[EllaC]

Vitex adds prolactin. That only provides balance if you were low in prolactin and high in the others. It might be related to progesterone too. Most but not all women are high estrogen and low progesterone and prolactin after breastfeeding. Yes vitex takes a long time to have much effect. Vitex is also known as "chasteberry" from those that intentionally used it to cause the opposite imbalance with excess prolactin and low estrogen, which makes you asexual.

I could be wrong but I think DIM breaks down estrogen in general. It is good if your estrogen is too high and you don't want to raise other hormones to match. But ideally for NBE you would want to keep the estrogen and instead raise progesterone and prolactin to match it. Unless the high estrogen is causing you real trouble and all you want is to get rid of it.

Fenugreek, wild yam, shatavari and goat's rue all contain steroidal saponins. They are molecules similar in structure to all hormones. Fenugreek increases the effects of luteinizing hormone which leads you to make more hormones in general, and I think it increases the effects of those hormones too. IMO any one of those herbs is good all on its own, or in combination with anything else.

If you can't get a hormone test or it's too expensive, you could combine 40-125 mg vitex (not more), a few hundred mg red clover, and as much of a steroidal saponin herb as you want. That would tend to push you towards the middle. No need to cycle any of those. It's not nearly as effective as PM or PC, but with PM you might accidentally make your estrogen way higher than your progesterone, or with PC you might accidentally make your progesterone way higher than your estrogen. Ideally you'd take precisely the right amount of both, if you don't make a mistake when guessing without a hormone test.

Thanks surfer. Got it. Its all a big guessing game really isn't it unless you get your hormones checked. I cant understand why it cost's soo much and why it isn't a requirement for any women with post natal depression or even for good health in general, in hindsight had I been suggested to get a hormone panel done when I was suffering from severe post natal it may have just made my life a whole lot easier. If I'd known back then what I know now I would have made my doctor give me one.
Thanks again.