What is the result of mixing chaste berries, juniper berries, don quai, ginger root, and raspberry leaves into a big pot of boiling water?  The answer appears to be a homeopathic treatment for menstrual cramps that - yes - seems to work.  For years, I have been researching antidotes for menstrual cramps and this synergistic mixture is a lot more powerful than any of its individual parts.  I have tried ginger, for instance, but it has never truly done the trick.  To be honest, I need to do a little more research and experimentation before I can call this the ultimate, pain-relieving tea.  However, I can attest to its soporific influences on men, strangely enough.  My friend agreed to try some and felt very sleepy within a few minutes - but is that what I want in a pain-relieving tea?

Several months ago, I was tired of suffering and ready for something other than Tylenol, hot water bottles, and baths.  I decided to do some research and discovered that juniper berries, ginger root, raspberry leaves, and don quai have been used by many people to quell menstrual cramps.  Several weeks later, I was walking up and down the aisles of my local health food cooperative, racking up a bill of about $30 on an experiment ($4 for raspberry leaf tea, $6-$10 for don quai extract, $6-$10 for chaste berry extract, $2 for ginger root, and about $7 for whole juniper berries).

When I returned from the coop, I cut a few small pieces of ginger, took about 6 Juniper berries, and added them to a pot of boiling water.  Then I added about ten drops of don quai and chaste berry extract.  When the tincture was done boiling in my favorite tea kettle, I put two bags of raspberry leaf tea in the pot and let it infuse for about five minutes.  I tasted it and added a few sugar cubes because the alcohol from the don quai and chaste berry extract made the mixture almost unpalatable.  With the sugar, it tasted like a normal tea.  I decided to make about two pots of this tea everyday for a week and waited for the result.

Besides making me sleepy, the tonic seemed to have slight ameliorating effects.  Unfortunately, the analgesics were not particularly strong.  I am going to continue to experiment by altering the quantities, content, and steeping time until I find just the right formula.  I will not settle for less.

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