# OK..just took Castor Oil



## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

Well...I thought I would put up a post regarding my experience with this stuff. (For anyone who might be interested) I took 1 Tablespoon over the last 30 minutes. I put it in the belnder with some milk, ice and some really yummy mocha frappe mix that I LOVE but don't drink when I'm pregnant. I figured I could splurge a little since I'm going to be getting rid of it so quickly. :LOL I feel completely fine right now and if things haven't started moving I'll take another 1 tablespoon in an hour and see how things go!

I'm just shy of 41 weeks and a VBAC. At my MW appt. today I was dialted to 2, cervix was soft, posterior to midline and about 50% effaced. We both talked about the chance this may not get things moving due to the unfavorableness of my cervix but I figured it couldn't hurt to try!

Oh - and for those of you wondering why I'm trying to get things moving? Multiple reasons...to avaoid another c-section (last time my little guy was a wee too big!) - a pitocin induced labor - husband is off next 4 days (I know, silly) - Mom is in town for next 4 days (shes a flight attendant and our ONLY babysitter/dogsitter) and in-laws are in town for the next 4 days....

I'll keep you posted!


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## Dreaming (Feb 8, 2004)

Good luck and I hope it works for you!
BTW- Make sure to maintain fluid intake so you don't get dehydrated.


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## clewal (Nov 20, 2001)

I believe you are going to need more that a tablespoon an hour. I took it in 2 oz increments over a period of two hours, I ended up with a full four oz.

Eat light and drink as much water, juice, etc as possible. I stayed hydrated by eating a lot of watermelon and drinking water. It will make you a little sick to your stomach.

I was also on the clock when I had my vbac. I was 40 weeks and they were going to do a repeat at 41. I came within an inch of doing castor oil which I swore I wouldn't do again. I'm sending you labor vibes.


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

You know - I've had a few people tell me that I would need to take more - but My midwife (whos been practicing for 30 years) swears this is enough. Its also the recommended dose by Ina May Gaskin - a VERY highly regarded Midwife...we'll see! Thanks for the labor vibes!!


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## Artisan (Aug 24, 2002)

Hope it works for you! Couldn't hurt to "get busy" to get that cervix softened up. You might also use some evening primrose oil internally.







Wishing you a safe and speedy delivery!


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

Good Luck and Happy Baby to you!


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## Mom2baldie (Oct 29, 2002)

Good luck with your VBAC! Let us know what happens!


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## Kim2002 (May 15, 2004)

How are you feeling today? Did it work for you?


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## saintmom (Aug 19, 2003)

Hi! I took the Inamae dose with Joy but it took two days to get going! Happy laboring







hope your birth is wonderful


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## lorijds (Jun 6, 2002)

Our birth center recommends one ounce at 8 am, with an additional dose at noon. No others, no larger doses (can anyone say colon-blow?). If it doesn't work, wait a couple of days and take again. If it doesn't work, that is because you aren't ready (and by that I don't just mean that your cervix isn't favorable, or that you aren't mentally ready; remember that the baby is involved in the labor process, too).

We have *great* results with this. And, though the ideal would be to simply let things happen on their own, the standards of care of our area (the standards to which we are held; doesn't matter that this area is completely backward in its medical care) and the rules of our accreditation mean that if a mama with a firm due date doesn't have her baby by 42 weeks, she has to transfer to the hospital.

Typically if it is going to work, you are having a baby that evening, or at least well into the process.

Dukeswalker, I hope you have a GREAT VBAC. And we are all anxiously awaiting your birth story.


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

UPDATE:

Well - it was an interesting evening/early morning...I took the dose of 1 oz around 1:45pm. By 5 pm I had gone to the bathroom - but it was all pretty normal, no horror stories and definately nothing to write home about...just a good ol' normal bm (pleasant huh?







