Subject: Re: how long

Dear Nettie,
I found as I got into my menopausal meltdown that the chasteberry increased my
symptoms and I stopped. It is not unusual for someone to take vitex for up to four
years. Perhaps it has done all it can do for you and that is why you are asking? You
can trust your instinct. Are you drinking nourishing herbal infusions? Those are life
long companions.

Green Blessings, Susun Weed
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                                          HRT and giving thanks

I purchased your book "Menopausal Years..The Wise Woman Way" from the
Boulder Herb Shop (the owner , thinks VERY highly of you). I had only been on
HRT meds for 4 months, but knew they weren't right for me, but wasn't sure why.

I picked up your book instinctually and found all the answers I had been looking for.
I am slowing getting myself off the HRT meds and using only herbs, tinctures, teas and
Bach flower remedies. I thank you for your words of wisdom and encouragement. I
now know that this is part of a sacred journey and I am treating it that way.

Thank you so much for your presence in my life.

Namaste, Lynn

Susun's Response: Re: thank you

Dear Lynn,
Thank you so much for your lovely note. I am so happy that my work has helped you.
A new version of that book (Menopausal Years) will be out in a few months. You'll be
one of the first to know since you are now signed up for the newsletter.
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed

susunweed@hvc.rr.com

www.susunweed.com
www.herbshealing.com
www.wisewomanbookshop.com
www.wisewomanbookshop.com

Here is your hyperlink to August Weed Wanderings:

http://www.susunweed.com/Weed%20newsletter_august%2001.htm

This month the newsletter includes:

FEATURE ARTICLE
Ease Those Bug Bites with Easy Herbs
c. 2000, Susun S Weed
Summertime means insect bites and stings. Ouch! Take a leaf from
Susun S. Weed's storehouse of natural remedies: Soothe, heal,
and prevent bites with safe herbal remedies that grow right
where you live, north or south, east or west, city or country.
The best natural remedies for insect bites are right underfoot.

BOOK REVIEW
Luna Yoga by Adelheid Ohlig
Wise Woman secrets from many cultures help you take control of
your fertility, increase your sexual pleasure, and relieve
reproduction problems.

SUPRISE FOR YOU!
Blood Mysteries by Susun Weed (Excerpt from Healing Wise)
I am wholeness. I am woman. I know the bloody places: the narrow
space between life and death, the mess of nourishing life, the
flow of letting life go.

ASK SUSUN WEED
~ Cayenne and Flooding

Plus a recipe and really great links you must visit!!!

NOTE: We have decided to post our newsletter on our website, as
many of you don't have HTML friendly email addresses.
By keeping Weed Wanderings on our website we can add lots of fun
pictures and links and colors too!!!
Every month as soon as the current issue of Weed Wanderings is
published, you will receive an email invitation to join us online.
If anyone has comments, concerns, or questions email us right
away at susunweed@hvc.rr.com

Directions for any one who doesn't get a hyperlink in their
email....(hope I didn't forget anything...)
1. Cut the link below (left click mouse, highlight by dragging
over link, point cursor over highlighted text,then press control
and c buttons at the same time to copy)
2. Paste address (point cursor arrow over address bar left click
then press ctrl button and v buttons together) into your
address bar in your browser (ex. Explorer or Netscape)
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                                        Valerian for Cholesterol?

Susan,

I am a 49 year old female and have a "slight" (230) cholesterol problem. I own your
book "Wise Women Ways the Menopausal Years". In this book, there is indication
that Valerian will help with cholesterol. But.... all my other research indicates that
Valerian will help with sleeping problems and that's all.

Can you point me toward the herb that will help most?

Thanks!
Barbara

                            Susun's Response: help for you from Weed

Dear Barbara,

Did you know that over half of the people who have heart attacks in the USA have
normal or low cholesterol? Did you know that the theory that high cholesterol causes
or even indicates risk of heart attack is non-existent? Did you know that
postmenopausal women produce hormones that keep them healthy from cholesterol?
For all these reasons, I believe that you do not have a problem.

However, we all need to eat diets that are rich in whole foods, especially whole grains,
for optimum heart health; and we all need to exercise regularly to keep our hearts healthy.
I think the best herb for you right now might be tincture of Leonurus cardiaca
(motherwort). A dose is 10-20 drops taken 1-3 times a day.

You can read more about this herb in my Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way?
It will also teach you how to make nourishing herbal infusions and vinegars that keep the heart healthy. You can get a signed copy from www.wisewomanbookshop.com/ at a 20% discount.

Also, I would be glad to answer your questions personally by phone. I have a free service
on Tuesday nights. Call me at 845-246-8081 between 7:30 and 9:30 pm east coast
time and I will be glad to talk with you. The line is of course busy most of the time, but
keep trying. An auto-redial phone helps!
Green Blessings, Susun Weed
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YES, I have your menopause book (and Healing Wise) and I drink an
overnight infusion of oatstraw every day! I recommend your books all
the time......

I grow my own oats, which I am just harvesting now and am
known as the oatstraw lady in my herb society. I also grow other
mineral rich herbs, which I alternately add to every infusion.

Would you mind telling me if I should be using them more or less continuously in tea,
overnight infusions or tinctures? I have been having a few hot flashes, occasional sleep problems and need to lose some weight.

