Alexia Severis stopped having periods for six months and with her unbearable stomach pains she knew something was wrong.

The 28-year-old from Grandpont, Oxford, put on two-and-a-half stone and began to grow excess hair.

Her doctors told her she had polycystic ovaries, a condition in which each ovary has ten or more cysts. She knew something needed to be done.

"I had worse symptoms, with far more than ten cysts on each ovary, and the problem came from a hormone inbalance," said Alexia, who moved to Oxford from Switzerland last year.

She was told of three methods of preventing further problems, none of which appealed to her.

"They suggested I get pregnant, because it might balance things out, or they give me large doses of hormones, or I have an operation - and because I haven't had children they couldn't do this in case it made me infertile. "Getting pregnant would be causing another problem to get rid of the first and I didn't want to take all the hormones because when I had been on the Pill, I suffered terrible migraines," explained Alexia, who is studying for a degree in counselling.

Then, in April, she was put in touch with a woman in Jersey, Diana Mossop, who had developed tablets called Phytobiophysics Flower Formulas. Almost immediately, things began to improve.

"I felt so much better and there were no cysts at all when I went for a check-up. I can still have children and now my periods are totally regular.

"Flower Formulas are tiny tablets which you put under your tongue. I needed three tablets three times a day and they were easy to take."

Diana, founder of the Institute of Phytobiophysics, said: "Flowers have an amazing capacity to uplift us, both spiritually and emotionally.

"This is not medicine, but people who have a medical condition have recovered spectacularly because the Formulas allow them peace of mind."

The Flower Formulas will be available in the UK from October. CYSTS: THE FACTS

Around one in five women has polycystic ovaries

The term describes the appearance of the ovaries when they are seen on an ultrasound scan

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the name given to a condition in which women with polycystic ovaries have one or more additional symptoms

Before ultrasound scanning, only women with the most severe symptoms could be diagnosed. Now the condition can be detected even when mild

Polycystic ovaries contain many small cysts - at least ten

The cysts are quite small, usually no bigger than eight millimetres

There may be a hereditary link and they are present in women of all ages, many of whom show no other symptoms Symptoms

Menstrual irregularities

Fertility (irregular ovulation usually means pregnancy is more difficult to achieve

Miscarriage

Skin problems and unwanted hair

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.