pycnogenol testimonial

After reading about the benefits of pycnogenol for venous insufficiency, especially the study that showed it was more effective than the prescription drug Daflon, i just had to try it, to find out if it really works.

I paid about £10 for 60, 30 mg tablets. The daily doses given to subjects involving pycnogenol ranged from about 100mgs to 200mgs. I decided to take 3 tablets a day, so 90mgs for me. I was very interested in the potential benefits this stuff could offer, as i have all the classic symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency like skin colouring (brown patches) itching, cramps, and of course the actual varicose veins and spider veins.

Added to this is a large bruise just at the back of my knee, about the size of a golf ball, which appeared after i had my second varicose vein operation, around 3 years ago, and has never gone away. Next to this bruise are some small spider veins. So all in all i reckon i am a classic example of CVI, and the perfect test case.

After 3 days i noticed that the large bruise on the back of my knee has started to fade a little, along with some of the spider veins around it. One week on from this it had faded even more. I has read a study about pycnogenol that had shown it could reduce cramp episodes in athletes and people with venous problems. I do a lot of running on the treadmill at the gym, and also play squash, badminton and tennis. I am prone to getting cramps in my legs. Have you ever woken up and given your legs a good stretch, only to be rewarded with a very painful bout of cramp?

Christ it hurts!! One trick i use is to grab my toes and pull them upwards, towards me. This does help, unless its your big toe that has cramped up, which has happened to me before now! If you can't reach your toes (and many of us can't) then just try to point them upwards, this will help. Anyway, i used to get these cramps about twice a week. I don't really know if they are brought on by my varicose veins or the fact that i run around a lot. What i do know is that after taking pycnogenol for 3 weeks the cramps have gone away.

The brown skin colouring on my shin has also started to clear up. The itching has almost completely gone, (the aloe vera i took before is without doubt, the best thing out there for this- but pycnogenol appears to work too). As for my varicose veins, there does appear to be a reduction in the veins at the top of my legs, they are not so prominent now. I am only testing pycnogenol for 30 days so it may take longer to see even more significant results, or perhaps a stronger dose is required.

My conclusion is that pycnogenol is very effective at combating the symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency. My testing of this product reduced my large bruise considerably after just 30 days. My cramps have gone, along with the itching, and there is a significant reduction in my brown skin colouring. The varicose veins on my upper leg have begun to fade a little. It would be interesting to hear from anyone else who has used pycnogenol.

Based on my own experience of pycnogenol i would strongly recommend it for helping with CVI. There have been no side effects at all. For this supplement to have done what it has done after just 30 days is impressive, which is why i have rated it as 9/10.

What i am also very interested in, is if these symptoms will come back after i stop taking pycnogenol. I will let you know!

UPDATE - IT HAS BEEN ONE WEEK SINCE I STOPPED TAKING PYCNOGENOL AND SOMETHING VERY STRANGE HAS HAPPENED! THE VARICOSE VEINS ON MY UPPER LEGS HAVE ALMOST COMPLETELY GONE- BLOODY GREAT! I HOPED IT WOULD ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING, BUT NOT THIS MUCH. I WILL WAIT TO SEE IF THEY RETURN.

If you would like to try pycnogenol

click here (US) or click here (UK)

Rating = 9/10