Dandelion has a reputation for being an excellent and powerful diuretic, often used in detoxifying regimes. For fluid retention, it is the leaves which are best used. (Roots are mainly used as a laxative, and for liver probs etc.) Use with caution, and under medicinal supervision, if suffering from gallstones, stomach ulcer or gastritis. The milky latex in the stem and leaves of fresh dandelion may cause an allergic rash in some individuals. Avoid dandelion if taking Lithium.

Although it may invalidate your little 'experiment', it would be a good idea to consider the diuretic properties of other herbs, too. Celery (especially the seed), parsley, lettuce and many other commonly-used herbs have excellent diuretic properties. Below a short, not-all-inclusive list - choose the 'salady' ones from amongst them for your purposes (Queen Anne's Lace is the original carrot, watercress, purslane, alfalfa, lettuce, nettles, sorrels etc), as all these herbs have other actions as well. Double check with your doctor of course if taking any of these in medicinal quantities, but you can probably safely include smaller quantities in your general diet to help shift that excess fluid - much depends on the root cause of your fluid retention of course.

Agrimony, Alfalfa, Angelica, Ashwagandha, Astragalus, Black Cohosh, Blue Flag, Boldo, Boneset, Borage, Burdock, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Celery, Cleavers, Corn Silk, Dandelion, Elder, Fennel, Fumitory, Garlic, Ginger, Goats Rue, Gotu Kola, Ground ivy, Hawthorn, Heather, Horehound, Horsetail, Juniper, Lavender, Liquorice, Lime Blossom, Marshmallow, Meadowsweet, Mistletoe, Mullein, Nettle, Parsley, Plantain, Pumpkin Seed, Queen AnneÂs Lace, Rosemary, Saw Palmetto, Sorrels, Sweet Joe Pye, Uva Ursi, Violet, Watercress, White Willow, Yarrow

I think the root cause of my water retention is menopause mixed with too many salty foods, so I'm off salt. Can't do much about the menopause, though. I am taking the Black Cohosh.

I knew about celery, so I've been muching a lot of it. I'll try the seeds. I have a great natural food store down the street that has organic herbs and seeds, so I'll go get some of the ones you mention.

I like salads, so all the better for getting rid of this water. I love fennel/clove/cinnamon tea. I'm also trying to do a parasite cleanse, just in case, with wormwood, cloves and black walnut, so that should help some.

Thanks! I didn't know there were so many good diuretics available, so I'll definitely be looking into them further.

Someone else suggested celery seed, along with flax seed. What do you think of flax seed?

Flaxseed (linseed) has a good reputation for helping with menopausal problems, but the seed must be crushed before the body can utilise it - either grind it before adding it to foods, or else chew very well! You can make a mucilage with seeds soaked overnight in water, strain and drink liquid. An adult should take 1 tablespoon of ground seeds 2-3 times per day, for best health benefits. It has laxative rather than diuretic properties (amongst other things of course). Start thinking about the number of herbs you are already taking in medicinal doses, perhaps check with a qualified herbalist to ensure they aren't interacting with each other unfavourably.

Just out of curiositiy, why do you want to avoid prescription pills but are willing to take herbal pills like Black Cohosh?

Because prescription diuretics rob your body of nutrients, especially potassium, which means I have to take more pills just to stay healthy.

I've been using herbs for 25 years. The only time I've taken antibiotics was after surgery.

I trust herbs. I know they are chemicals too, but I just trust them more.

There are a number of prescription diuretics that spare potassium.

http://www.tmc.edu/thi/diurmeds.html

Although dandelion leaves are a source of potassium and thus additional potassium may not need to be taken when using it, the evidence for it's effectiveness as a diuretic is weaker. And, of course, too much potassium is bad for you.

My question is this: Why are you in a herbalism forum trying to talk me OUT of using herbs, but instead trying to talk me into using prescription drugs? Are you a medical professional or a drug company employee?

I am a health professional, have taken science based herbal medicine courses and recommend proven supplements/herbs to my patients. And my patients often ask me about things they have seen at health food stores, heard about, seen on Internet etc. I find this forum useful as it introduces me to herbs/supplements etc that I can then research so I have information in advance of the questions.

Many of the patients who ask about herbal remedies tell me they "don't like to take pills" and somehow do not consider herbals/supplements as pills, though they come in pill form. I'm trying to figure out what we in conventional medicine have done wrong and what we don't understand about lay thinking.

