Stinging Nettle - Taking the Sting Out of Hot Flashes
When I started having hot flashes caused by perimenopause, the heat was the least of my problems. Over the course of several months I had episodes of dizziness, nausea and anxiety that would sometimes escalate into panic attacks. I was convinced I was on the verge of a heart attack. After undergoing multiple cardiac tests, I was assured that my heart was fine. I then started thinking I had picked up some kind of stomach bacteria on a recent trip to the Caribbean. This was also ruled out. My primary care doctor suggested that it may be hormones, but that just didn’t seem possible to me. It wasn’t until I was describing to a coworker how these episodes felt and she said that it sounded exactly like her hot flashes, except hers didn’t last as long. At that point I started thinking maybe it was hot flashes.
My doctor started me on hormone replacement therapy. My symptoms continued and I also experienced side effects like leg cramps and shortness of breath. This only increased the panic attacks, which had started happening while I was driving. After 6 weeks of being on the HRT, I took myself off it. As discussed in my last blog, I started taking Red Clover to address the gastrointestinal issues. After about a week of being on the Red Clover I decided to try a Stinging Nettle infusion for the hot flashes. Stinging Nettle (Urtica diocia) is in the Urticaceae family. This is not one of the more common herbal remedies for hot flashes, but I had read about it and thought I would try. I had considered herbs like black cohosh, but my instinct told me that was not right for me. I was concerned about the potential side effects of some of the more commonly used herbs.
I made the stinging nettle infusion by putting a half cup of dried stinging nettle in a quart jar and filled it with boiling water. I let it sit on the counter for about 8 hours and then put it in the refrigerator. I warmed up about a cup of the stinging nettle and drank it like tea. The taste was not very palatable, so I added a chamomile tea bag. This made it taste much better. I drank the infusion twice a day. Within 24 hours the hot flashes and all the accompanying symptoms, the dizziness and nausea, were gone. It seemed like a miracle. For the first few weeks after starting the infusion, I would occasionally have a mild hot flash. It would feel like heat coming into my face and for a couple seconds I would feel a little dizzy. But it passed almost before I realized it was happening. These minor hot flashes would come over me usually when I was speaking to a group or being more animated in my conversation. I would slow myself down, drink some water, and it would pass quickly.
In addition to stopping the hot flashes, the stinging nettle also helped with the hair loss and dry skin. My hair suddenly felt softer and fuller. I noticed there wasn’t as much hair coming out in the shower.
After about 6 months of drinking the stinging nettle infusion twice a day, I noticed that my hair and skin started to feel more dry. I researched and found that stinging nettle can be drying for some people. At that point, I cut back to one cup per day and the hot flashes did not return. I am now able to drink the infusion a couple times per week and I am still not experiencing the hot flashes. I do have times when I feel like my hormones are fluctuating more, so I drink the infusion once a day during that time, but it is usually no more than a week before things balance out again. I can tell when my hormones are fluctuating more when I feel the anxiety creeping back in again. I have definitely gotten better at listening to my body.
Stinging Nettle is seen as a problematic weed to many people. To me it is a miracle medicine. I look forward to starting a patch of stinging nettle on my property next year so I will always have easy access to it. If you plan on trying Stinging Nettle, as always, do your research especially if you are taking pharmaceuticals or have chronic health conditions. To read about the other herbs I am using to manage my perimenopause symptoms check out my blog at www.crowmagicbotanicals.com.
Stinging Nettle
