Hi I was wondering if there are any contraindications between Relora and the birth control Alesse? I am taking Aleese to stop acute menstrual bleeding but am dealing with a lot of stress. Would like to utilize Relora to calm my system down. Is it okay to use both together?? Many thanks!
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
Technically there is nothing in either Hou Po or Huang Bai (the two main ingredients of Relora - a patented combination of these) that should intefere with birth control pills. You should of course ask a pharmacist or your doctor directly however.
That said, while relora has shown some positive effects on people with stress related illness, in Chinese Medicine, properly practiced, you would be taking some combination of formulas to deal with everything at once (not that it’s not possible that a combination of western and eastern is a good idea in your case).
I would strongly suggest that you consult directly with an acupuncturist who also practices Chinese herbal medicine and receive treatment for 2-5 months and you should be in very good shape within that general time frame and somewhere around then or near after there is a good chance you wouldn’t need to take anything.
Comment by Archived User
Thank you for the reply. I wanted Relora to take the edge off in the meantime BUT I am considering acupuncture. I’m not too familiar with how acupuncture works. My main concern is that my acute bleeding was activated by a supplement, glutathione, that stimulated a brain injury I am currently healing from. It also caused major inflammation which i felt in my spine and most definitely the uterus as my lining sloughed off intact each time it bled. It was a nightmare. For now I have escaped surgery due to birth control pills working, though I worry what happens when I finish the pack. I still get slight spotting at 1 pill a day but experience hot flashes and anxiety. My only worry is that acupuncture could possibly activate the central nervous system and my cognitive issues which is very fragile and unstable at the moment. Is this a possibility? The acupuncturist also wants to burn something over my navel area. Not sure what it is but it looks like sage wrapped up in some printed parchment paper. It has a very strong herbal smell. I just hope none of these methods will activate any inflammation that is already going on. Any opinions?
Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.
The technique with the herb is moxibustion - you can read “what is moxibustion” to find our more about that.
As for the rest of your questions, just give your practitioner a little bit of time - I completely understand your concerns, but keep in mind that acupuncture is doing nothing other than engaging your body to choose a different set of operating procedures. It is very unlikely that you will get worse, it does take some time however to remedy hormonal issues so so long as you are comfortable with your practitioner then just stay the course - these types of issues are treated very often by most acupuncturists and in the overall scheme of things are pretty straightforward.
Also acupuncture tends to treat the entire system, so all of your issues regardless of what caused what will generally come into line during the course of treatment. Acupuncture is well known to deal with inflammation, hormonal issues and all of your other associated issues. Just try to relax and trust your own body to do the right thing - that’s all acupuncture is guiding it towards.