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Cimicifuga Racemosa; Uses/ Indications, Dosage, Side Effects

Cimicifuga Racemosa/ Black snakeroot (Actaea racemosa or Cimicifuga racemosa) a member of the buttercup family, is a perennial plant which native to North America. Historical names for this plant include snakeroot, black bugbane, rattleweed, macrotys, and rheumatism weed. Black cohosh has a long history of use. Native Americans used it for its purported benefits in treating musculoskeletal pain, fever, cough, pneumonia, sluggish labor, and menstrual irregularities. European settlers were said to use black cohosh as a tonic to support female reproductive health.

Another name

Black cohosh
Black snakeroot
Cimicifuga racemosa rhizome
Cimicifuga racemosa root
Cimicifuga racemosa root with rhizome
Cimicifugae rhizoma
Fairy candle root
Rattleroot

Materia Medica of Cimicifuga Racemosa

Mind – Irritable; holds everything in contempt. Full of desires, for what they know not.
Head – Bones of the skull feel crushed or bruised. Pain extends to teeth and root of the tongue.
Eyes – Inflamed, red. Pain through eyeballs. Profuse lachrymation. Cornea dim. Eyes tire from near vision. State of vision constantly changing. Spasm of accommodation from the irritable weakness of the ciliary muscle. Nausea from looking on moving objects.
Face – Blue rings around eyes. Periodical orbital neuralgia, with lachrymation, photophobia, and smarting eyelids.
Nose – Coryza, with stoppage of nose and nausea. Epistaxis.
Stomach – Tongue usually clean. Mouth, moist; much saliva. Constant nausea and vomiting, with pale, twitching of face. Vomits food, bile, blood, mucus. Stomach feels relaxed as if hanging down. Hiccough.
Abdomen – Amebic dysentery with tenesmus; while straining pain so great that it nauseates; little thirst. Cutting, clutching; worse, around the navel. Body rigid; stretched out stiff.
Stools – Pitch-like green as grass, like frothy molasses, with griping at the navel. Dysenteric, slimy.
Female – Uterine hæmorrhage, profuse, bright, gushing, with nausea. Vomiting during pregnancy. Pain from navel to the uterus. Menses too early and too profuse.
Respiratory – Dyspnœa; constant constriction in chest. Asthma. Yearly attacks of difficult shortness of breathing. Continued sneezing; coryza; a wheezing cough. A cough incessant and violent, with every breath. Chest seems full of phlegm but does not yield to coughing. Bubbling rales. A suffocative cough; the child becomes stiff, and blue in the face. Whooping-cough, with a nosebleed, and from the mouth. Bleeding from lungs, with nausea; feeling of constriction; rattling cough. Croup. Hæmoptysis from slightest exertion (Millef). Hoarseness, especially at end of a cold. Complete aphonia.
Fever – Intermittent fever, irregular cases, after Quinine. Slightest chill with much heat, nausea, vomiting, and dyspnœa. Relapses from improper diet.
Sleep – With eyes half open. Shocks in all limbs on going to sleep (Ign).
Extremities – Body stretched stiff, followed by spasmodic jerking of arms towards each other.
Skin – Pale, lax. Blue around eyes. Military rash.

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Uses/ Indications of Cimicifuga Racemosa

Menopausal symptoms – Research shows that taking some black cohosh products can reduce some symptoms of menopause. However, the benefits are only modest. Black cohosh might lessen the frequency of hot flashes. Most of this research is for a specific commercial black cohosh product, Remifemin. The benefits may not occur with all products that contain black cohosh. Research using black cohosh products other than Remifemin have not always shown benefits for menopausal symptoms. Some of these studies show that these other black cohosh products do not reduce hot flashes or menopausal symptoms any better than a sugar pill (“placebo”).
Treatment of menopausal symptoms and menstrual dysfunction – Some women take black cohosh for hot flashes related to breast cancer treatment. Women with breast cancer should not use black cohosh without talking to their cancer specialist or another health provider. Some early research suggested that black cohosh might reduce hot flashes in breast cancer patients, but more recent and higher quality research shows that black cohosh does not reduce hot flashes in women with breast cancer. Also, there is some question as to whether black cohosh is safe for women with breast cancer. It is important for a woman with breast cancer to discuss any use of black cohosh with her health provider before using it.
Breast cancer – One study suggests that taking black cohosh supplements is linked to a decreased risk of breast cancer. However, other research has found no link. One study found that taking black cohosh might increase survival in women already diagnosed with breast cancer.
Heart disease – Early research shows that taking 40 mg of a specific black cohosh extract (CR BNO 1055) daily does not lower the risk of heart disease in postmenopausal women.
Mental function – Early research suggests that taking 128 mg of black cohosh daily for 12 months does not improve memory or attention in postmenopausal women.
Infertility – Some early research suggests that taking black cohosh plus clomiphene citrate can increase pregnancy rates in infertile women compared to clomiphene citrate alone. Other research shows that taking black cohosh with clomiphene results in pregnancy rates that are similar to those found when clomiphene is taken with another fertility drug.
Induction of labor – Some people report that black cohosh can help start labor. As many as 45% of nurse-midwives use black cohosh to start labor in pregnant women at term. Despite its common use, there is no reliable scientific evidence that black cohosh works for this purpose.
Migraine headache – Early research shows that taking 50 mg of black cohosh plus soy isoflavones and dong quai daily for 24 weeks can reduce the occurrence of menstrual migraines.
Osteoarthritis – Early research suggests that taking a specific product containing black cohosh (Reumalex) twice daily for 2 months improves pain, but not joint function, in people with osteoarthritis.
Weak bones (Osteoporosis) – Evidence regarding the benefit of black cohosh for treating or preventing osteoporosis is unclear. Some early research shows that taking a specific black cohosh product (CR BNO 1055, Klimadynon/Menofem, Bionorica AG) daily for 12 weeks increases markers of bone formation in postmenopausal women. However, other research shows that taking the same black cohosh extract does not improve bone mineral density. It is not known if these black cohosh products can reduce the risk of bone fractures.
Rheumatoid arthritis – Early evidence suggests that taking a specific product containing black cohosh (Reumalex) twice daily for 2 months improves pain, but not joint function, in people with rheumatoid arthritis.
Painful menstrual periods with upper back pain
Acne
Anxiety
Bug Bites
Cough
Fever
Mole removal
Painful menstruation
Premenstrual syndrome
Rheumatism
Snakebite
Sore throat
Wart removal