:o) I grow hops... yes I do... turn them into beer as well! :o) I have the Hallertauer variety... They are very bitter, so I don't use them often, but drinking a tea, if I can force myself, knocks me out... and doesn't make me irregular. BUT, every woman is different and has a different story to tell...

The flowers of common hops are used as a tea to treat insomnia and headaches, leprosy, dysentery, and may also improve digestion. A pillow stuffed with dried flowers is believed to induce restful sleep. Use externally to treat ulcers, frostbite, and inflammations. Used in males to treat premature ejaculation and sexual neurosis. Treats asthma, tuberculosis and bronchitis. It is strongly diuretic. Stimulates milk production in nursing mothers.

The 'sexual neurosis' thing actually relates to both males and females. The herb is anaphrodisiac - which means it reduces sexual desire, particularly if it is pathological. Hops has been used for males who are 'sex addicted', and females who are 'nymphomaniacs' (a real psychiatric disorder). It works - just ask the wife of any beer-swilling alcoholic how well (poorly!) he performs!

I have no information on the effect of hops on menstrual regularity.

Warning: Avoid the use of hops if impotence is a problem. Contact dermatitis can be caused by the pollen of the female flower. Do not use hops if suffering from depression, as they may aggravate the condition. It has been reported that some dogs, especially hounds, are allergic to hops. (Some people are too - it is a big problem for manual hops-pickers.)

soz, i'm being a little pedantic here, i am ndeed a pedant. but the pollen of the FEMALE flowers?

correct me if i am making a mistake buuut, pollen is male. but the female flowers are covered with a sticky yellow resin that os secreted from resin glands (yet again, much like cannabis) on the female flowers.

i can understand that cuasing problems, anyne who has sorted through hop cones for seeds will notice that their fngers are covered in the stuff. it doesn't wash off easyly and if ur allergic then it would be a major prob as its continuous contact. eeep!

diddn't know about the anaphrodisiac though. interesting.

the ultimate in practical jokes gone wrong. well not quite, but quite a bad one.

interesting thing, women out there, having trouble breast feeding? have a beer!

but that leads me to conclude that it may have some effect one the menstrual cycle, it obvoiusly effects the female reproductive system primary and secondary. i am wondering if it is due to levels of plant oestrogen, after all it is the femal flowers used, and as seperate plants for male and female may well have hormone differences and more extremem levells of sexual hormones can be afforded. if the level of oestrogen is kept high then that will put the menstrual cycle out of step as different stages rely on changing hormone levels, and are triggered by drops in other hormones. it has negative feedback i think, i.c. high levelks of oestrogen cause a drop in oestrogen produced, thus causing progesterone to raise.

hmm, i also wonder that maybe continual oestrogen levels could stimulate pseudopregnancy. or maybe thats continual progesterone. wait it is progesterone.

but aparent;y lactating women have LOW oestrogen (wait,, is estrogen and oesrtogen just different spelling of the same word, i think they are)

progesterone maintains the womb lining and its drop causies the peiod to come therefore if there is such a thing as plant-progesterone maybe hops contain this. hmmm, odd this, i wan't to know now, i must find out

nope, just found hops contain phytoestrogen. but prevent pregnancy. odd, liek isaid, my mum drinks more beer than most people, and due to the type of beer she likes tkaes in lots of hop phytoestrogen,, and became pregnant 4 times in 3 years. (1 miscariage, for anyone wondering about how she fitted 36 monthes of pregnancy into 36 months.)

hmm, this topic of conversation has made me remember aboubt something else, she diddn't stop haveing periods during her pregnancy. i knw it sound impossible, but its not. due aparenly to low levels of some hormone, can't remember what. maybe its oroduction is canceled out by the addition of oestrogen duing pregnancy.

dear gods i'm rambling like never before.

n.b. though it may sound like it from what i'v written here my mum isn't an alcoholic, beer is just her alcoholic beverage of choice.

I have had Hops growing on a garden arch in my front yard for about four years now, and not one Hops cone yet.

Even if it is a male, I would think it would have some sort of flower.....

Now I know why I never wanted to put it in dream pillows...

It does sound qite allergenic.

I have found that chamomile has a tendency to bother me as well, and have never felt quite right when using Echinachia.

:o/

My only problem with dried hops i've used in sedative prepations, basic infusions, is the hops are a bit bitter for my taste, so I use them sparingly. I read once about hop pickers fatique, or something of that nature, where workers harvesting the hops would get so tired and sleepy from handling them. I like a little beer myself now and then (i blame it on German heritage-my grandfather was German). lol. Just an excuse to carry on a family tradition of having a few evening beers. I wounder if I could grow hops here in TN? Just kidding.

hedgewitch, no one thinks your mum is an alcoholic! lol.
Here in the US, people take such a negative view of alcohol, that's why I think so many people develop problems with it. In Europe, its not so. People take a laid back approach to drinking, a glass of wine with dinner, a stop at the pub in the evening.....
Not sure...maybe i should've been born in a different place in a different time........
anyway.