So I had my appointment with the Chinese Herbalist / doctor yesterday and I learnt a couple of things from the consultation that are definitely worth sharing.
A word of caution about maca root powder
I’ve been talking a lot lately about maca root powder and how I think it has helped my skin heal a lot. You also might have read how over the Christmas period I had extremely bad PMT which lasted for over two weeks. I suffered from depression, anxiety, headaches, insomnia and a had a really bad acne breakout. At the time I thought I was just unlucky that month and that the PMT symptoms were due to a large amount of stress in my life. Yesterday, I learnt that this PMT, emotional state and massive breakout were actually due to the amount of maca root powder that I was taking.
Be careful with maca, there is such a thing as too much too soon. I read a forum posting on the net today, and my herbalist confirmed it. Maca root actually can exasperate your hormonal symptoms and make them worse. It’s also an energy booster so this is why I was feeling like my heart was beating faster all the time, I felt a heap of stress and I couldn’t sleep at night. In fact, my herbalist is not a fan of maca and does not recommend it. The only reason he agreed that perhaps I should continue to take it was because for the past week with continued use of the maca, my skin has started to clear, I’ve been happy all the time and not anxious or depressed at all. In other words, maybe my hormones have finally balanced out. Maybe it’s from the maca, or maybe not. He suggested that I keep taking it because it’s working, but if I experience the crazy PMT and mood symptoms again, that I should immediately stop taking it.
I’ve been taking the full recommended dosage - four capsules a day. I’m going to try halving that and taking two capsules only to see if it makes any difference. Maca is really helpful for people with low libido and low energy and is great for women going through menopause. I don’t have either of those and I’ve read that women who just want to control their PMT can take a lower dose, so I think I should be okay with just the two capsules. I just want it to help keep my hormones balanced.
If you are going to start taking maca powder, I urge you to start slowly, because chances are the same thing will happen to you. The aim here is to make your skin clear and balance your hormones. If you take a lot of maca root (a lot is actually the recommended maximum dosage on the bottle) then you are likely to get a massive breakout like I did, and the mood disorders that go with it. Start really slowly. For the first two weeks I’ve even advise you to quarter the maximum dosage. Then after two weeks, and only if you feel you need it, slowly up the dosage.
I’ve read some advise by a maca manufacturer on the net which sounded quite good. They said to have some days off from the supplement. So for every week have one day off, for every 2 weeks have 2 days off, and for every 2 months have 2 weeks off. This is just to make sure you keep it all in moderation. To be honest, I don’t like the idea of being on any supplement for ever so I don’t plan to be on it for that long. I’m going to give it a couple of months, then go off it and see if it makes a difference.
I’ll be your guinea pig
I’m still taking the maca root powder supplements so I’ll let you know how my symptoms go. If you want to wait another three or four weeks, then I’ll be able to tell you exactly how the maca is working for my before and during my cycle, and if it removes my PMT symptoms and breakouts, or if it yet again makes it worse. Wow, I feel like I’m a human guinea pig, or sacrificing my skin for science or something!
I’m actually a bit annoyed that this information is made more available on the net. If there was clear warning on the packaging of the maca or on the Internet, then I wouldn’t have taken so much so soon. Nowhere was there any warning or information for me to read about the possible bad side effects. In my opinion, there should be clear warning on the packaging, or in an information leaflet. Something like - ‘At the start of your treatment only, certain isolated premenstrual symptoms may be slightly increased’. The other supplement I’m taking, Premular (which is vitex agnus-castus), comes with that warning and it made me have second thoughts about taking it. And if your symptoms do get worse, it is then a good indication as to why they’re getting worse, and then you can choose to continue using the supplement or give it another month to see if it gets better. One of the worst things about some sort of problem in your body is not knowing why it’s happening. So, if you do decide to take maca and your symptoms do get worse, I’m telling you why, so you can now be prepared.
How my doctors appointment went
In case anyone’s wondering, at my doctors appointment yesterday I chose not to ask for antibiotics! I’ve been so happy with how my skin has been clearing up that I decided not ask for them for now. I did however ask for his opinion on taking antibiotics to clear skin, because he’s a natural therapist that I’ve been seeing for almost twenty years I value his opinion and trust him a lot. He was okay with prescribing antibiotics for my acne, I think because he knows that I’ve been trying to heal my skin naturally for months now. He said the only real risk with the skin antibiotics is if you’re pregnant, because it can affect the unborn child’s teeth. Well, I don’t have a significant other so there’s no chance of any pregnancies!
