Is Black Cohosh Effective At Treating Diarrhea With Hot Flashes?

Posted on Thu, 4 Jan 2024

Question: I've had diarrhea for over a month. Along with it I have these horrible hot flashes that last 30 min. to 1 hr. I just get wringing wet all over, head, back, face. It's horrible. A friend has suggested that Black Cohosh could help. Can you please advise me. I've had all kinds of blood, urine, EKG, & x-rays.
Thanks,
Jacque

Answered by Dr. Malik (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:

Initial workup should be laboratory exclusion of carcinoid syndrome

Detailed Answer:

Hello,

Distribution and duration of the hot flashes, its association with sweating and diarrhea suggests carcinoid syndrome.

In this disease carcinoid tumors in the body (located mostly in the gastrointestinal tract), secretes certain chemicals (serotonin and other kinins) that cause skin flushing, diarrhea and/or difficulty breathing (bronchospasm).

It is a very rare disease and should be excluded in your case.

Please, meet your Doctor to get prescribed a test called 24 hour of urinary excretion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) which is the first diagnostic test to diagnose carcinoid syndrome. The test is different from routine urine tests.

If the test is equivocal your doctor may confirm the negative 5-HIAA test with blood chromogranin A test.

Hope I have answered your query.

Take care

Regards,
Dr Malik, Internal Medicine Specialist

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng