Anyone used Vitex (Agnus castus/chasteberry) and did it help or aggravate RLS?

[ejaji]

Having heavy n prolonged periods so was researching solutions. Came across Vitex (to balance out hormones) but no idea if it's safe for RLS because when I googled Vitex RLS I read something about it affecting dopamine receptors? Has anyone used this for their periods or any other issue, or can advise about it, or know of any other natural rls safe options that wud help?

[DicCarlson]

It's worth a try. I found this website - excellent description of the Dopamine Receptor - Iron - Amino Acid connection. And if true "Females are twice as likely to experience Restless Legs Syndrome compared to males and up to 26% percent of pregnant women suffer from it..." it would seem that Vitex could be a player in RLS. One small study cited. BTW - it seems fantastic for monthly cycle irregularities - read reviews on Amazon.

yourremedy.com.au/natural-t....

[Elffindoe]

Vitex appears to be a dopamine agonist. In which case it should be at least safe for RLS.

It seems to have a greater "affinity" for parts of the brain not involved in RLS so may not have any positive effect on that.

[ejaji in reply to Elffindoe]

Was wondering, as a dopamine agonist, could there be a possibility of causing augmentation or any problem to the dopamine receptors later on?

[Elffindoe in reply to ejaji]

I honestly don't know.

[Eburg1968 in reply to ejaji]

This research seems to indicate that it does not: linkedin.com/pulse/vitex-ag.... It also seems to indicate that Vitex is a treatment for RLS.

[Eburg1968]

After seeing reference to this paper on Linked In linkedin.com/pulse/vitex-ag..., I tried Vitex (Chasteberry) for my RLS/Periodic Limb Movement Disorder and it worked phenomenally well! The only problem was that I was allergic to it and broke out in a itchy rash which was disappointing. So then I did some checking and found that Black Cohosh is also dopaminergic. I tried it and while it didn't work as well as the Vitex it definitely worked, so I am using that now. To prevent augmentation I am also taking Theanine because as per this NIH article Theanine prevents neurotoxicity in the brain, so I am hoping that will help prevent damage to my dopamine receptors: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

[Hidden in reply to Eburg1968]

Hi Eburg, what are you taking that you fear augmentation?

[Eburg1968]

I don't fear augmentation with Vitec or Black Cohosh, but the research I am seeing indicates that they are dopaminergic. The paper I cited above definitely indicates Vitex is dopaminergic and I have found some other information indicating Black Cohosh might also be dopaminergic. When you look at one of the main dopaminergic prescription medicine for RLS, Ropinirole, it often results in augmentation for the people that use it pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/288.... So when considering Vitex for RLS/Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, I looked around to see if it caused augmentation knowing it is dopaminergic and thinking that there might be a slight possibility that it would cause augmentation if it works in any way like Ropinirole. Here is my link to the article on Linked In indicating that the researchers have found Vitex helps with RLS without causing augmentation which is great news! linkedin.com/pulse/vitex-ag... I also found this paper on the neuroprotective capabilities of l-Theanine: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl.... In this paper they mention that while the mechanism is unknown, l-Theanine seems to prevents dopaminergic neurotoxicity and as such may be prescribed with dopaminergic drugs in the future. So since I am taking what I understand to be a dopaminergic herb, I thought it would make sense to use the approach in the l-Theanine paper and take it as well for it's neuroprotective capabilities which ideally would prevent any chance of augmentation. We will see how it goes!