Black Cohosh Root

Sleep often eludes me.  I might get a good night's sleep about once a month or so. 



Me in the Middle of the Night



 I get hot flashes through the night that cause me a lot of misery.  I wake up with heat surging through my body, culminating in a fine sheen of sweat on all of my skin.  I feel it creeping into and prickling my hair line.  I toss and turn and kick my blankets off.  I grunt and groan and flop around like a fish out of water.

I have tried a variety of notions and potions to attempt to alleviate this night time agony.

Black Cohosh

I currently have my hopes pinned on Black Cohosh root.  Black Cohosh (known as both Actaea racemosa and Cimicifuga racemosa), a member of the buttercup family, is a perennial plant that is native to North America.

Other common names include black snakeroot, bugbane, bugwort, rattleroot, rattletop, rattleweed, and macrotys. Insects avoid it, which accounts for some of these common names.

Black Cohosh has been used through the centuries to calm hot flashes and night sweats in hormonal and/or menopausal women. 

The directions say to brew 1 or 2 teaspoons of the root in boiling water for ten minutes.

I truly hope this is a miracle cure.  I am tired of waking up feeling like I want to rip heads off of kittens.

He sees me coming!!

 I have read that Black Cohosh is also used as a relaxant, can be beneficial for arthritis as it is supposed to have anti inflammatory properties.

There are a few cautions and concerns about Black Cohosh side effects.  Here is a link to an article describing some of them.  

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/blackcohosh/a/blackcohosh.htm

yikes!

According to Folklore, back in the day, if a woman was found with Black Cohosh in her possession, she was thought to be a witch and burned at the stake.

If you put Black Cohosh in your doorway, it is thought to keep out evil..

Surprisingly, I had a good sleep last night, and I hadn't tried the Black Cohosh yet.  I likely used up my one night a month sleep quota.

I am going to sip a cup of Black Cohosh tea this afternoon. I am excited about the possibility of two good nights sleep in a row.

I will write about my experience tomorrow.

Hopefully I won't have kitten fur stuck to my fingers as I type.

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