7 replies to this topic

[navyblue]

Am somewhat confused about the way butcher's broom works. Do not know much about it except for a little research i've done on the internet. After taking it off and on i notice that this ankle pain i've been having has gone away and only comes back after not taking the supplement for a few days. I'd like to keep taking it but am concerned about the vasocontricting properties it promotes. I've had it with coffee and could feel a slight bit of tightening in the chest area, but of course that could all be in my head.

 

How exactly does butcher's broom work, and is its vasoconstricting properties a good thing?

[niner]

It's an alpha adrenergic agonist.  The vasoconstriction that it causes seems to be primarily venous, which is what you want.  You probably have venous insufficiency, which is fairly common, and results in swelling in the lower extremities.  Butcher's broom reportedly does not cause hypertension.  It seems to be a pretty safe compound, although there is a report of it causing diabetic ketoacidosis in a diabetic woman. 

[navyblue]

It's an alpha adrenergic agonist.  The vasoconstriction that it causes seems to be primarily venous, which is what you want.  You probably have venous insufficiency, which is fairly common, and results in swelling in the lower extremities.  Butcher's broom reportedly does not cause hypertension.  It seems to be a pretty safe compound, although there is a report of it causing diabetic ketoacidosis in a diabetic woman. 

 

Hey Niner, thank you for the reply. That seems to make a lot more sense. Although I'm not overweight by any means I do get heel pain; and cold feet right after eating a meal high in carbs. Butchers broom seems to take care of both issues. I think there are some circulation issues that run in my family though. I was going to mention this to someone I know with varicose veins, however they also suffer from high blood pressure. Is butchers broom something you might recommend in a case such as this?

[niner]

I wouldn't have a problem with butcher's broom in a person with varicose veins and high bp. They might have better luck with existing varicose veins if they used pine bark extract. This is a nice resource on varicose veins, with a number of references.  There are a lot of studies looking at natural treatments for varicose veins; some of them use a branded pine bark extract known as Pycnogenol.  Swanson has a generic pine bark extract that is a lot less expensive.   It might not be quite as potent as Pycnogenol, but it's reasonably close in my experience.

[navyblue]

Thank you for the tip on Swanson as well as that great link. This is something I will definitely tell them about and will most likey add to my personal stack as well, just to try it out. It does seem a bit pricey, especially to have to keep refilling so pine bark will be the way to go, at least for now and then may switch later if all goes well with the PB. Looking at the link below I noticed the dose seems a bit low at 50mg. Do you have any high quality recommendations for pine-bark/pycnogenol? Also, what do you think might be a good dosage to start with?

 

http://www.swansonvi...-50-mg-100-caps

[niner]

50 is a little low.  You could always start there and work your way up until you get the effect you want.  I've been taking 100 before breakfast and 50 with dinner for a long time, and that's effective for me.   I think I was using 100 of Pycnogenol,  I was more stingy with it due to the cost.

[navyblue]

Thanks Niner, this is all really helpful. I think that is the dosage I will start with for them and myself, can always titrate up or down from there. Even if it helps just a little, its better than nothing at all. Thanks again.

[navyblue]

One last question, most everything i've found to read up on seems to discuss varicose veins in the legs. At first it was my assumption that supplemental treatment for the legs would also be beneficial for the hands. Now i'm not so sure. Do you know of some successful studies done on varicose veins located in the hands?