) Then about 10-15 minutes later I began having pretty irregular contractions. Around 8pm they were coming every 10 minutes and some were getting a little uncomfortable. DH and I hit the hay (and took a roll in it







) around 11pm and they were still coming pretty regular- but now about every 7 minutes - They came ALL night and were waking me up because they were getting pretty darn uncomfortable. I woke up multiple times rubbing my tummy and I flipped and flipped and flipped trying to "find" a comfortable position to keep snoozing. Well....the last time I woke up was 5 am and after that I slept like a baby....So, apparently they stopped.

Here it is, 8:30 am and I'm sipping on a fruit-yogurt-castor smoothie with 1 oz in it...Again, I figured it can't hurt anything!

I'll let you know how it goes!


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## Dreaming (Feb 8, 2004)

:

I'm curious to know if it worked since it's been about 12 hours.







I hope you're in labor right now!

Be sure to keep us posted sometime over the next few days.


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

:

Keeping an eye on you also, Artist Mama, due May 31, 2004.

Good luck to all of you expectant mamas!


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## Smithie (Dec 4, 2003)

I just chugged the 2 oz castor oli / vodka/ orange juice cocktail, and let me tell you it was nasty. DH contributed a 30-minute cervical massage, which at least has gotten him familar with my inside parts







, and I've been taking black/blue cohosh tincture for a couple of hours now.

The problem is, my chosen castor oil cocktail was sooooo nasty that I know I can't repeat it in one hour as per the instructions. I will have to try something else. The vodka comppnent is recommended by many practitioners, but it is SO vomitous, esp. after all these months with no booze.


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## lorijds (Jun 6, 2002)

I wouldn't take the vodka. Alcohol is a known muscle relaxer--that is not what you want!!!!


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## Smithie (Dec 4, 2003)

Well, I sure won't be taking any more vodka - maybe ever! It was supernasty.

I'm thinking I might scramble another dose in eggs, as Ina May suggests.


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

2nd Update:

OK - so here I am - still very much pregnant! After taking the 1 oz dose this am I ended up having very regular contractions all day long. The effects of the castor oil weren't a problem..Nothing nasty like I've heard from other moms. Around 8 pm I hopped in the tub with my dd and they stopped...Nothing!

So - everyone will just have to wait! I gave it a whirl and obviously she will come when she is good and ready.

I'm supposed to go in for a NST (non stress test) tomorrow (I'll be 41w) but I think I'll play hooky. She is moving and jamming so much that I have no worries.

Thanks for all the good wishes!


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## Smithie (Dec 4, 2003)

Sorry it didn't work for you!

I'm having some painful contrax (as opposed to the painless BH I had all along), and I just started blue/black cohosh to try and keep them going. I was not able to take another dose of castor oil though - despit being hungry and eating a good dinner, I am still nauseous from the first dose. I think I am actually going to throw up at some point, which will hopefull get things going or stop things definitively. I did not get the castor oil out of my system the other way, don't know why...


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## rachel (Dec 13, 2001)

I just wanted to share my experiences with castor oil.

Castor oil will only work if your body is ready to go into labor. I've taken it to "speed things along" for 3 of my pregnancies. I should mention that I usually have a long prodromal(sp.??) labor, I have many hours of contrax 10-15 min. apart off and on for about 4-7 days and finally get sick of it and take castor oil to get contrax regular. I also insert evening primrose oil capsules to help soften the cervix. So.....the first time I took the 1 oz in the OJ concoction (no vodka), brought on horrible cramping and a lot of diarrhea, and then strong contrax about 5 min. apart an hour later. The second time I took 1 tablespoon in OJ, brought on slight cramping, 1 diarrhea run, and strong contrax 5 min. apart about an hour later. Third time I took 2 tablespoons, (I wanted to take what I had taken the time before, but couldn't remember if it was 1 or 2 tbs. so I took 2 to make sure and boy, did I regret it!!) horrible cramping, lots of diarrhea, and contrax 5 min. apart about 3 hours later. All 3 labors were 6 hours start to finish (I didn't take anything with my 1st pregnancy/labor).

