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My husband's taking them for heart palpitations - I was quite surprised when I saw what the pills were made from!

Anyway his were completely free as they are on prescription!

are there any contraindications for eating hawthorns and having an underlying (but not bad enough to be medicated) heart condition?
or hypothyroidism?

I found this website of info with a little poking around the net:

http://www.dickcontino.com/hawthornehaw ... ceinfo.htm

My naturopath mentioned no contraindications at all, and I have a sluggish thyroid as well, which is being treated with tyrosine and kelp only.

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

thankyou!!

From what I can glean from my herbal books, its the flowering tops you need for bp, rather than the berries as they have more effect on the heart. The leaves and flowers are balancing to bp, raising it when low and lowering it when high. The simplest way would be to make an infusion when needed. Take 2-3g (1tsp) of dried, or 4-6g (2 tsp) of fresh herb and add 1 cup of nearly boiling water. Infuse for 5-10 minutes. This is one dose, you can take around 3 a day.
For a decoction, take 20g of dried or 40g of fresh flowering tops and add to 750ml of cold water, simmer til redused til 500ml. This will make 3-4 doses, which will last a day.
For a tincture take 200g dried or 300g fresh, chop into small pieces and add to 1 litre of vodka of 35-40% alcohol. Place in a large sterilised jar, ensuring that the herb is completely covered. Close and label, shake well for 2 minutes and store in a cool dark place for about a fortnight, shaking every other day. Strain and filter into sterilised and labelled dark glass bottles (use a wine press or similar to squeeze out every last drop) and store in a cool dark place, it'll keep for 2 years like this. Take 5 ml (1 tsp) 2-3 times a day in 25 ml of water or fruit juice. If using alcohol is a problem you can replace it with vinegar.
However, (I have to say this for legal reasons) you should never stop using medication given to you by your doctor without discussing it with him or her first. Also, you should seek the advice of a fully qualified and reputable herbalist before using any herb for a serious or chronic medical condition.