If my skin gets bad again, he suggested that if I wanted to, I could go on the antibiotics for one week to see how it goes. People can be on them for up to 6 months so a week sounded a lot better than 6 months. He actually wrote me a prescription then forgot to give it to me. I’m considering calling up the surgery today and going in to pick it up but some part of me knows that if I have that prescription in my hands I’ll be too tempted to use it. My skin is healing so well so why don’t I see it out and see if it continues to heal without the use of any drugs. We’ll see.
Fran
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
26 responses ↓
call them up and tell them to tear up the prescription! otherwise you won’t be able to ‘all natural’ anymore
Try and hold off from the antibiotics if you can. Once they clear up your acne, it is hard to give them up. I was on mild antibiotics for acne for YEARS and I really regret it.
Hi,
I’m just wandering if you have any updates on this article. My chinese herbalist/acupuncturist recommended that I take maca powder to help give me more energy, increase my libido and balance out my mood swings during PMT. She unfortunately didn’t know what dosage I should take and there is nothing on the bottle.
Any more feedback you have would be great.
Hi Emma,
Hmm, I’m not particularly happy that your herbalist told you this. First - for girls it’s important that you ONLY take maca on days 1-14 of your cycle (day 1 being the first day of bleeding). Take it on the other days and you may get worse pmt and breakouts which is what happened to me.
Go and buy another brand of maca from the health food store, and start with 1/4 of the dosage, if you find that you’re not getting any symptoms like stomach upset, then slowly increase to 1/2, then the full dosage.
Good luck …and make sure if you have any bad side effects at all, you stop taking it immediately. And I’d also love to hear how it all goes.
HI,
I started taking maca & felt great within 2 days but suddenly developed really painful varicose veins..has anyone else had this?
Bernie, stop taking the maca ..that’s not normal.
I’m male and have never used maco before. My energy is kind of low and someone recommend that I should try maca.
This is my question for those who knows: If I were to take the full dosage (4 capsules) a day, do i swallow all 4 at once? Or do I have to split them.. like 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening?
Anything wrong if I take them all at once instead of splitting it?
Hi Yen, I’d be careful with Maca because it’s actually an aphrodesiac ..so you need to be okay with it also increasing your sex drive.
A much preferred natural energy boost is gin seng or my personal favorite - bee pollen.
Thanks for the warning. I’m kind of new to all this natural medicine stuff and I’m currently using my own body as a test, just like you but not for acne.
I have been on maco for 4 days now and so far I don’t see any changes… I’m planning to try 4 capsules (3g) in one meal and I’m wondering if this is the correct way to consume the full dosage.
I’ll try out Ginseng and bee pollen when I’m done with my Maca experiment. After 20 days, I’ll let you and your readers know how Maca went for me but first I would like to know if taking 4caps with one meal is the correct way of taking the full dosage.
thank you for your web page info. i took a supplement with maca root in it and slowly built up some sort of toxicity even though i was taking way below the recommended dosage. the only thing in the supplement i hadnt had before was the maca and i got the same symptoms you described plus more. I had rapid heart beat, crazy emotions, sweats, anxiety and panic attacks, nausea like my body was trying to expel some poison, heat sensations that flowed through my body. i have stopped taking it and am starting to feel better again. from now on i am not taking anything that doesnt have substantial valid research behind it. anyone can claim “no known adverse effects” when no real research has been done because there are no regulations stopping them from doing this. pretty scarey.
i have been taking the full dosage of maca for the past 4 months. in the beginning, my peri-men. symptoms totally went away, and i felt so energized. lately, however, i have been experiencing lethargy, confusion and rapid heart beat. anyone hear of these side-effects before?
twe- There seems to be a heap of different side effects that can happen. Maybe try going off it for a while to see if you get better, of visit a naturopath for advise.
fran, thanks. i googled “maca side effects” but get no answers. i will go off of it for a while. maybe i am taking too much for my body chemistry or something.
Where can I find the Maca tablets you recommend in the US? Every website is located in Australia.
I am a 47 yr old male I started taking maca 525 mg 3 times a day. I did not notice any benefits after a week so I doubled the dosage. Well my libido definitely kicked in. ;o)…… About 1 week later I got extreme intestinal distress. I got the worst diarrhea for about 3 days and lost 10 lbs. It was like food poisoning. I thought it might have been something else I ate at a restaurant so when I got better, I started back on the maca and the exact same thing happened. Now I am afraid to take the stuff. Anybody else get ill from maca root?
