New to forums and want Black Cohosh, Cimicifuga Racenisa (Bugbane, snake root). I cannot find it at any of the nurseries in my area.

News flash: Old threads still provide platform for spammers! To update the picture on black cohosh: this herb gained acceptance in recent years as an alternative medication to treat menopausal symptoms (picking up an endorsement from a major gynecology organization). Then a large clinical trial found that the herb did not provide benefits greater than placebo. Recent studies remain mixed, with this new report (involving a relatively small trial) showing that black cohosh didn't even do as well as placebo in relieving hot flashes and night sweats. On the plus side: testing for measures of brain function found no negative effects of black cohosh (by some measures of mental acuity, supplemental hormones can have detrimental effects). And while there are few reports of liver toxicity with black cohosh, it overall appears to a have a good safety profile.

Have you tried altitude.com It has some really interesting information about black cohosh. Another site I was looking at, said to harvest the seeds in late September or October. Depends on what zone you live in. I'm just getting ready for my harvest. I'm going to pick the seeds when they're just beginning to split, as another site suggested. I have an area where I can grow a nice patch. Some seeds may not grow the first year, but the site claims the second year they will, depending on the viability of the seed. If your looking to grow more plants, it seems the best method is to dig up the plant and divide the plant, making sure you get a rhizome. Happy propagation! Liam

Melatonin can help you stay asleep if you take it correctly and if it meshes with your body chemistry. I don't even have hot flashes anymore but I still from time to time have the problem with waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep. Other times it is not falling asleep even though I am tired. I think it is the combination of hot flashes and sleep disturbances that is the kicker. It's a combo of problems. I developed chronic urinary tract issues so I was getting up two to five times a night (my record was seven) to pee, and then inevitably, when I got back into bed, I would get a hot flash. Then covers off, cold, cover on, hot, etc. toss turn toss turn and finally comfortable and then back to sleep. Rinse, repeat. But if you threw in not being able to get to sleep, then add more of all of the above. So I added some sleep hygiene into that mix--no fluid after 8 PM, going to bed the same time every night, taking a calcium magnesium vit. C combo to help with restless legs, and then 2 or 3 mg. of Melatonin to help fall asleep. If I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep, another 1-2 mg. of Melatonin. Melatonin is not harmless so take the lowest dose that works for you, and not every day or night, just enough to break the cycle of not staying awake for long times during the night. Also, for me doing yoga stretches really helped me fall asleep for some reason. Also reading and listening to relaxation tapes. As for black cohosh, its other name is snakeroot (which is probably not used for PR reasons) and you have to be careful, because there is another plant called BLUE cohosh which was/is also used for female trouble treatments, but was not the plant that had the clinical trials with. And the active components in plants vary so much and are volatile, so it is a very difficult task to find and get good quality herbal products. They have been so little studied that no one knows for sure how they work because they often have synergistic effects, meaning they work in concert with other factors, a complex web. That is why they are best taken in conjunction with other herbs and also a whole lifestyle program. Herbs may facilitate health, but they are rarely a magic bullet that you can take and see dramatic results from just a pill or three. That's why we have so much trouble studying them in clinical trials, their best effects may be in concert with many, many other variables. I take an herbal tincture that includes black cohosh, angelica, dong quai, red clover, chasteberry, siberian ginseng, wild yam root, licorice . . . like I said, maybe raspberry. But no amount of any of that stuff will help if your diet is crap and you don't get exercise and stress relief and your sleep environment is difficult. All kinds of plants have beneficial phytoestrogens at varying levels, so diet strongly plant based, (garden fresh and organic when reasonable too) is very helpful for all kinds of health problems. Constipation or lack thereof plays no small role in hormonal health, since the gut processes a lot of hormonal constituents.