After doing a lot of research on castor oil and its use for bringing on labor contractions, for this, my fifth pregnancy/birth, I will not take castor oil again in any dosage, I think it can definitely pose some risks to the baby (I know, my last three babies were perfectly healthy, but, why take chances?). I will however take evening primrose oil, internally and inserted/externally and some blue/black cohosh if I get really impatient again, oh and I drink lots of rasberry leaf tea (made by Traditional Medicinals) throughout the pregnancy, I really believe it is helpful, especially during the recovery period. (Oh, and I walk lots & lots...... at the park, up and down stairs, around the block, at the mall, etc. ..... when I start getting all those contrax at the end of the pregnancy!)

edited to fix mistakes


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## Greaseball (Feb 1, 2002)

I don't get it...why does it work? If it works by causing diarrhea which irritates the uterus, couldn't something else a little more pleasant be eaten, like lots of dried fruit and juice?


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## Changed (Mar 14, 2004)

Has anyone tried the method of using an electric breat pump to bring on labor? I've heard it works great but never tried it... Just curious.


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## 3_opihi (Jan 10, 2003)

Greaseball - it works because it releases some sort of hormone (can't remember the name -starts with a p. I'll have to get back to you) that makes your intestines cramp up, and in turn your uterus. Its kind of like when you get really bad menstrual cramps and it gives you bad diarrhea.


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## Smithie (Dec 4, 2003)

Well, I had my baby and a really great labor, but I don't know if the castor oil had anthing to do with it. Even now, after two meals and the whole birth experience, I feel nauseous thinking about that oil/vodka/o.j. concotion. I'd like to believe that the other things I tried yesterday - black/blue cohosh and cervical massage - were what did the trick.

Anyhow, my babe is out and I have one day left on my abx and I just had the best pee I've had since this whole UTI thing got started, and I STILL don't know if I'd recommend castor oil to another mama. It is repugnant.

And Greaseball, believe me I know EXACTLY how you feel about wanting to get the baby out, but when I was speeding through my five-hour labor with no breaks and no chance to adjust to what was happening, I wondered whether I would have been happier with a non-induced, slower labor. I was very lucky to be in a place where epidurals are not offered. Since the baby was coming so fast, I probably would have accepted one and wound up with worse tearing, less responsive baby etc.


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## Greaseball (Feb 1, 2002)

Noooo...not thinking of trying it! It sounds gross! But I'd consider if I went much over 42 weeks (I know babies born after 42-43 weeks can be just fine, but I have to go back to school on June 21 and I'm rapidly outgrowing my clothes and shoes, and can barely drive the car!) or if there were some kind of medical problem. Still, if I had to induce, it would be nice if I could just eat a huge bag of dried cranberries.


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

Mamamaya:

I do not know of a hormone that begins with a "p", but castor oil and most other laxatives act by stimulating the _*Peristalsis*_ action of the small and large intestines.

The "contracting" action and consequent "cramping" feeling that you feel with diarrhea with intestinal distress and with labor contractions are often indistinguishable because both of them are carried to the brain on the same "party line" or nerves and are centered in the same primitive part of the brain.

I think.

TMI?


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## Dreaming (Feb 8, 2004)

Quote:

Keeping an eye on you also, Artist Mama, due May 31, 2004.

















Re: Nipple stimulation. The hormone released is Oxytocin (similar to pitocin but nicer







).

Smithy: Congrats!


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## roxy (Jun 16, 2006)

the "p" in question is prostaglandin. epo contains natural prostaglandin, as does semen. there is also an synthetic form used in labor induction, as far as i know.

here is what my mw told me about CO: as the uterus grows in late pg, the fundus pushes up into the loops of intestine; they are essentially "hugging" the uterus. you should eat a big meal, to the point of feeling slightly uncomfortably full, then after 30 mins have elapsed, take 2-4 oz of CO. as the oil forces its way out of the intestines, it causes harder than normal peristaltic waves. these waves massage the uterus, encouraging it to contract on its own. i'm by no means any type of expert, of course. just repeating what she told me. and i don't consider that it worked for me. i took the first dose the morning of 41w6d(sat). another that late afternoon. nothing but the worst runs i ever had. another dose at 42w1d(mon). my water had broken that a.m. as i got off my waterbed, so i thought it would work for sure. nope. labor started tues. p.m. around 4 or 5. ds came wed, 2:44 a.m., 42w3d, by csec, but that's another story.

