Cohosh

[sldb]

Is anyone taking cohosh for hot flashes? If so does it work? Hep advices aganist HRT and i do need some relief. Appreciate any help.

[medicmommy]

LOL! Thanks, I needed that! I do think the chemo affects female hormones...I had a suspicion that it did for, at the #2 day mark after my first shot, suddenly I had persistently sore nipples, a few days after that I had an episode (I'm so grateful no one was home) of having like the worst case of PMS (I was so pi**ed off, I feared getting phone calls!) (is this a riba rage episode?) and then only a 2 day period...Very strange...And now, I've noticed my breasts seem bigger! I'm confident I'm NOT pregnant! (A person has to participate in certain activities for this to happen...) I've always been sensitive to all meds, so odd sides aren't entirely unexpected...LOL at the shot comment! I actually dropped mine! I had such an issue with poking myself, I backed up against a wall so I couldn't "get away"! LOL....Good luck with the hot flash issues...What a drag...

[sldb]

Maybe we should write a book, Women on Treatment.  Loss of libdo- how to fake it, The importance of measuring new hair growth (I do this), Sticking the hair that is falling out on the shower wall so we can count them,  palpating my liver to see if improved to the point of bruising my abdomen, checking  eyes for jaundice that never comes, searching your body for every side effect listed on package insert, trying to do what the doc tells you by drinking alot of h2o then drinking too much and dehydrating yourself, 1st shot given to a nurse by herself and screwing it up,last but not least, what to do with the stockpile of tampax you purchased prior to tx, who do i donate these to? can i claim it on my tax return?  These are things i focused on during tx, and i still managed to svr. LOL !!!!!

[sldb]

I was pre-menopausal prio to tx. still having light but consistant periods. 2 mths into tx everything stopped, my hep and gyn docs just looked at me funny when i mentioned this. Blood work done, nothing out of the ordinary showed up.  18mths post tx still no period. I had just stocked up on supplies prior to tx, but i know the minute i get rid of my supplies my period will come back. Now iam in full blown menopause,go figure. At 1st i thought it might be stress i started txing a few mths before Katrina devastaed us, but my life has been back to normal (if u can call it that) for 2 yrs. HOT FLASHES started the minute i stopped pegasys and have not stopped. No hot flashes during Tx. All i can do is sum it up to another tx mystery.  The only sideeffect that is still with me post katrina is  i have to listen to WWL, the only radio station that broadcast during and post storm, at least once a day.  LEAH  

[Forseegood]

hi, i really know next to nothing about these things, relatively speaking...but I have read that many things can stop a woman's period...perimenopause, menopause, extreme stress, extreme exercise (certain athletes have this happen, especially if they get to really low body weights with out much fat) chemotherapy, etc etc etc...maybe if you did a good search you could find more questions, never many answers, lol...hope you find out some things and you have a good gyno....

[ladywhy]

The gynocologist, my hepatologist can't answer why this has happened to me or answer any questions reg. this...maybe you or someone else can. 3 months into tx, my mens. cycle just stopped...prior, it was like clockwork. About a 1 1/2 mos. ago, I had labwork done that indicates I am 'Post'menapausal! Now, if I remember correctly, nygirl's cycle stopped during and returned after tx...is that right?? Is this more common...and few are talking about it or what?...or is it just for the lucky few :(
I am concerned about this...and I am clueless...and also wondering if this has something to do with my extremely slow response....
Thanks for any imput.
Y

[medicmommy]

I know what you mean by learning more about hep c from forums than from our pathetic "infectious disease" classes...Before being diagnosed, I thought I knew all I needed to know about Hep c...Come to find out, all I really knew was, it was something you didn't want to get...(and of course, how it was transmitted..) I've got to admit, I'm not a very good patient...Typical for a health care worker, huh? LOL...For some dumb reason, I didn't consider that the "rules" of adapting to tx would apply to me! (I'm a Paramedic...)
We just aren't ALLOWED to be sick or tired! :)  I'm glad that you found this place! I can't imagine having gone through tx by yourself...Take care and good luck with the hot flashes!  By the way, I did try black cohosh for awhile, but I found the progesterone cream to work much better for me..((((((((((((((((((((Hugz)))))))))

[Forseegood]

Hi, thought I might add a caveat...of course you know this, having a medical background but for anyone reading this, any woman should be screened for breast cancer, etc etc...before they start an estrogen regimen of course.....and of course, all the other practical considerations, is there breast cancer in the family? etc etc...I think they have a test that tests you for the gene of breast cancer?, or something like that...either that or they are working on it...just have heard over and over of women saying their docs told them HRT is bad for them with hep c, and as you can see by this study (and there are 4 or 5 more that I have seen) it's anything but...best to you....

