? Anybody else, but me, have qualms about unregulated melatonin consumption? I have seen some altered hormonal cycles change for the worse in individuals who took melatonin. When the normal, opposite, interplay between levels of adaptative "stress" hormones & melatonin is tinkered with it is not always a free ride. In prostate cancer often the melatonin levels are measurably high in a late day time period, when healthy individuals normally do not have this hormone elevated. ( This example is an empirical peculiarity of one diseased state & not suggested as the cause of any pathology.) My observation has been that a hormonal cycle shift, due to melatonin rising when it shouldn't , is a noticeable "crash" of stress hormones in the late afternoon (in patients with NO underlying blood sugar problems, ie: not a hypo-glycemic induced symptom). If I could have measured their melatonin levels during this time to consolidate my theory it would have been ideal science, I know ( OK, no Nobel prize nomination for now). Nor was/am I equipped to measure stress. I know in Autistic research that stress hormones in childrens' saliva is considered a real time measurement (if any of you have that technology). As is, with the suspension of melatonin supplements, in these individuals there seems to no longer be a regular "crash" you could almost set your clock by. (Crash manifestation included all the worst symptoms of a come down from "fight or flight" stress hormones - shaking, crying, irritability, fatigue, etc.)

I want to know what herb produces a "wahaha". Sounds like fun.

A newspaper doctor recommended Peppermint enteric coated, and also some form of Acidophilus which was hard to get, I can't remember the name but I'm trying enteric coated ones just in case getting the bacteria past the stomach works better. Someone also recommended Dr. Christopher Lower Bowel formula and I have had encouraging results with it. I take all 3 at night. A major factor for me has just been identifying food triggers for IBS. Keeping a journal and maybe starting with just a few foods, find some that cause no problems then add new foods one at a time. I also have a tendency to get into eating a food I like daily and then eventually develope problems with it, while I seem to be able to tolerate it if eaten once a week instead. Some foods I have trouble with- *tomatoes- cooked *wheat and other gluten grains- especially whole grain, can tolerate a little white flour once in a while, do OK on oats *nuts and coconut- I became a vegetarian and ate these heavily, eventually realized they were causing new very bad symptoms when eaten daily. *flaxseed allergy- can eat some if pre-soaked as this gets rid of enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds and nuts, soaking could also help in eating raw nuts. *once experimented eliminating raw fruits and salads when visiting and had almost no problems all week until I ate a raw banana. But usually keep eating my fruit and salads, if I take psyllium seed once a day it seems to make up for eating them as in preventing diarrhea. I've also found that buckwheat has a beneficial effect, and I've even been losing some weight eating it whereas I tended to gain eating other carbohydrates. Anyway, I've been a lot better, your MMV, experiment, keep notes.

Lucky; After taking all kinds of different "herbal" multi-vitamins from my herb store, I recently heard that for women, centrum is the best...100% USRDA of everything, and 30% vit. K (you don't want more than 30%). So I went back to taking my original one centrum a day, I don't particulary believe you should take 2, but I think your body gets rid of any extra nutrients it doesn't need through waste anyway, so I wouldnt imagine it would be harmful. Cheers, Michele