ETA: i used my sister's PIS for like 2 weeks. nothing. i thought later that i should have tried nursing her 9mo dd; she would have let me, did actually 3 mo later. maybe you could find a close friend who would let you try? of course, it's up to the baby in the end!


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## 3_opihi (Jan 10, 2003)

Yes, yes --- prostaglandin!!!! OMG!! Thank you so much. That has been driving me crazy all day. It must be pregnancy induced amnesia or something....


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## Greaseball (Feb 1, 2002)

I tried, uh, swallowing something else known to contain prostaglandins







a few days ago and still nothing. Baby must not be ready...


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

I'm not really sure "how" it works. Because if its the stimulant laxative effect it has, why then, if it didn't have a laxative effect on me did it produce contractions?? My dh is a pharmacist and he agrees with what I've read regarding your irritated bowels produce a prostagladin effect - but again- my bowels were't really irritated. Who knows?? As my dh says, if taking a chunk of grass and sticking it up your butt gets rid of your headache - who cares how it works! (classy I know







)

I go in on Tues to see my MW - and most likely she'll want to send me in for a NST. I'm thinking of asking her if we can just wait a bit longer. I mean this little one is still very much rocking and rolling. I'll have her check me then and if things down there look more favorable I might try the castor oil again.

Those of you who have tried the blue cohosh...Where in the world did you find it and how did you take it? ticture, tes, pills...???


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## mimim (Nov 2, 2003)

I did blue cohosh tea. I got mine at a local herbal store. I can't remember exactly how much of the dried herb I used, but I steeped it for 30 minutes before drinking it. I did this three times a day, as my midwife suggested. It made me have contractions but not labor, so I gave up after a couple of days. It didn't taste as bad as I expected though. :LOL

I tried the castor oil cocktail too, but that only gave me awful diarrhea.


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## Smithie (Dec 4, 2003)

I boought it at a natural foods chain store. If you don't have one of those around you, the internet is probably your best bet.

Black cohosh is easier to find, and I tried it solo a couple of times with no luck, but within 6 hours of starting with the blue/black mixture I went into labor. I don't know if it was just my time or what, but it's definitely worth a try! I used the tinctures, 8 drops each in warm water every hour, with another dose of black cohosh on the half hour. I simultaneously took caulopyllum (homeopathic blue cohosh) every 15 minutes.

NOTE: I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND THE ABOVE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE MEDICAL ADVICE.


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## 2BMamaof3 (Oct 13, 2003)

Yah, I've heard swallowing prostglandins found "in something else"







is actually MORE effective than placing it on your cervix.

Anyone have experience with THAT working? (i'm not a big fan of swallowing prostglandins...lol)

Abby


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

Yes - I too have heard that "swallowing something else" containing prostagladins can be helpful....I think its just such a cruel joke that the one thing thats really recommened to get things started is sex...I mean did I guy start this rumor?







I can barely get in the car or put on my shoes and you want me to do what??? I think after seeing my MW today I'll talk to her about the black/blue cohosh. I've been taking Evening Primrose Oil every day for about 3 weeks...and my cervix is apparently nice and soft but thats about it... I've also tried the nip. stimuli but it just brings on a contrac or 2 and then nothing. We hit the malls yesterday and walked for about 4 hours....nothing. I swear, I'm starting to feel like a watched pot! I finally had to change my answering message to

"Hi, You've reached T, H, D & A. We're not available right now BUT that doesn't mean we're off having a baby without telling you. WE PROMISE we will call with news when there is news. Thanks! "

After 10 msg. swearing that they just KNEW I was having the baby I had to do something!


