Health supplements can be both a blessing and a curse. For millions of Americans, they be incredibly helpful when added to an effective diet plan, but considering that supplements are so loosely regulated and consumed without doctoral supervision, they can also be extremely harmful.

“Supplements are regulated, but not necessarily tested and proven through clinical trials […] While prescription medication undergoes rigorous testing and clinical trials before making it to the consumer, supplements do not,” an article about supplements says in part on Scripps.

That means that the dosage of active and inactive ingredients can vary widely in each supplement. In fact, some supplements have been tested and shown to include none of the stated active ingredients at all–and that’s “okay” in the eyes of the FDA.

With such loose regulations, it’s no surprise that new “miracle” supplements are popping up almost daily promising to help with weight loss, brain function, and now the hottest trend: PMS.

If you’re a woman of child-bearing age experiencing unwanted PMS symptoms (bloating, cramping, acne, etc), chances are you have seen ads recently for supplements with the main ingredient of dong quai (often referred to as the “female ginseng”), promoted as a natural way to ease unwanted PMS symptoms. Though many sources and suppliers claim that dong quai has been around as a herbal supplement used to treat PMS for over a thousand years, WebMD is not yet convinced of its touted abilities.

“Dong quai (Angelica sinensis) is a plant that has been used for a variety of conditions, with little evidence. It may be unsafe when too much is consumed […] People commonly use dong quai for menopausal symptoms, menstrual cramps, migraine, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses,” their website states.

Dong quai is an herb that “may act” similarly in the body to estrogen–and, of course, estrogen, in the form of birth control, is often prescribed by doctors to help with the side effects of PMS and periods. With that in mind, it seems like a no-brainer how dong quai may help women struggling with PMS, but it’s important to note that birth control is prescribed with the individual patient’s age, weight and health history in mind–and even then, it’s not without the possibility of incurring side effects.

However, thanks to the loose laws controlling the marketing and sales of “natural” remedies, thousands of women have been buying up these “possibly estrogenic” supplements without full knowledge of the side effects, all in hopes of naturally controlling their hormonal symptoms related to their menstrual cycles–and perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s been a heavy mix of good and bad reviews.

While some women praise dong quai for being a God-send, others haven’t been so lucky. I, myself, am the latter.

Though I can’t speak to the legitimacy of each individual review, I can say from my own experience that dong quai’s potential side effects are shocking to many women taking it as a supplement.

Unfortunately, I was one of the thousands who experienced the side effects associated with dong quai–and it was nearly immediate.

Within two days of taking the supplements, I was cramping and experiencing light spotting–comparable to when I had started hormonal birth control. What’s more, though I only took them for a few days, my periods were messed up for over two months afterward. Late, early, sometimes twice or three times a month and lots of spotting in between. To me, the promise of “fewer PMS symptoms” wasn’t worth the sporadic bleeding episodes that I only ever experienced before with birth control–and though dong quai, like many herbal supplements, is touted as being “safe,” research and reviews suggest that my experience is far from being a one-off.

An article on HealthLine states, “The American Pregnancy Association considers dong quai unsafe because it stimulates the muscles of the uterus, which could possibly lead to miscarriage. […] Dong quai may also act like estrogen in your body and affect hormone-sensitive conditions that worsen when exposed to estrogen, such as breast cancer.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that dong quai doesn’t work for everyone, but while it continues to rack up many negative reviews, it should be taken as a clear indicator that its usage should be explored with caution. As is the case with any supplement, it’s advised to speak to a primary care doctor before adding anything new to a diet–and remember, always be skeptical of the next “miracle cure.”