castor oil and blue and black cohosh-- together?

3698 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by anabean, Oct 8, 2003

anabean

Discussion Starter · Oct 8, 2003

ok, so i'm ready to try these things. got the pills and the oil.

does anyone have any experience taking both at the same time? i started the pills today and was thinking on doing the oil either tomorrow or the day after.

i'll be 42 weeks on wednesday, and want to try to avoid pitocin at all cost.

any info will be greatly appreciated.
TIA!

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KKmama

· #2 · Oct 8, 2003

I'm really not qualified to answer this, so take what I say with a grain of salt. ;>)

I *did* do castor oil (it was one of my last ditch efforts), and it gives you, ahem, violent bms. I'm not sure how blue and black cohosh work, but if they need to be absorbed to work properly, I'd take them *before* the castor oil, or your body won't have a chance at absorbing them, if you get my drift.

I was 2 1/2 weeks late before ds arrived... I did everything to get labor started, started with the easiest/most pleasant and working my way up (vigorous exercise, squatting/pelvic tilts, accupressure points, yoga, sex, spicy food, evening primrose oil, accupuncture, Chinese herbs, then castor oil). I feel for you, because I've been there...

Kristine

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Viola

· #3 · Oct 8, 2003

I spiced my food heavily with cayenne powder on Saturday night. I don't know if it worked or not, but I did have the baby on Sunday. I could use some castor oil now, however!!!

My friends who have used castor oil say to take it with food, like put it on eggs or eat lots of brown bread--something so it doesn't just go straight through you. I hope the cohosh works for you!

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anabean

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 8, 2003

thanks.

i'm thinking i'll take the castor oil on thursday. i have to go to get a NST on friday, so i want to do it before then, but i also want to give the choshes a chance to work, before i flush my system. :LOL

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earthmamafor3

· #5 · Oct 8, 2003

Ana
My experience with my last midwife we tried this, twice actually and it did start lots of contractions, but did not start labor. My belief around any inductions natural or otherwise is that if your baby/body are not ready NOTHING will work.
You can check some midwife sites to get lots of different formulas that are tried.
Here is what we did:
I took the castor oil in orange juice concentrate, about 1/2 cup of castor oil to 2 cups OJ concentrate. It tasted fine, like an orange slushy. When I started to go to the bathroom , (it was not violent at all for me, but i tend towards pretty constipated here at teh end, it was just loose and a little crampy, not bad at all) the midwife had me call her. She came over and gave me the cohoshes as a tincture every 15 minutes for about 20 minutes or when I started having contractions.
This time around my midwives reccomened the same as someone else here, to eat it in eggs, the oil binds with teh protiens and doesnt' affect system so harshly. I have heard lots of horror stories of people getting horrendous results all the way to nothing from castor oil.
I would also highly reccommend you go in for some acupuncture. If you have never had it, it does NOT hurt and is relaxing. make sure they use the electrical stimulation.
I just read a study that was small but showed it to be effective and to help shorted second stage labor. It worked for me last time, in that it really got contractions going for about a day. Then they stopped, turns out baby was in bad position.
Also read lots of success getting labor started with craniosacral therapy from specialist or osteopath. Really good success rates, in fact.
Lots of things to try before pitocin, girl!!
Remember, average week for women going into spontaneous labor is 41 weeks!! You have a whole week before you could truly know that your baby is 40 weeks cooked due to two week variance allowed in traditional method of calculating due dates!!
Your fellow mama in waiting
Deb

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Turtle Woman

· #6 · Oct 8, 2003

I have done both. With DD2 I took cohoshes all day in tincture then woke up in full labor at 2am and had her at 9am. Labor was really intense. With DS I used Castor oil. I was in labor for two weeks and got desperate. I tried it twice over a week and it didn't work. The second time I got really sick and threw up a lot. I tried it again a week later and it worked and hardly affected me at all. I would only do it if you are absolutely desperate. I only took one tablespoon in orange juice each time and then one more an hour later. I suggested it on a post recently and someone posted after me and said it is dangerous because it may cause the baby to empty its bowels in the womb. My waters were clear but when DS came out he pooped all over me. Please don't do anything with out consulting a midwife or even more than one. Blessings and a wonderful birth for you woman.

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Turtle Woman

· #7 · Oct 8, 2003

Every woman has a different gestation period. Some have all their babies two weeks early or late. Don't fret and rest and don't allow yourself to be induced unless you absolutely have to . My DD1 was induced in the hospital and for me it was the worst experience of my life because the labor was so intense because of the drugs.

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anabean

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 8, 2003

thanks mamas!

earthmama and mamap, i'm so happy you're still here, selfish that i am.

well, i went to the NST yesterday and everything was great. the nurse there said that if i really don't want to get induced, she'll talk to the docs and let them know all is good, and i'd like to wait longer. she's great. i'm so happy she's the one doing the NSTs.

i'm not really sure what to do about the castor oil. i reaaaally don't want a whole bunch of contractions if my cervix is still not ready. so i think i'll wait till after the appt on fri, have her check the cervix and decided based on that.

thanks again!

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