I was watching Dr. Oz yesterday and he was talking about excessive hair etc. He said that birth control pills were an option ( not for me though because of a medical condition ) but also drinking spearmint tea is a natural alternative. I'm curious if anyone has tried this for some of the PCOS symptoms??

I posted about a month ago, when I was diagnosed, about how my doctor told me to go on an un-processed, organic " diet " to try to clear up some of the symptoms. While I have lost weight and it seems to have regulated my periods, it's done NOTHING for my acne or excessive hair growth on the chin. So I thought about giving the tea a try. He said it blocks androgens ... so I'd think it might help for acne too??

If anyone has had any experience with this, please tell me the good OR bad?

OMG I tried this- it's SO DISGUSTING!

Has he put you on spironolactone? You might want to ask and if you have that much hair ask to go on 100 mg's at least.

If he refuses- find a doctor who will give it to you- seriously I don't understand these doctors not giving their PCOS patients the medication they need. My new doctor is appalled that my old doctor gave me 25 mg of spironolactone when she said I clearly need more. I told her I asked for a higher dosage but my doctor refused. She was like the amount given is based on how much hair you have and you definitely need more than 25 mg.

I'm tired of doctors acting like they know what PCOS is and how to treat it but in effect telling their patients to just "deal with it." Sorry I'm going off on a rant but my one friend who has PCOS recently went to her doctor for help- practically BEGGED him for help and he brushed her off. She changed doctors and is much happier.

I'm not crazy about mint tea. My endoc suggested Spiro and I declined because I was still nursing at a the time. But when I see her again I may bring it up now that I don't nurse any more.

Ugh, tell me about it. I've had my share of the doctor parade not LISTENING to me when I say I feel bad. I was so annoyed when my endoc I finally found and loved because he did listen retired.

Now I see his wife. I will go bananas if she retires on me too.

A.

Good luck- yeah I like mint and this stuff was gross lol.

I couldn't find any spearmint tea in my local store but I found sleepytime tea which has the second ingredient as spearmint. They said its fine as long as its the first or second ingredient. I already had two cups of it. It almost tastes like liquid spearmint gum ( which I love ). I suppose I'll go ahead and give it a try ...

I have been looking for this but can't find it. I did find a mint tea where the first ingredient is black tea and the second ingredient is spearmint.
So I figure that's better than nothing until I can find the real deal!

Interesting. I thought mint tea was pretty easy to find in a grocery? Bigelow Mint Medley? Tetley Peppermint? Celestial Seasonings Peppermint? Twinnings?

I use it for my fam for tummy upset.

My whole leaf tea I order from Mighty Leaf.

www.mightyleaf.com

A.

Funsize - He said as long as spearmint is the first or second ingredient, that it is fine. I haven't been able to find the spearmint either after searching all weekend. I did find some online though ... and also found some spearmint leaves at a local health food store. However, I really like the sleepytime tea ( the one that has spearmint as #2 ingredient ) so I think I'll just stick to this ... I have no problem drinking 4-5 cups of it a day haha.

Astrophe - It has to be " spearmint " ... not just any mint. I had peppermint tea in the cupboard that I can't stand the taste of ... so I was hesitant about the spearmint but honestly it has such a different less abrasive taste then the peppermint and I just adore the tea I found. Yum!

I forgot to mention ... I'm going on my third full day now of drinking 4-5 cups of the tea ... and haven't noticed much regarding my skin ( dont think Id notice anything this fast anyways ) but I started drinking it the day before my menstrual cycle kicked in and yesterday would have been the day for my excessive cramps ... I dont know if the tea had anything to do with it but my cramping was about 1/10 of what it ususally is. It would be nice if that is a benefit of drinking the tea too haha.

I could understand going for the spearmint because it tastes milder than peppermint, but medicinally peppermint is supposed to be a bit stronger with the extra menthol.

Since that's easier to find as tea, wouldn't it be the same? I can't find the Dr Oz article.

Thanks!
A.

i bought some organic Spearmint tea at Trader Joes. It doesnt taste bad, I used it to break up gas when my son was a baby

You can also get spearmint leaves at international markets in the spice section for cheap and make your own tea. Wouldn't it just be steaping the leaves in hot water for awhile?
Sarah in MD

Sarah - yup! That is another way ... I found some spearmint leaves at the local healthfood store and was going to give that a try too. I haven't yet tho, just been drinking the other tea.

A - You can find the Dr. Oz segment on his tv show website. It was on late last week ... it was the segment about excessive hair growth in women. A question about the peppermint ... you said its medically stronger? Does it block androgens like the spearmint tea does? That is why he said to drink the spearmint tea because it blocks androgens. I thought peppermint and spearmint were two different things but maybe I'm wrong??? If its the same then I'll down the nasty peppermint tea if I'm going to get results haha.

That's why I wanted to see the Dr Oz thing. I'll try again later when I can fuss with my computer -- I'm having trouble with video clips.

I looked it up in my herbal books and they all indicate that peppermint is stronger medicinally.

I also found this big long thread on it elsewhere:

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Spe...s-t227320.html

A.

Thanks for that link A! I just read through it and it seems as though the tea is hit or miss with some people. Definitely worth a try though. I'm on Day 3 right now and like I stated earlier, so far I haven't seen a change in my skin and don't expect to right away. I saw where they were talking about peppermint too. Since I do have peppermint tea I will go between the two teas ... even though I find the peppermint disgusting, I'll drink anything that might help! Thanks again for that link! Oh and the Dr. Oz video clips sometimes take a lil' bit to load ... not sure why but I have the same problem with it sometimes.