Trecia- try at your local health food stores, that’s where I first found mine.
Hi Kris, stomach upset is one of the most common side effects of maca. You’ll have to either greatly reduce your dosage (and gradually build up) or unfortunately stop taking it.
There are many natural aphrodisiacs available if that’s what you’re looking for
ok, so i found out that the maca is not responsible for “side effects” that i was experiencing. i LOVE maca. i feel more energized when taking it.
Hi Fran,
Thanks for the advice. I spoke with my herbalist on Saturday and she has advised me to take the max. dose for days 1 to 14 and the min. dose for days 15-28. Prior to this I had been taking the minimum dose as I was nervous about the side affects. Unfortunately so far I’ve noticed no change. Would be great for that libido to start kicking in any time now.
I have been generally feeling happier but this isn’t specifically since I started taking Maca root. I find with natural medicines that it feels like I’m taking so many different things it’s hard to isolate what’s working and what’s not.
I’m taking Maca root tablets in the orange bottle - 4 being the max. dose and 1 being the min. Is this the brand everyone else is taking? How many mg should one tablet be?
Thanks, Emma
i started taking 2 500 mg tabs a day,after the fourth day i was getting headaches,, feeling of confusion,mood changes, and caused stomach up sets and cramps,, i do not take it anymore, and think maca is quite a harmful product to a person that cant handle it.
I started taking Maca a week ago. I took the dosage recommended on the bottle, i.e 3 capsules twice a day. Understand that each capsule contains 500 mg, which adds up to 3000mg per day.
After only 3 days, I had light stomach cramps and a week later, I was really sick (vomiting and bad heartburns).
I stopped right away but it took me 3 full days to recover.
Ive taken meca in the past and still take meca to give me a engry boost in the gym, ive actuly taken meca and korean ginseng together with no sides, longest ive run on meca is 6 months non stop with no problms, at that time i was bulking up , iv read the replys on here about meca meca work different on different people i never noticed and change in my skin or maybe i was more forced on gaining muscle. i dont reccomend taken meca and korean ginseng together theres been reports people who have had bleeding in the brains
korean ginseng does the same effect as meca but just a different plant
Trecia heres a site where u can get hold of meca in usa this is where i get mine form theres different companys that make meca the 1 i take is by now foods,to bad its out of stock thats the most populer, you can have a look at the others what ever suits u
http://www.iherb.com/ProductsList.aspx?c=1&cid=1941&gclid=CM6rl8yH_pMCFQ4YQgodMST2Vw
I have been taking maca for well over a year and have never experienced any of the side effects mentioned above although I am now taking one whole teaspoon morning and night. I increased my dose because of menopausal symptoms and sudden development of arthritis in my hands. I do worry though that I might be taking too much and be doing some harm. i have been trying to find out why maca shouldn’t be taken with ginseng and found that information about bleeding on the brain frightening. if they work similarly, then my large dose perhaps could be dangerous.? For the record, I find that it is benificial for depression and energy but not libido and it has not affected my weight. I would like to find out more on Black maca and how to get it.
I’ve been taking maca root for a few weeks now and have definitly noticed some side effects. i hadn’t read this before i started taking it so I was taking a teaspoon a day, like 3 “00″ size capsules a day. I was experiencing hot flashes and terrible pms. My cycles are very irregular so it is a good sign that I got it while taking it, but the pms was terrible. Cramps and I wanted to die. I also had the worst skin Ive had in months, but Ive continued taking it hoping that things will finally balance out after a bit and get better. I’ll keep everyone posted and i’ll take fran’s advise and only take it days 1-14. thanks
Oh just a few more side effects- more prone to heart burn and i have vomited twice in the past few weeks, which is not common for me. And my breasts before my period were terribly swollen and tender. If I had been with someone, i’d have thought i was pregnant with the heartburn and nausea and breast tenderness. anyhow thanks everyone for the info.
I have been taking Maca for about 4 months and have been having Muscle spasms in my colon for about 4 months. Has anyone else experienced this? Also I had severe heartburn, racing heart, headaches, insomia, and cold chills, like i had the flu. I stopped taking them.
As far as the sex drive it really improved when I was taking it.
Leave a Response