Dong Quai Side Effects

Dong quai side effects is no exception as side effects is a part of any herbal remedies. Like any other commonly used herbs for menopause such as black cohosh, chasteberry and red clover, Angelica Sinensis need to be used with extreme cautions too.

Herbal bias property

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes that the temperature and taste properties of dong quai are acrid, bitter, sweet and warm. And it influences channels of heart, liver and spleen. Traditionally it is used as ultimate woman’s tonic herb to tonify the blood and regulates menses and even served as fertility herbs too. Why Angelica Sinensis can treat hot flashes, menstrual cramps and other menstrual symptoms and being viewed as ginseng for women? From the perspective of TCM, the credit goes to its own unique bias property. It is this unique property, or bias, that herbalists use to correct the imbalance inside the body.

Dong quai in Chinese herbal remedies

For better understanding dong quai side effects from the point of view of TCM, first we need to figure out what bias property means? Bias property is a relative concept, just like Yin energy and Yang energy. When one kind of energy overwhelms its opposite energy, thus imbalance occurs. And Chinese medicine believes that all illness, including menopausal symptom like hot flashes, are caused by this kind of imbalance. The Chinese herbal remedies are just using these bias properties to reduce the hyperactivity and strengthen the deficiency inside the body, thus restore the balance afterwards. However, when someone is given the herbs with opposite property, it would just make it worse and cause severe consequence. To some content, the worsening outcomes of taking a wrong herb is something we call side effects. Of course, first we have to admit this is a wrong diagnosis.

As commonly used herbal energy supplements like ginkgo biloba extract, l carnitine supplements and black cohosh tea, benefits of Angelica Sinensis are indisputable. However, it is worth to be aware of the possible warnings, risks and side effects in the first place, especially when you are planning to take it for quite some time. Of course, the purpose of learning its side effects beforehand is to reduce the side effects it might cause as far as possible, although its side effects are not fully proven but merely suggested.

Dong quai side effects

It might lead to the increasing risk for breast cancer sufferers.

It might increase the risk of bleeding because its anticoagulant (blood thinning) properties. Therefore please don’t use it together with other blood thinning drugs such as aspirin, warfarin (Coumadin) or heparin. The same is true to other anti-platelet drugs like clopidogrel (Plavix), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) or naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve).

It should not mix with ginkgo biloba extract, l carnitine supplements and other supplements and herbs that might increase the risk of bleeding.

It can increase the photosensitivity of the skin so it is highly recommended not exposing directly in the sun if you are using it. At the same time, please don’t use other medicine like tretinoin (Retin-A, Renova) that cause photosensitivity.

It might result in diarrhea, stomach upset, bloating and early onset of menstruation if taking it for a long time.

It might lead to miscarriage or natural abortion so extreme caution should be taken when pregnant or nursing women need to take it for some certain reason. In addition, children should stay away from using dong quai tea as it might cause unexpected side effects.

However, dong quai benefits are so overwhelming that it is used to treat different diseases

Despite herbal side effects might lead to severe consequence if taking improperly, the renowned dong quai benefits for women still makes it one of the best menopause herbs as we now come to realize that it contains a natural chemical that mimics estrogen, the female hormone. However, it is advisable to ask an experienced herbalist before taking it in treating symptoms of menopause, which is also the exact purpose of writing this dong quai side effects related article.