Fomes fomentarius (Tinder Polypore) for Dysmenorrhea

I thought this post would fit best in the medicinal herbs topic rather than fungi or food as medicine. .

I recently read in the zine Radical Mycology that Fomes fomentarius has been used to treat Dysmenorrhea. I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with this?

Thanks!

-Kaeyli

Don't know what Dysmenorrhea is. Guess I could look it up.........

No personal experience with using it as medicine, but as a professional forager I run into this mushroom all the time. It grows on the same tree: birch, as a mushroom I am often hunting: chaga.

It is a pretty remarkable mushroom aside from any medicinal benefits. You can pull and process a felt like material called 'Amadou' from under the cap. It has a myriad of uses as a natural fiber, it's most obvious benefit being that it repels water, is lightweight and resists decomposition if processed correctly.

I've also heard of indigenous Alaskans processing it in some way and chewing it like tobacco. Not sure what sort of effect it produces, but it seems to be pretty popular up there.

We don't have it for sale on our website presently, but we always keep a stock of it for special orders which we do get from time to time.

Thank you for your information. I have been intrigued by edible fungus off and on for some time but never found anyone nearby to mentor me. I have a question though:

Christopher G Williams wrote: it's most obvious benefit being that it repels water, is lightweight and resists decomposition if processed correctly.

Why would that be OBVIOUS? Obvious is one of the most abused/misused words I see. It implies previous knowledge of ALL which OBVIOUSLY would not be the case in something obscure, such as fungus collection.

Steven Feil wrote:Don't know what Dysmenorrhea is. Guess I could look it up.........

There's really not much on it at all. It's essentially thought of as bad menstrual cramps. I don't think many have looked into it much further than that because the persons experiencing them are usually put off as being weak or maybe over-dramatic.

I've done a lot of research on it and what I have found is that it may be the body reacting very sensitively to the hormones (prostaglandins) released during menstruation, or too many of those being released, which leads to a varying range of discomfort during menstruation.

For me it meant essentially going through labor 5 or 6 times, minus the giving birth part.

"nausea and vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, headache, dizziness, disorientation, hypersensitivity to sound, light, smell and touch, fainting, and fatigue." -- All that for me, unfortunately not the fainting part, though.

I experienced all of this through the ages of 13-17, until I was put on birth control, which has helped a lot, but I'd like to get off it as soon as I can, so I'm looking into alternatives to that as well as ways to treat what may very well come back. .

Christopher G Williams wrote:No personal experience with using it as medicine, but as a professional forager I run into this mushroom all the time. It grows on the same tree: birch, as a mushroom I am often hunting: chaga.

It is a pretty remarkable mushroom aside from any medicinal benefits. You can pull and process a felt like material called 'Amadou' from under the cap. It has a myriad of uses as a natural fiber, it's most obvious benefit being that it repels water, is lightweight and resists decomposition if processed correctly.

I've also heard of indigenous Alaskans processing it in some way and chewing it like tobacco. Not sure what sort of effect it produces, but it seems to be pretty popular up there.

We don't have it for sale on our website presently, but we always keep a stock of it for special orders which we do get from time to time.

Wow, that really is remarkable! Thanks for the thoughtful response + information

Fomes fomentarius (Amadou) has been used by many cultures around the world to cure an extremely wide range of problems including arthritis, cancer, bladder complaints, viral infections and dozens of other medical problems. It has been used in a tea for colds, flu, bronchitis and general debility. It has also been used as tinder to start fires or even made into hats. The only specific reference of use for dysmenorrhea that I can find is on page 147 of The Fungal Pharmacy, a book by Robert Rogers: "Killermann (1938 ) reported its use as a remedy for dysmenorrhea, hemorrhoids, and bladder disorders, the active substance being called 'fomitin'". The referenced book by Killermann is in German and looks like a rather obscure reference. Fungi Perfecti sells a bunch of immunity-boosting Host Defense products that contain this species. They also sell purses made out of amadou that are imported from Transylvania (in Romania)! By the way, a friend of mine uses cannabis for her menstrual problems including nausea, headaches, dizziness, extreme discomfort, mood swings, pelvic cramps, etc. Your local medical cannabis clinic can provide you with more info about this popular plant remedy. Hope this info might help you a bit.

Just looking in Moore's book and he has nearly a full page of female reproductive area issues and associated herbs. (3.5 columns, less than one column for MALE!)

He does not mention this condition though. There are many herbs that assist with regulating female hormones though.

M.K. Dorje Jr. wrote:Fomes fomentarius (Amadou) has been used by many cultures around the world to cure an extremely wide range of problems including arthritis, cancer, bladder complaints, viral infections and dozens of other medical problems. It has been used in a tea for colds, flu, bronchitis and general debility. It has also been used as tinder to start fires or even made into hats. The only specific reference of use for dysmenorrhea that I can find is on page 147 of The Fungal Pharmacy, a book by Robert Rogers: "Killermann (1938 ) reported its use as a remedy for dysmenorrhea, hemorrhoids, and bladder disorders, the active substance being called 'fomitin'". The referenced book by Killermann is in German and looks like a rather obscure reference. Fungi Perfecti sells a bunch of immunity-boosting Host Defense products that contain this species. They also sell purses made out of amadou that are imported from Transylvania (in Romania)! By the way, a friend of mine uses cannabis for her menstrual problems including nausea, headaches, dizziness, extreme discomfort, mood swings, pelvic cramps, etc. Your local medical cannabis clinic can provide you with more info about this popular plant remedy. Hope this info might help you a bit.

Huh, googling "fomitin dysmenorrhea" has come up with a few interesting, as well as obscure, results. Thanks for that! I'm going to research it a bit more ^.^

I've looked into using cannabis for menstrual pains, and all else that comes along with it. I actually have a medical script for it as well.
I'm not a fan of the psychoactive effects, but I do now know that CBDs are what helps with pain and overall body-calmness, and there are products which are mainly or only CBD's sold in clinics.
I'm still open to it, just figuring out what my other options are

Steven Feil wrote:Just looking in Moore's book and he has nearly a full page of female reproductive area issues and associated herbs. (3.5 columns, less than one column for MALE!)

He does not mention this condition though. There are many herbs that assist with regulating female hormones though.

Females tend to have a lot more reproductive issues, so that doesn't surprise me!

I'm fairly certain dysmenorrhea can be fixed by better-regualting and balancing one's hormones, so herbs like so should definitely help, thank you ^.^ !