[sldb]

Thanks for the advice iam going to try the estrogen cream, thanks again  

[medicmommy]

Something I tried, and it worked well, was progesterone cream...It was 420 mg per tsp and used X1 /day...I was "estrogen dominant"...and didn't have enough progesterone to balance it...Also, are you perimenopausal? Have you had your thyroid levels checked?...Do this first...

[Mikkimoe]

Does that mean it will probably be Ok for me to stay on Birth control pills...I haven't researched that one yet. But it sounds like it may be OK - I would hate to get off them - major ouch...they seem to regulate my ovarian/uterin cysts.

OK too much information....

[EspritLibre1]

One of my friends takes cohosh and swears by it... said it took a few weeks to kick in but took care of hottflashes and felt like it gave her more energy in day and was actually able to sleep better at night... but she has no liver disease... so don't know about that..

[sldb]

Iam an RN and i learned more abouth hepc from this forum than i did from any where else, i just wish I would have found all of you prior to completing tx.  96wks of dealing with my heps nurse who knew less than i did unnerved me. I knew what to do when someone came into our er with a varices bleed. hi amonia levels. ascities etc.  I never new anything about the virus causing all these problems.  Now when a patient comes in with suspiciously hi alt and ast. low platlet count etc., I make sure they get a referral for further followup. We in the medical profession are also guilty of being ignorant.  Thanks again, and GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR TX.  (have you started yet?)

[Forseegood]

yeah, as much as we value the docs and researchers, and all that they do for us (where would we be without them?)

we should realize that not all docs are up on all of the new data re this disease (even though this is years old, thank god I like to research)...I've pointed out these studies to some docs, and I registered the look of surprise on their faces, and then they say, well, I didn't know that! thanks for showing me these!

(Makes me wonder, of course, they know the architecture of the liver; and anatomy, physiology, etc reams more then I do of course, they have medical degrees, I know next to nothing about these things...but do all docs keep up with the new data on this, No! though some do) (then I wonder, and I'm paying you! lol) that's why these boards can be so essential, that we share data and sometimes we have to give it to our docs:)

[sldb]

Greatly appreciate the info, my hep is obviously not up-to-date in this area.  Thanks again.

[Forseegood]

I would really watch out with that herb, for a number of reasons...I felt speedy on it when I tried it years ago, that's all I needed to stop it...as far as HRT, there are many studies that point that estrogen actually helps women with hepatitis, and that when a women's estrogen levels go down (as in menopause) the disease can take a stronger foothold...from HIV and HCV

Rates of fibrosis progression in people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection differ significantly between men in women; in addition, women tend to respond better to interferon-based therapy. It has been suggested that an anti-fibrogenic effect of estrogen may explain this finding, possibly because it inhibits the activity of hepatic stellate cells that produce extracellular matrix, or fibrous tissue.

As reported in the September 26, 2006 online edition of Gut, Brazilian researchers conducted a study to evaluate the severity of chronic hepatitis C in women, and its association with menopause, steatosis (fat accumulation in the liver), and hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Between November 2003 and October 2004, 251 women with chronic hepatitis C were enrolled. They completed a questionnaire and gave a blood sample on the day of liver biopsy.

Results

    Out of the total of 251 women, 122 women (52%) were past menopause and 65 were receiving HRT.

    Compared to the 190 women (76%) with mild fibrosis (F0-F1), the 61 women (24%) with moderate to severe fibrosis (Metavir score F2-F4):

    - had a longer known duration of HCV infection (greater than 15 years);
    - had a higher body mass index (BMI);
    - were more likely to have steatosis.

    Women with stage F2-F4 fibrosis were more often past menopause (67% vs 47%).

    The probability of stage F2-F4 fibrosis was lower among post-menopausal women using HRT (P = 0.012).

    Steatosis was more frequent and more severe in post-menopausal women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the authors wrote, "Severity of fibrosis was associated with a longer duration of infection (> 15 years), a higher BMI, advanced steatosis and menopause. [Post-menopausal] women [taking] HRT presented lower stage fibrosis."

They added that, "These results reinforce the hypothesis

[sldb]

No need to respond to post just read an article stating "Black Cohosh can cause the bodys own immune system to launch attack on the liver",  caused autoimmune hepatitis in one patient, tx'd with steroids and recovered. Dont need any of that!!!!  I will just continue to suffer through.