The questions I wrestle with: Why do patients trust and use alternative remedies(many that have not been shown to be effective, are expensive and whose side effects are unknown) over conventional treatments (which are effective, inexpensive and whose side effects are known). Why will a patient discontinue or not start a therapy I recommended because a friend/relative/neighbour thought it wrong ie, the patient trusts non professional advice over professional advice? How can I explain the proven benefits of conventional treatment in a way that will gain the same trust from patients?

Ahem... exercise is a good diuretic!

LOL at Heathen! Yes, it is, as are steam baths, both of which I use on a regular basis. I have a treadmill I use every day, and won't stop until I'm sweating.

Sweating is one of the best things in the world for you. It takes toxins out through your skin instead if having them sent through your kidneys. I garden also, so sweating is nothing new to me.

When I start feeling bad, I do steam baths every night before I go to bed. In addition to all the health benefits (sweating toxins out, raising your body temp so it can kill germs, clearing out the mucus in your lungs), it also helps relax me so I can sleep, something very important when you're sick.

I like you, Heathen. You're a common sense kind of person.

:o) There's a reason why I am so naggy about exercise... it's why I am alive....

hi to all..i have a question....i tend to suffer from asthma,i do not take asthma meds regularly ..it may help but i do not want to get stuck on meds just to be able to breathe...i am prone(as right now for the last couple weeks )to have congestion in my lungs,and tightness,just a few months ago i was checked to make sure nothing showed up in lungs and it didn't...i do have a valve problem i was born with also,,,i mainly do anything i still want to ,i just get short winded quick at times,very outside kind of person,plenty of exercise ,etc...any recommendations on things i could try,my grandma used a lot of poultices and drinks and tonics on us as children but most i can not remember, at least not for certainty..and i am not about to experiment on memory!lol....i do the onion poltice on chest at times....any info is very helpful,and i thank you,,,,

Judy B in Ontario, you have me worried.

" I find this forum useful as it introduces me to herbs/supplements etc that I can then research so I have information in advance of the questions." I would have thought you'd already have the answers to those questions after having completed science based herbalism courses, and would be concerned if you used this forum to introduce you to possible clinical scenarios...very concerned, more so for your patients.

"I'm trying to figure out what we in conventional medicine have done wrong and what we don't understand about lay thinking." 7 minute consultations, long clinic qeues, crowded waiting rooms, impersonal prescription pad medicine, a lack of referral to complimentary therapists, unaffordable medical insurance for the poor, elderly and low income earners, underfunded public hospitals, a lack of doctors in rural areas, ....Could these be a few?? Once again, if you're indeed a health care professional you should already have been thinking about these and many other issues because presumably you would already have been exposed to them, and thus would not have to ask members on a herbal forum to give you their thoughts, as I have done.

"Why do patients trust and use alternative remedies(many that have not been shown to be effective, are expensive and whose side effects are unknown) over conventional treatments (which are effective, inexpensive and whose side effects are known)."

Most don't! The majority of people entrust their healthcare to a doctor.

"Why will a patient discontinue or not start a therapy I recommended because a friend/relative/neighbour thought it wrong ie, the patient trusts non professional advice over professional advice? "

Either because you have not sucessfully extracted from them all information (including history,misgivings, preconceptions, beliefs, concerns, aprehensions re treatments etc), or because you have not adequately adressed those concerns to their satisfaction. Or, because they do not consider you to indeed be a health care professional, and therefore will take the advice of a non-profesional such a relative because they perceive that advice to be equivalent to, or have greater weight than yours.

"How can I explain the proven benefits of conventional treatment in a way that will gain the same trust from patients?"

Good courses should have covered this with subjects like "Communication for Health care Professionals", and "Clinical Counselling and Referral techniques". That way you'd at least have some ideas, and not have to hit the internet in an attempt to elicit trust from patients.

John

Heathen...please tell me your exercise story. I'm very interested!

Judy, unfortunately, I agree with John. Too often health care professionals take a "know it all" attitude with their patients, and their patients lose trust. Your attitude about them rejecting your recommendations must come through in your consultations.

