Herbs,Allopathic,Homeopathy

[Guest guest]

Hi guys, I've been reading as usual all my RLS digests. Again, I'm writing as

a result of a couple of emails one from another from Connie. Let me

say here for those of you who are sick of reading about this stuff that this

will probably be long so feel free to delete now. The reason I'm not writing

to each of you personally is because I feel what I have to say/share should go

to the whole group. First of all let me preface this by saying that I think

both and Connie have legitimate concerns about the above subjects and I

read with great interest what you all have to say. But I too want to say that

I feel that some of the things you say about the herbs and their

effectiveness, side effects, lack of studies is not totally correct. I feel

the same about some of the things you said Connie is response to s

email. For instance your most recent research on Butcher's Broom. I have

used it and like Jeanne am not sure that I had any significant results with

it. But like many of us RLSer's I'm willing to try almost anything once. My

concern is your " digest " version of what you research about some of the things

others mention that they have tried. I looked up Butcher's Broom again in one

of my Herbal books and what you say is true. But you leave out what I feel is

important for all to know. It is used for vascular disorders. It is a

vasoconstrictor and can act as an anti-inflammatory. It's a very popular herb

in Europe as are most herbs as we all know. It is very effective in

constricting peripheral blood vessels. The toxic screening of this herb is

extremely safe; much more than other preparations for Hemorrhoids, which is

also mentioned as a use for this. The enzymatic effect of BB is effective in

reducing capillary fragility. The Safety data -- the effects of nausea and

gastritis, as you stated are effects but did not complete that sentence, shows

that these side effects do not usually occur when using therapeutic doses.

Studies on toxicityshow remarkable lack of such effects even at high does.

This information was obtained from my book " Herbal Tonic Therapy by B.

Mowrey. Also, of note is the fact that in France there have been 13 studies

done on this BB as well as a few studies done in England and Italy. I have

another book that I use written by Mark Mayell entitled Off-the-Shelf-Natural

Health. In this book there are a great number of scientific studies done on a

large amount of the herbs, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants now becoming so

familiar in western medicine. These studies are varied, blind studies,

studies done over a long period of time on both men and women and anywhere

from small groups 10 to large groups of maybe 1500 people at a time. Most of

these studies are done in Europe; Germany, Italy, Sweden. But they are now

being done here in the US as well. It is true as Jeanne and Connie point out

that even with this we can never be 100% sure of what something will do. They

all have their good and bad points or they just either work for some and not

for others. But I feel that you have the potential to scare people off with

some of the thing you say in response to persons inquires re: alternative

treatments. More importantly it is very, very true that most MD's DO NOT know

a lot about the meds they prescribe other than what they are told by the

pharmaceutical representatives. Most MD's do not tell you either of the

potential dangers or side effects to the drugs they prescribe. I can tell you

right now that last Friday I went in for my annual check up and yesterday

(Thursday) my doctor informed me that for the first time in my life my

cholesterol level is 278. I know no reason why as my diet has not changed in

the past year. The only thing that has changed is the prescribed meds I am

taking. She also informed me that my blood work showed that my liver function

is abnormal. She is going to check it again as well as check for other

viruses, i.e., hepatitis. She is pretty certain though that these are most

likely a result of 2 of the meds the doctor has prescribed for my RLS. Both

of them can cause liver problems if taken in large doses or long term. One of

them I have taken every night for 2 years with absolutely no clue that it

could possibly affect my liver. The other I have been taking for 6 months.

The only reason I now know this is because when she informed me I looked up my

meds only to find out that she may be absolutely right. I am angry about this

because I feel that if my MD knew about these possible side effects he should

have told me. As a rule I look up my meds anyway but obviously either saw

this and didn't think I was taking enough for this to happen or it didn't

register at all. All I can say is that none of us is in a position to tell

only half truths about the side effects of any treatments we may hear of or

use. If you are going to appoint yourself our official researcher you need to

be completely honest about it and maybe even inform people where you are

getting your information. The older I get, the more I see, the more

discouraged I get with this medical system of ours. It is not the best. I

have enough problems with pain, lack of sleep, etc., without having to suffer

the consequences of things that I just mentioned because of the ignorance of

the doctors who just pretend to know about the meds they prescribe. The fact

is that most of the drugs used for RLS, the neuroleptics, and the anti

Parkinson's are meds used only because they seem to work but no one knows for

sure why, so in a sense we take the drugs blindly in our desperation to seek

sleep. Please, I beg all of you to be more careful with what you say and even

more careful with what you take and know that all the research in the world by

us is still not going to give us any definitive answers. We have to just

pray, and pray hard in whatever way we do for a safe and effective treatment

for this miserable disorder whether is it allopathic, homeopathic, massage

therapy or herbs. Again, I am sorry for going on so long. I hope that this

makes sense and that I'm not asked to leave this group because of what I have

just said. Kathy/ Cambridge