The following are herbs that I grow here:
chickweed, red clover, raspberry leaf, alfalfa leaf (occasionally until
I read it increased your appetite), motherwort, lady's mantle, lemon
balm, stinging nettles, oatseed, various varieties of mint.
Is there any other herbs I should take from now on, being postmenopausal?

I also use some herbs good for insomnia occasionally such as skullcap,
passionflower, lemon balm, chamomile, and I just read that evening
primrose leaf has sedative properties. Just about ready to harvest
valerian root here for the first time.
Thank you SO much for your suggestions............................

Joan -[who is living the best part of my life at 56!]

               Susun's Response: Re: Menopause herbal formula has problems

Dear Joan,

It has been a long time since the last time you wrote to us. A really busy outdoor
month for me, and probably you, but here I am to give you an answer to your great,
but complicated, question.

I drink about a quart a day of nourishing herbal infusion, usually nettle, or oatstraw, or comfrey leaf, or red clover. I rotate through these four, adding the occassional treat here
and there (linden, sassafras, or mullein infusion for instance) and sometimes flavoring
them with mint or horsetail or bergamot. It is great that you grow your own oats, but
by using just oatstraw, you are missing out on the benefits of the other herbs. Try
switching around more. And I do really recommend that you keep it simple. Just one
major herb at a time; I would not add other herbs to the oatstraw but infuse and drink
them separately.

I eat a huge helping of salad with my evening meal, usually at least half wild greens, and
put at least one tablespoon of herbal vinegar and at least two tablespoons of extra
virgin olive oil on it (plus tamari).

In addition, I take tincture occassionally, as needed: motherwort if I am freaked out, hypericum if my muscles are sore, wormwood for digestive distress. I do not take
any tincture on a regular basis.

Are you familiar with the information in the beginning of my books where I separate
the herbs into four categories: nourishing, tonifying, stimulating/sedating, and potentially poisonous? That section may answer your question more specifically, as it lists the
herbs that I put in each category, and gives recommendations for use. Of the herbs
you asked about, I would order them thusly:
Nourishing (use freely as infusions or in salads) = chickweed, red clover, raspberry
leaf, alfalfa leaf, stinging nettles, oatstraw
Tonic (use regularly, but not daily unless in salad or as vinegars) = motherwort, lady's mantle, lemon balm, various mints
Sedating (use as little as possible, never daily) = skullcap, passionflower, valerian, chamomile, oatseed tincture

As for your sleeping problem, you don't say if you have difficulty falling asleep or
difficulty staying asleep. The latter is quite common during the menopausal years
and passes on its own, if you don't make it a chronic problem by taking herbs that
are sedative!!!! Do you have a relaxation exercise that you can use?It's much healthier
than forcing yourself to sleep with outside agents.
Incidentally, I prefer the tincture of valerian flowers to the root. Never heard of using
evening primrose leaves. Let me know if it works for you. Very interested.

Hope this helps.
Green Blessings, Susun Weed
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                                      New Wise Woman Book?

Hi Susun,

Please get in touch with me. I have the "old" Wise woman book and would be
interested if the the new one contains more information for post-menopausals like
me, i.e. osteoporosis and dry vagina.

Sincerely, Ingrid

Susun's Response: you need New Wise Woman Book

Dear Ingrid

The new version is 50% bigger. It is completely revised. There is new information
on every page. No really new info on dry vagina, but some new stuff on osteo. Its
worth the $13 for sure to get the new one. Its every thing you like about the one you
have but ever so much better. Did you know soymilk can cause osteo? Read about
it in New Menopausal Years!

Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
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Hello!
I'm going through perimenopause with not much info from my doctor. I would like
to know if the book New Menopausal Years, would be helpful for me.

Thank You, Stacy

               Susun's Response: New Menopausal Years: the Wise Woman Way
Dear Stacy,

This book, according to women who write us, is the one you will sleep with, cherish,
read over and over, and lend to everyone. Yes, it has lots of information for women
who are just beginning their menopausal journey -- like you.

Green Blessings, Susun Weed
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Dear Ms. Weed:

I would very much like to have an herbal consultation with you. I would, of course,
be happy to pay you for this service. I do not know of a competent herbalist in my
area, and although I have gotten a couple of referrals, I did not have a good feeling
after talking with them. I have read and reread your book "Menopausal Years", have
found it invaluable, and have tried many of the suggestions over the past 7 years.
However, I do not have the necessary knowledge of herbs to know what is best for
me at this time. I need the assistance of an expert!

You must get many requests for help. If you do consultations, please let me know
how to arrange one with you. If not, perhaps you would have a referral for someone
in my area who is truly a competent, highly-skilled herbalist. (I live in the San Francisco
Bay Area.)

I have been experiencing extreme peri-menopausal distress these past eight months. Hormone therapy in the form of low-dose birth control pills has helped some, but I
feel I need something more. (And I am not really pleased about using the birth
control pills, but I was so sick I was desperate.) I would go into greater depth
regarding my symptomology were you to agree to a consultation. As I stated, I
have used herbal suggestions from your book before, but things are too complex
now for me to know what to do. I hope you can help me or provide me with the
name of someone who can.

Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your knowledge with others.

Sincerely, Sue

             Susun's Response : free consultations on Tuesday after spring equinox
Sue,

I do free consultations by phone (845-246-8081) from the end of March to the end of October on Tuesday nights, 7:30 to 9:30 east coast time. Please feel free to call me then.

Have you taken crone's time away? Have you used motherwort?

Green Blessings, Susun Weed

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