My Friend Aggy

I'd like to introduce you to a very good friend of mine - Agnus Castus.  (A.K.A = AGGY CASSY to myself  & hubby) Now Aggy - she's NOT a SHE, nor is she a HE. Aggy is in fact a herb. (Also known as Vitex, Chaste Tree, Chasteberry or Monks Pepper. It is a native of the Mediterranean region)  I first came across Aggy over 18 months ago after deciding that enough was enough when I began to feel afraid of the hormones that seemed to be taking over my body.  Natural remedies were the preferred route of my choice so I did the usual net rooting, focusing my search  mainly on women's health - PMT & Hormone Imbalances (apparently - and since the birth of my son - my hormones have never 're-balanced') Now...before I go any further, my body is not, and has not been for many many years, influenced by any other hormone - except my own  - I guess this means that I am in a 'natural' hormone state and do not have any artificial hormones around my body that I would have if I were taking the contraceptive pill/coil. This also means that the same hormones have a free rein of my body and can do as they please, when they sodding well please. Now, some will say that this is a good thing - everything being  'au natural' and all that doodah,  and some will say I'm mad, and question why I didn't just get some 'help' and let my hormones be controlled (manipulated & coerced into doing something they don't want to!) I guess it's all personal choice really - we are all different, and what works for some doesn't always work for others.


Anyway - back to Aggy...........I started taking the recommended dose as soon as I stepped out of Holland & Barrett.  Now I won't lie - I was expecting a miracle of some sort....I expected to jump out of bed the next morning full of beans and without a niggle of doubt about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  Did this happen?
 - The hell it did.  BUT.....what DID happen was, and more so at the time of the month, I started to feel better. Now - when I say 'better' - I was never 'ill', NOR was I 'unhappy' or 'depressed'. My kind of hormonal imbalance affected me more Physically. I would have songs in my head - not the kind where I would hear a voice singing - no - more like a music box in head that wouldn't switch off - (How Ironic!!)       I would be singing along to whichever song presented itself at the time, and then after a whole day sometimes, of the same old song, enough would become enough and I'd wanna rip up the stupid lyrics and turn off the damn music!  I had a boundless energy - the annoying type where you can't sit still even though you really want to! My poor gums would become inflamed and sometimes bleed. I  had also developed 'adult acne' ('BUT IT'S ONLY MILD ' my GP assured me!) the list of symptoms goes on. I did also at times, and more often than not, experience horrid feelings and fear of disasters/ illness/death/dying and, for whatever reason, not seeing my loved ones again! (these for me were the worst). I continued to take them religiously, and at the recommended dose - 2 in the morning, 2 at night, and gradually, as time went on, each month became better. And I swear it was all down to those little pills.


I saw an old friend a short while ago (she was actually MY babysitter when I was little) She started telling me that she hadn't been too well of late and was slap bang in the middle of the menopause. She was actually weepy when talking and I recall welling up myself (and feeling peed off, cos by now I'd had it up to here with bloody hormones playing tic with us women)  We swapped stories, and I filled her in on my own little journey, and how, since having my baby, my hormone's had been erratic. I then told her about my friend Aggy! Many weeks later I saw her again and before I even had a chance to ask her how she was, she gave me the biggest hug and said 'YOU SAVED MY LIFE'! (Hang on - ME? saving lives? - Ha ha - I don't think so!)    A bit extreme I know...but...her choice of words!!  It seems she had gone and bought some of these wonderful little pills herself and since taking them, said she felt better than she had been feeling for a long time. She even had her own name for them -  ANGUS CHRISTY !!!!


So girls...the morale of the story is .......... there are many methods and means of assistance out there to help with hormone horrors or just plain old PMT. It's just a case of finding the RIGHT one for you. ( I refer to 'plain old PMT' as the type I'd get when I was 17 - a little bit of back pain, sore booby's and maybe a teeny tantrum or two followed by a few crocodile tears - but NOTHING like what I've experienced the last few years and NOTHING that 2 Ibuprofen and a hot water bottle couldn't deal with!)


If you yourself happen to be looking for a natural remedy to help with YOUR 'womanly troubles'  (Doesn't that make hormone's and PMT sound sophisticated?!) I truly recommend that you become acquainted with Aggy Cassy (or at least consider it!) Please do remember though - be wise -  and always check with your doctor before taking any natural remedies (if you are on any other medication!) - I could do without any lawsuits on my hands!


There are loads of sites with detailed information to be found on the web, but for now - and for quick reference - I've attached the following link http://www.agnuscastus.org/  so that you can have a little read & find out exactly where this wonderful herbal remedy derives from and what it is used for exactly - You can then come to your own conclusions as to whether you want Aggy to be YOUR friend.


Keep me posted!


J X