I have a wonderful GP, who knows me well, because he takes time with me. If I'm waiting 2 hours in his office, I don't mind, because I know he's taking that time to fully explain and help his other patients. When I told him I did not like certain drugs, he suggested some herbal remedies. Unfortunately, the thing I DON'T like about him is that he tries to sell me the same stuff I see in the Dollar General for $2 a bottle at a much increased price. LOL But hey, at least he's open to the notion of herbs. I only use what I consider "safe" brands, which I can't name here, but they are brands which have done research and have studies and continue to do research. One brand even put a warning label on one drug when it was found it interacted with a prescription medication telling people not to take the two together. Maybe it's just a CYA warning, but it was very responsible, to my way of thinking.

Why should people trust drug companies? It's a proven fact that the drug companies spend more money on advertising than they do on research, but they blame the high cost of prescription drugs on the cost of research and development. Guess it wouldn't sound right to say "Due to the fact that we spend billions of dollars trying to cram this stuff down hour throats, we must charge you outrageous prices for it."

Then there was that thing about Canadian drugs not being safe, because Canada didn't have the FDA standards that we do. They might as well have said "We're sending inferior drugs to other countries, because we can get away with it."

Then there are the MILLIONS of dollars they pour into political PACS every year to influence the votes on things such as our buying drugs over the border, or negotiating prices with Medicare.

Then there are those drugs that they KNEW were unsafe, and the FDA KNEW were unsafe, that were released to the public anyway, and now, after they've made billions on them, suddenly they're found to be unsafe and taken off the market.

Of course, there are herbs that are taken off the market too, like comfrey and ephedra. I'm still angry about ephedra. I don't think it ever should have been allowed into diet aids, or quick energy pills, and maybe regulation would have prevented that. I used ephedra effectively and safely for years for my asthma, and really miss it. I can't take the side effects of epinephrine.

Anyway, I'm never going to convince you, and you're never going to convince me, but I'll tell you one thing...if this cough doesn't get better in the next couple of days, I'll be off to my GP to get something for it. I do research when I get ill, and I've been retaining water, my feet are swelling, and now I'm congested and have a terrible cough with no fever to speak of. Scares me. Might be congestive heart failure. Then again, it might just be a chest cold, but only my doctor can tell me for sure.

Oh yeah, that's another reason we don't trust health professionals. If I walked into your office with my symptoms, no matter how many times I told you I had no fever, you'd write me a script for antibiotics and maybe diuretics and be done with me. My doctor, on the other hand, has called me once since my visit to see how I was doing, because congestive heart failure was a suspicion of his as well. How many of your patients do you follow up on?

Well Judy, I can tell you why *I* have a healthy skepticism about the generic doctor....

Kaiser Permanente misdiagnosed me as Type 2 diabetic. Based SOLELY on my age: 37. They didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to the fact that I was 15 lbs underweight.

After a few months of reading up on it, I decided that I needed to see an endocrinologist and explore the possibility that I was Type 1.

The nurse practioner assigned to my case told me, "No WE will decide when or if you need to see an endocrinologist. There is no indication that you are anything but Type 2."

Well, I quit Kaiser, switched to a plan where I could refer myself to specialist if I felt the need to (although the copay would be higher).

My new GP *immediately* refered me to an Endocrinologist and I didn't even have to ask for it.

That endocrinologist took one look at my *file* (not even my body yet) and ordered the antibody tests.

Which came up positive for anti-islet antibodies.

She's the *only* doctor who has ever gained my trust. After 43 years, it's about time! But that's a major black mark against the medical profession as a whole.

It was people like herbalists who let me know that it was indeed possible that I might be Type 1 and needed to be on insulin ASAP instead of meds that continued to beat my pancreas into trying to produce more.

One other bit of proof for me: 99.99% of doctors & dentists don't believe me when I try to tell them how severely needlephobic I am (I'm on an insulin pump). Then when they proved it, they chastised me, made disparaging remarks, or quite literally walked out on me.

My endo and current dentist are the only two who have ever respected my self-awareness and have never pushed me past my limits which just traumatizes me further.

So I listen to non-medical people and research their suggestions. They are rarely arrogant about it.

In using any part of a dandelion plant,you have to make absolutely sure you have the right plant as there are some plants that look VERY similar,but taken over the long term are very dangerous.

False dandelions can cause string holt in horses, which shows as jerky movements, freezing of muscles and seizures, as the kidneys cannot flush out the effect of the weed.

So make sure you start with the right plant.

I recommended parsley tea to my ex husband whose ankles were swelling it worked like a charm.