Jump to content

Alpha Agonist Herbs


Recommended Posts

My wife went to her naturopath yesterday and she told her about how much hassle Im having with my condition at the moment and what they have tried to treat me with.

Interesting thing is that the naturopath suffers from chronic venous and had been treated using the SAME medications that had been used on me - an alpha agonist called dihydroergotamine. She said that it wasnt very helpful and did give her sideeffects.

She now - unsurprisingly as a naturopath - used herbs to treat her problem. She told my wife that two herbs in particular had been used successfully in her condition without the side effects of conventional medications she had tried and by default, may also assist POTS/OI patients by reducing venous pooling and decreasing venous permiability:

Horse Chestnut seed extract

Butchers Broom.

My experiences with butcher's broom have been discussed previously but I will say that it was a fantastic, though shortlived medical intervention for my POTS that had almost no side effects (slightly depressed mood maybe?).

I mentioned the later to my POTS specialist who i was seeing yesterday and he was very interested in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest tearose

Your sustained zest for information and ability to find and process it continues to amaze me.

I can't imagine how much more energy you must have had before POTS!!!

You must have been quite a powerhouse!

Thank you for the herb information. I tend to think herbs are not able to be reliable since they can grow stronger or weaker depending on the environment they grew in. True?

tearose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL! When it comes to researching this well I guess maybe its because im more of a hyper-type POTS patient - i tend to get a little obsessive especially about POTS because its been making my life a real pain the last six months or so and i get frustrated with it.

You are right about herbs - their potency can be variable and more importantly they have usually been long term tested for serious side effects. Maybe for a milder patient or a gambler it might be worth investigating. The side effects from most of the conventional treatments out there seem pretty high for some.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

I found this in LifeExtension Magazine. I'm not saying its completly reliable although it does have references. I was just curious if anyone had heard of the Taurine being used to help block the SNS. It also just mentions ventricular tachycardia and i think POTS is typically sinus tachycardia so maybe this is all a moot point lol. I'm just tired of trying medicines that don't work or that have bad side effects.

Q Do you know of any supplements that can help tachycardia?

According to research, there are a few products that can be of benefit to those suffering from this disorder. German researchers reported success in treating ventricular tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and fibrillation with garlic. They also noted that the duration of arrhythmias was shortened [Arzneimittelforschung. 1993 Feb;43(2): 94-8]. The herb Hawthorn can help by increasing exercise tolerance and reducing the incidence of tachycardia and palpitations. It may take 4 to 8 weeks for improvement in subjective tolerance. Although Hawthorn is regarded as gentle and safe for chronic use, you should inform your physician of any supplements or advice you receive from the Foundation. Some types of premature ventricular contractions and arrhythmias respond to taurine because the amino acid tends to dampen activity in the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the outpouring of epinephrine. As the SNS is quieted, the heart tends to beat less aggressively and blood pressure is lowered. Research also shows that the incidence of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia were significantly reduced when taurine therapy was utilized [Arzneimittelforschung 1998 Apr;48 (4):360-4].

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get tons of herbs, vitamins and minerals from VitaCost. In looking at one of their catalogs I received, I ran across Horse Chestnut. I have been taking it for about 3 months now and have noticed a difference in the amount of time I can stand. Not dramatic, but enough for me to keep taking it and buying it. Also, I have taking L-Taurine for about 4 years with no adverse side effects. I do not take any prescription drugs, but I do take quite the herb, vitamin, mineral cocktail every day. I do notice that I feel worse when not taking my cocktail. I'm all for anything that doesn't require a trip to the doctor, expending exorbitant dollar amounts and making the drug companies rich - more rich that is...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried Taurine for a bit. I love Monster drinks (usually the Lo-Carb) and seem to get less palpy and get a healthier/compatible feeling lift from them compared to other caffeine sources... so I hoped Taurine might be the magic ingredient for me. Didn't noticed too much... hard to tell...

Maybe just feels like it works better to me when it costs an arm and a leg to buy... compared to plain old coffee! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Taurine seemed like the "magic pill"..... until I took it, :lol: . It did nothing to me at all expept for cause an increase in PVC's (which it is actually supposed to decrease according to the lit). I had a run of v-tach while on it and decided enough was enough. Wont be trying it again...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...