2 capsules of ginseng a day in place of the dong quai capsules.



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