Motherwort - The Comfort of a Mother
The insomnia that I was experiencing in perimenopause was amplified by heart palpitations that I would experience whenever I was lying down. Heart palpitations are common in perimenopause due to the drop in estrogen, but when it first began I didn’t realize what was happening. I would have no problem falling asleep at night but would often wake up around 2 or 3am and lie awake for hours because of the palpitations. I would lie there thinking there was something seriously wrong with my heart. My husband leaves for work before my son wakes up. I had this fear that my son would wake up and find me dead and he wouldn’t know what to do. This spiraled into anxiety that would keep me from falling back to sleep. This went on for months until I finally went to my doctor for a physical and I talked to him about what was happening. He ordered some tests to make sure my heart was okay. He also offed an anti-anxiety medication which I turned down.
Once I had completed all the cardiac tests and I was confident that my heart was okay, that gave me some peace. However, I was still having heart palpitations every time I laid down which made it difficult to sleep. When I finally accepted that I was in perimenopause, I began researching the symptoms. There are a staggering number of perimenopause symptoms, and I was experiencing a lot of them! I had already had some relief from other symptoms with the use of red clover and stinging nettle, as I have written about in other blog posts. I read that motherwort could help with the heart palpitations. Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) is a member of the mint family. I purchased a motherwort tincture from a local health food store. The tincture was made by an herbal products company not far from where I live. For some reason, knowing it was a local company, gave me confidence to try it.
I started with a small dose to make sure I wouldn’t react badly. This was my first experience taking a tincture. I gradually increased the amount to determine how much I needed to get relief. I found that twenty drops right before bed was enough to stop the palpitations and allow me to sleep. I also tend to wake up with palpitations, so I take another 20 drops first thing in the morning. I have had a few times that I have taken it during the day and it works well. It helps me to fall asleep at night because it stops the palpitations, but it does not make me sleepy if I take it during the day.
Motherwort is an herb that can be taken daily. It should not be taken with beta blockers because it could slow your heart too much. They serve the same function. In fact, the cardiologist offered to put me on a beta blocker for the heart palpitations, but I turned it down because I preferred taking Motherwort. When I had a cardiac CTscan done, I had to take a beta blocker so they could get good pictures of my heart. The beta blocker made me too tired to drive and gave me a headache. Why would I want to take that every day when I can take Motherwort, which gives me no side effects?
Motherwort is helpful for palpitations caused by perimenopause and is also good for general heart wellness. I felt comfortable taking it after undergoing cardiac testing and determining that the symptoms were caused by changing hormones. As always, do your own 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.
Motherwort