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## pamamidwife (May 7, 2003)

i think the thing with castor oil is you have to take quite a bit of it. I usually suggest an ounce in root beer with ice (I keep stirring it while they drink it through a straw), then wait, take a nice hot bath and take another ounce two hours later. Typically we'll see labor start a couple hours after the 2nd dose. It has to really affect your bowels for it to work.

If I was facing threats of pharmaceutical induction, I'd swallow.

Then again, I'd also probably tell said providers to bug off!


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## lorijds (Jun 6, 2002)

I would think that topically applied prostaglandins would work better than systemic, which is what you would get if you swallowed.

Just my opinion. Do what you will, without gagging.


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## Greaseball (Feb 1, 2002)

Some say they are more effectively absorbed when swallowed. But I guess I could try it the other way and see...

Although since I'm already 3 days "overdue" if it did work it could all be a coincidence.


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## mthomas (Mar 20, 2004)

another reason the CO sometimes works is b/c w/the diarrehea it causes, you can dehydrate easily. And with dehydrations sometimes come urterine contractions. That's why they tell you when your not sure if it's braxton-hicks or not to drink a full glass of water, the b.h. will stop if your having false labor due to dehyration. I never went over, but I did the castor oil and was miserible...thank goodness it didnt put me into labor. Labor pains AND intestinal cramps, no thank you. Don't know what my fuzzy preggo mind was thinking.

edited to add that someone told me (think it was a doc) that swine semen is used to help add cervix dialation for induction.


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## pamamidwife (May 7, 2003)

the basic idea with castor oil is that it causes your intenstines to contract, creating prostaglandins. these prostaglandins also will be near your uterus (your intestines are buddy buddy with your uterus at this point!) and will create contractions similarly.

i forgot where I read the study about swallowing semen to start labor. I've heard from a few women that it really works.

and, yep, prostagladin gels used in the hospital are made from concentrated pig semen.


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## Greaseball (Feb 1, 2002)

So really, any laxative would work? Or is there something special about CO?


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

I had a MW appt. today and I am at a 5! Yippee! Halfway there and not too much effort! Once "inside", she checked to see if my membranes were strippable but to her pleasant surprise they had pretty much already pulled away from my cervix and such. SO...from friday pm to tuesday noon I went from a thick, posterior, 1-2cm to a very thin, perfectly positioned, 5cm. Was it the castor oil??? Who knows! She is convinced that tonight will be the night. We'll see!

She said that she could break my water whenever I wanted (I told her - we would just let that happen on its own). And she wants me to go in for a NST tomorrow IF I haven't given birth by then...


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## pamamidwife (May 7, 2003)

no, I think that there's something special about castor oil. then again, I could be wrong. who knows? obviously, not me! lol

glad to hear that you've dilated, mama. you're getting close. it's nice when you're under pressure to make some progress!


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## dukeswalker (Feb 1, 2003)

pamamidwife...

I think she's just a teeny bit nervous because I'm a 2nd Vbac...and the birthing center she's affiliated with normally doesn't have moms birth there who are VBAC and 41+ weeks....I LOVE being pregant and this will be our last...so I am thankful for every moment of my pregnancy- from beginning, to the end...and if the end takes awhile...all the better!


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## mamabutterfly (Jun 23, 2002)

heather - Wow, that's an encouraging turn of events! Happy birthing vibes to you - I trust it will all go wonderfully and your babe will be snuggling in your arms soon.









(Meanwhile I'm







over the turns this thread has taken, lol! That's a lotta semen talk outside of a TTC thread!







)


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## retiredmidwife (Nov 12, 2021)

lorijds said:


> I wouldn't take the vodka. Alcohol is a known muscle relaxer--that is not what you want!!!!


the vodka is not necessary, but it does help cut the taste of the castor oil.


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

This baby is now seventeen! Hope everything is well.


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