◇ The honest guides
Plain-language guides to the conditions we built this for.
No fear-mongering. No miracle cures. Just what we know, what we don't, and what's worth trying — drawn from established clinical guidelines and the published research record. These are the pages we wish had existed when the diagnoses first arrived.
Pillar guide
≈ 12 minUterine fibroids
70–80% of women have one by age 50.
Non-cancerous growths in or on the uterus. Mostly silent, sometimes disruptive, almost always treatable. Symptoms, types, conventional options, and what diet and lifestyle can — and can't — do.
Pillar guide
≈ 11 minOvarian cysts
Most are silent. Some are dangerous.
Functional vs pathological cysts, the PCOS connection (which isn't really 'cysts' at all), when watchful waiting is the right answer, and when sudden severe pain is an emergency.
Pillar guide
≈ 11 minHeavy periods (menorrhagia)
Heavy periods aren't just bad luck.
What clinically counts as 'heavy', why it happens (fibroids, polyps, hormones, thyroid, bleeding disorders), the iron-anaemia link nobody talks about enough, and what conventional medicine offers.
Pillar guide
≈ 11 minEstrogen dominance
Not on your blood report. Still real.
A functional-medicine framework, not a clinical diagnosis. The honest take: what the symptom cluster looks like, why hormones drift out of balance, when to investigate properly, and what lifestyle can actually do.
◇ A note on what these guides are — and aren't
Education. Not medical advice.
These guides are drawn from established clinical guidelines (NIH OWH, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, NHS, ACOG) and the published research record. They're meant to give you a clear, plain-language understanding of conditions that are often discussed in jargon — so that you can have better conversations with your own clinician. They are not a substitute for diagnosis, prescription or treatment from a qualified doctor.
Beyond Cactus+ is a wellness product and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
◇ Coming soon
More guides are on their way: PCOS, endometriosis, perimenopause, and a deep dive on the cycle itself. If there's a condition you'd like us to write about next, please tell us.