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Hi everyone,I'm wondering if someone could offer my daughter some advice re her hormone levels.She's had tests at the doctors recently and it seems she has a high level of Androgens???? She reluctantly accepted a script for the contraceptive pill,but would rather not take this,if she can find a suitable alternative.She has noticed she now has swollen ankles(side effect from pill)so the sooner she finds something else to take the better.Apparently she is on the pill to settle her hormones down,so I am guessing she needs a herbal alternative if there is one.So I thought I would ask here first,and hopefully will be able to suggest something?Thankyou in advance!

I'm sorry that she's had hormone problems. If the pill she's on is causing her problems, she should tell the nurse and they'll swap her onto another brand. She may have to try several different ones before she finds one that suits her but there are loads to try so she should be persistent.

Jekka McVikar offeres raspberry leaf tea to settle women's hormones. I mix it with chamomile and mint for a pick me up or replace mint with nettle if I need a tonic.

Zoe

This isn't much help right now but hopefully a little reassurance. My hormones were not settled as a teen but as I matured (and had children) they settled down very much. Sorry this isn't as helpful as you were hoping!

Personally, I'd work on whether she feels healthy without the synthetic hormones?

I ask because I have PCOS, and I have excess testosterone. I also lay down fat like no tomorrow!

I've been offered many things. I tried metformin for a while, but it made me feel tired and unhealthy, then I was offered the pill. I was told that it would 'make me regular and fertile'. I'm not interested in children and I have a great relationship with my body (except the wobbly bits...) so i declined again. I wonder whether doling out the pill to make women fertile is the right thing to do.

If it helps her general health, then go for it, but if its just to make someone fertile, then I'm not so sure. We're not babymaking machines, even though the medical profession seem to think so...

Also: Do they know WHY she has excess androgen? There could be a root cause that needs to be sorted out rather than it being covered up with hormones. I know my testosterone comes from faulty ovaries, and that could be sorted with a full hysterectomy (which they won't do until I've either had a child, or I reach 35), but there could be other things at play with different hormones.

Sorry,I posted a reply earlier today and now its not there? Thankyou for the suggestions.She rang her doctor and she has stopped taking the pill as it was causing her ankles to swell!!!! Anyway she mentioned that she has been looking at a Peruvian Herb(?)called Maca?Or Macca?Its been used by the natives for a long long time to regulate hormones,and apparently is quite successful!Anybody else used it?Failing that she will try the raspberry leaf and I've also suggested she might try a visit to a local naturopath.