French Maritime Pine Bark

Hot Flashes

2 User Reviews

5 star (1)		50%
4 star (1)		50%

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Posted by Carol (Rockledge, Florida) on 05/16/2011
★★★★☆

This is an update on the pine bark extract. It started working again and very well, but I noticed every three or four months that it would not work 100 %. The one really great think about pine bark extract is there are no known side effects and it is a strong antioxident. Anyways so every few months I would have about three weeks of mostly no hot flashes, just occasionly would get warm. After about a year I upped my intake to two pills per day. Worked wonderful for a good year at least. I am now going through actual menapause I believe, since I haven't had a period for about five months. Pine Bark still works amazingly well, but here and there I will get a hot flash. Decided to up it to three per day because I don't want to have them at all. I figure my body is going through the severe change right now. So three a day is working well, just having an occasional semi flash! Still swear by this stuff, since no side effects.

Hot Flashes

Posted by Carol (Rockledge, Fl) on 07/19/2009
★★★★★

I started having hot flashes and for a couple of months did nothing. Then I read in our paper that pine bark helps with hot flashes. I took one pill each day and it started working for me right away. I had no hot flashes for at least six months. Then one week i didn't take it everyday because I forgot and now it doesn't seem to be helping any. I started taking black cohash and it doesn't help at all. Please try the pine bark because it worked fantastic on me with no side effects. They usually recommend one pill in the morning and one at night but I only did the one in the morning.

Melasma

Posted by Bess (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) on 05/02/2011

I found this about melasma in one of my newsletters from Dr. Jonathan Wright (Washington state):

Both retinoic acid (a natural, acid form of vitamin A) and azaleic acid (a natural component of human skin) can lessen the abnormally heavy pigmentation of melasma, but in 2002 Chinese investigators reported another simple but effective remedy.

The researchers investigated the effects of pycnogenol (a standardized antioxidant rich extract of the bark of the French pine tree Pinus pinaster) against melasma in thirty women with the condition.

After standardized measurements of area and degree of melasma pigmentation, each woman took 25 milligrams of pycnogenol three times daily for 30 days. Both the area covered by melasma and the intensity of the pigment were significantly reduced. The "general effective rate" was 80 percent and no side effects were reported. Other symptoms also decreased during the 30 days, including fatigue, constipation, pains in the body, and anxiety.

The researchers wrote: "To conclude, pycnogenol was shown to be therapeutically effective and safe in patients suffering from melasma."

I hope this helps!

Replied by Citygirl27
(Richardson, Tx, Usa)
06/30/2012

I got melasma from threading a few weeks back. I had it real bad years back from waxing (yes you can get it from waxing, its your skins own way of protecting that skin that gets repeatedly yanked), and it seemed to have faded over the many years since I waxed regularly. However, a dark triangle-shaped patch meeting at my nose appeared on my upper lip after a threading session when the sharp redness there went away. It didn't do that where I tweeze normally, just where it was ultra sensitive and where they said they "don't go up that high" :(. Pycnogenol has been available for a while, but I never bought into it until now bc I didn't believe it did anything I needed. Anything to make my perma-ink mustache go away. I have some on order.

Tinnitus

Posted by Richard (Los Angeles, California) on 12/21/2010

I couldn't believe this. New french study shows this works, I've been on this for a week. No change so far. The study said 4 weeks got relieve for participants. Hope this works for me and everyone who suffers from insatiable ringing. It's available online and in stores everywhere. Best wishes.

http://ihealthbulletin.com/blog/2010/10/20/pycnogenol-naturally-relieves-tinnitus/

Vasculitis

Posted by Anniesummer (Denver, Co) on 10/25/2009

I also suffer from a form of vasculitis called Cryoglobulinemia. Rash on lower legs, numbness of feet, Raynaud's in hands. The biggest help to my symptoms, especially the rash, has been a supplement called Pycnogenol, which is an extract of french maritime pine bark. I read of the studies that showed great success in strengthening cell walls in a book called The Inflammation Syndrome by Jack Challam. I take 100 mg 2xdaily. I noticed a difference in about 2-3 weeks, and now rarely suffer from the rash (and it was pretty bad at times).

I hope this helps. The other things I take are fish oil and vitamin E, which are all good for the circulation. And dont forget how important exercise is. I read a while back about a study where vessels that had been severed in mice rerouted themselves and restored the blood flow to normal levels with regular workouts on the treadmill. So keep moving!

Where to Buy

Posted by David (Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ireland) on 01/29/2012

@Brenda - Toni DID say that the Swanson Pycnogenol Cream was the one that worked best "for her. " But she also states that ANY decent hydrating body lotion will do just fine as a mustard carrier. And if you wish to prolong its hydrating time, add five or so drops of pharmacy-grade glycerine to the mix and stir it in well.

However, if you insist on using what Toni used, remember she lives in Las Vegas. Your best bet is to enter "Swanson Pycnogenol Cream" into Google and you'll get pointers on where it's available.

MD Forte Hand and Body Cream is a completely different type of product to body lotion - it's a topical glycolic. This means it penetrates the skin, bringing the mustard with it.

PLEASE NOTE: glycolics potentiate the effect of the mustard. So if you wish to try this out, you MUST considerably reduce the amount of mustard powder used or YOU WILL BURN YOUR SKIN.

My advice is to stick with the mustard body wash and the ordinary hydrating body lotion. That's what I'm doing because I can't get Swanson Pycnogenol Cream here in Ireland. It's working fine for me.

Where to Buy

Posted by Brenda (Fayetteville, North Carolina) on 01/19/2012

I would like to know where I can buy the cream or where Toni bought her Pycnogenol cream. Checked cvs, they don't carry it. Also does it say MD FORTE on the jar?