I am a 19 year old woman and I started taking Agnus Castus a few months ago. I was told there would be no symptoms and expected as such, so its taken me a while to click what these sudden symptoms might be caused by. Gradually since starting the Agnus Castus i've had hot flashes, worsened anxiety, terribly broken sleep caused by waking up hot and anxious with pressure in my chest (NEVER had anything like this before), and the weirdest thing is my body shape has actually started to change. My stomach is now bigger (not bloated, actually more fat) yet my hips and thighs are SMALLER. I have not gained weight or changed exercise/food patterns. What on earth? Are these symptoms the Agnus Castus? Should I stop taking it? I don't want to tell my doctor because I'll probably be shunned for taking 'natural' alternatives. I am really not ok with this happening and am very wary about taking 'safe' alternatives in the future.

Anyone? :wave:

Why were you taking the Vitex? I might have missed that thread. I have been taking it for months now and have noticed the opposite. I am taking it for estrogen dominance/low progesterone and irregular menstrual cycles. I know numerous other people who have taken it and have only wonderful things to say about it. By the way....don't worry about what the Dr. says to you about alternative therapies - it's your body and you have a right to make your own decisions about it. I get mixed reactions myself, but I have learned to filter it.

I'm 38 and I began taking Vitex about a month ago so am still at the stage where i am monitoring and making notes on my progress. I'm taking it to regulate my cycles as my cycles were irregular, drawn out and regular spotting inbetween cycles which i've battled with for years.

So far with the research i've done, the Vitex supposedly helps you sleep better and can lessen your appetite and it was also mentioned that you should only need to be on it for 4 - 6 months. The only thing i worry about is overdosing. My bottle says to take 3 tablets/day on an empty stomach, but i was also taking Vitamin B and apprently vitamin B6 is especially helpful so i thought i might be having too much of a good thing so cut back to 2 Vitex tablets per day.

I guess everybody is different in how much they need to take and for how long. For now i'll stick to the vitex and see what happens in another couple of months.