spearmint and peppermint are very similar energetically and have similar actions, only a slight difference in thermal energetics in my experience. peppermint is ever so slightly warmer as evidenced by 'pepper' in the name. boneset and elder are cool so the peppermint balances that coolness a bit. having said that spear and peppermint are so similar it may be a moot point. i would sub spearmint if i was out of peppermint...but i am never out of peppermint. its a polycrest herb that is useful for many many complaints. i like working with relatively mild polycrest herbs, my interest is intervening just enough to stimulate the vital force... herbs themselves don't heal, they stimulate the vital force which does that. i always use elder and peppermint with boneset unless the client knows they don't like or have adverse reactions to peppermint... which some folks do... they improve the flavor of boneset dramatically which is nasty and exhibit complementary actions that are indicated at first onset. in the case of peppermint sensitivity would sub melissa/lemon balm. clients come to my office.

"Just plain fish oil as good as pills." Sounds more like fish oil may be just as ineffective as a certain kind of medication (statins) in prolonging survival in congestive heart failure. Let's look at those results: a prescription medicine derived from fish oil was given to a group of patients with CHF (a control group got placebo instead). 1,981 patients in the fish oil drug group died of heart failure or were admitted to the hospital for CHF-associated problems. 2,053 patients who got placebo died of heart failure or were admitted to the hospital due to CHF. At best, that's a very tiny benefit; it's nowhere near convincing evidence that the drug is good for CHF patients (fish oil, of course, has some cardiovascular benefits for people in general). And nowhere in that report is it stated that "just plain fish oil" would work as well as the prescription drug, though it's hoped that more inexpensive supplements or just eating more fish would work the same way. As far as statins go, most recent evidence suggests they don't improve survival in CHF patients, but a major recent trial showed other benefits. In any case, fish oil isn't an herb, and the study was paid for by drug companies. Imagine - drug companies bankrolling a study that suggests that simple dietary modification and the use of cheap supplements might work as well as expensive statin drugs! What were they thinking? Even more bizarre - the American Heart Association (which has been denounced elsewhere in this forum for not being attentive enough to alternative remedies) promotes eating fish for heart health!! Conspiracy theorists are probably spinning in circles trying to figure this one out. ;) "Italian researchers gave nearly 3,500 patients a daily omega-3 pill, a prescription-formulation pill derived from fish oils, produced by Norway's Pronova BioPharma...Both studies were paid for by an Italian group of pharmaceuticals including Pfizer Inc., Sigma Tau SpA and AstraZeneca PLC." One final note - reading the entire article, I see no claim from anyone that congestive heart failure patients should throw away all their prescription meds and rely on fish oil instead.

All of the above sound promising, especially the one about breathing fumes, particularly if he works on any of the old piping joined with lead--he could investigate the effects of other metal fumes by looking them up on Google by name and adding the word "toxicity". Another possibility not mentioned is allergies, both to inhaled substances such as pollens and foods that he eats. Watch to see if he is more tired on high-pollen days for the first, or when he interacts with animals; If you use feather-filled pillows, down-filled quilts, or "feather beds," those can also cause allergic fatigue in many cases. For foods, see if he is more tired after certain ones, such as milk, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, and whole wheat. Milk intolerences are quite common. Suspect food allergies if his joints tend to ache within several hours after eating certain ones, or if his fatigue is more common then. A fairly well-known naturopath has written several books about the "blood type diet," promoting his theory that people of different blood types have differing tolerances to various foods. There are also some genetic variations that make some people, for example, very damaged by fava beans (it does something to their blood), and phenylketinurics can become mentally retarded if they do not follow a special diet from birth. Some people cannot tolerate any form of gluten, which is found in many grains. The physical demands of his job could also be a factor. Working in cramped quarters can lead to stiff muscles, which guarantee fatigue, since keeping them stiff can be tiring--they need help to loosen up, either by hot soaks, massage (which you could do), or gently stretching them briefly, possibly assisted by some such practice as Yoga or Tai Chi. Sleep apnea is a popular diagnosis these days, but if he snores you might want to Google that topic, since snoring can be one symptom. There is also a condition called narcolepsy, in which a person has an irresistable desire to fall asleep (and sometimes does) numerous times during the day. There are medications for that. People vary in the amount of sleep they need, as well. If you only need seven hours a day and he really could use ten, he could be forcing himself to match your schedule. Sleep deprivation is also a problem where a person is working two jobs or a lot of overtime to make ends meet. Sleep deprivation can eventually be quite damaging, both physically and mentally. Since this is an herbal forum, I would like to point out that coffee, tea, and cocoa are all herbs which, because of the varying forms of caffeine they contain, do assist one to stay awake. Caffeine is also good for mild bronchitis. If used intelligently, they are probably not that much more harmful than many other herbs; it is not their fault they have tended to be overused. Additionally, tobacco is also an herb, which assists the mind to focus, and is probably not that harmful if used infrequently. Tobacco is probably the most addictive of those mentioned, but coffee, at least, is as well. If he gave up any of these recently, he would tend to feel more tired for awhile. Also, anyone having difficulty getting to sleep at night should avoid all of these from lunchtime on, as well as any caffeinated carbonated beverages, such as coke, or even, in some cases, such things as coffee ice cream or chocolate-flavored candies and desserts.

There don't seem to be consistently effective herbal remedies for chronic prostatitis, but quercetin (a compound found in red wine, onions and some teas) has shown some positive effect, at least in limited trials. Silymarin (found in milk thistle) is being studied in prostate cancer, but I don't see anything on PubMed about it being used for prostatitis. Most cases of chronic prostatitis never have a specific cause identified - some are related to chronic bacterial infection, but lots of the time no infection can be found.