Need herbal suggestions for my kids

It's official, the whole family has Lyme. I spoke with my LLND today. I expressed my thoughts on how I do not want my children on prescription antibiotics. He was not too happy about that. He likes to use a combo of prescription and herbals. Once he realized I was adamant about it he backed off and said, "But I'm more open these days".

What is the best herbal protocol for kids? If it tastes bad, they of course will not take it. My kids are not little ones. They are 12 and 13. They weigh 140 and 150 pounds. Also, I don't know how many pills I will be able to get down them. I need to find a way to keep them wanting to take the meds. Does anything come in gummies?

You might want to check the Jernigan protocol too, if I spelled it right. Maybe you could give them a little honey after they take an herbal. Raw would be the best to use, not the stuff on grocery shelves. I buy local raw honey. It has some health benefits.

Classical homeopathy can help with healing too, but finding a good one is hard. There are some who work through skype. Not many people try it because it's not discussed much and people tend to follow the herd. It's an old medicine and used to be used a lot before the AMA came about and almost knocked it out of existence. There's even a stature in WA DC of the man who developed it.

Not many know about it. I turned to it when docs wouldn't believe I was very ill back then. AMA is the American Medical Association. Sorry to confuse you.

Homeopathy is a form of medicine and it's prescribed based on the totality of your symptoms, rather than focusing on just one or a few symptoms. It's made from highly diluted plants, animals, or minerals. It's usually on sugar pills, so there's no taste because of the high dilution. There's a process they go through when making the different potencies, but I won't get into that. The higher the potency, the less of the substance. That's what usually gets people thinking it doesn't make sense. If I hadn't used it when I was so sick before, I wouldn't think it could do much, but I was desperate to get well and ended up with a great homeopath and got better after each remedy. No more bladder or yeast infections since, among other things.

I'll quit before I ramble on about it any more. That's just enough info. to confuse you I imagine. I just took a dose of my remedy and it cleared my head up a lot. I was tired and dragging until now. I'm still tired, but much more alert and more energy, so I'm getting some things done finally.

Hey Mom of 2,

GardenPeace is giving you a great idea. I grew up on homeopathic remedies and believe many of them work. My mom is a midwife so going the natural route was the approach to all things in our home. If we ever feel down and scraped a knee she would immediately rub the spot with arnica cream to avoid bruising and speed healing. She'd also give us the arnica in sugar pellet form under our tongues, and it usually worked. The little white sugar pellets that most stores sell for teething babies are a homeopathic remedy. Same with the flu meds sold in the yellow-orange vials called Oscillococcinum; they are also sugar pellets containing the remedy. The most commonly available in-store brands are Hylands and Boiron homeopathic companies. They aren't cheap but I don't know how they compare to the cost of herbal meds.

My mom always explained the science of homeopathy like this: "It's similar to the idea of giving a kid immunizations. We expose the person to a little bit of the irritant/virus/etc so that their own body can develop antibodies to it." Homeopathy works in a similar way, but not the same way. (Many traditionalists will try to debunk homeopathy, as you'll see from a website search.)

I took this explanation from the www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org website:

"How does homeopathy differ from conventional medicine?

Homeopathy is based on a rule of nature called the Law of Similars. This law states that "like cures like," or that a medicine can cure a sick person if it can cause a similar sickness in a healthy person. For instance, if you peel an onion, your eyes burn, itch and water. You might also have a runny nose and begin to sneeze. If you had similar symptoms during a cold or allergy attack, such as a runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing, a homeopathic micro-dose of the remedy Allium cepa (red onion) would help your body heal itself.

The homeopath regards symptoms as the body’s healthy attempt to restore itself to balance. That is why a homeopath will choose a remedy that supports the symptoms—rather than opposing them or suppressing them as in conventional medicine. In conventional medicine, a cold or hayfever sufferer is given an antihistamine to dry up the runny nose and watery eyes artificially. But this medication often comes with unpleasant side effects like sleepiness and constipation. With the correct homeopathic remedy, however, there are no side effects and a person is restored to health naturally."

Following this second paragraph's example, this explains why when I was having what appeared to be really bad seasonal allergies in Texas, I could go to any grocery store and find homeopathic tinctures on the shelf for treatment. (about 60% of Houston, TX dwellers suffer terribly from seasonal allergies & are desperate for a cure, so non-traditional remedies abound.) These tinctures contained small amounts of the 4 most common environmental irritants in the TX season changes--pollen from specific TX trees, ragweed, etc. Exposing the body to this little bit was supposed to make the body kick in its own defenses against the external irritant.

Honestly, I really can't fully wrap my mind around how it works. But I do know that when my allergies were at their absolute worst in TX the only guaranteed cure was to take a run outside in the very air that would normally have me itching and sneezing. It resulted in at least a few hours' relief from the symptoms. Homeopathy at its most basic, I suspect...

Good luck with the kiddos!

How old are your kids?

Hi there. If you search some of the older entries for kids with Lyme you'll find lots of info from "Heather's Dad" who posted often, and in great detail. I for one had good results with antibiotics, but I sure get not wanting to have your kids on anything for a long time. What ever your path, be prepared for it to be a long time. My own experience, and the dozens of stories I've read here tell me it is rarely a quick resolution. I give my son Magnesium supplements, flax seed oil for Omega 3 fatty acids, and hemp seeds for Manganese. All 3 help brain function.  I use lots of Turmeric in cooking, and I know some people take large quantities in capsules.

     I am lucky, or my son is, in that he can swallow "horse" pills easily, even without water. I'd put some extra effort into getting your kid's co-operation in taking pills without fuss. Reminding them it will improve their lives should have weight with kids their age. I don't recall their symptoms, but if you write down what happens each day, just briefly so you don't get more swamped and quit, you can find some patterns. If you see, over time, that pain, or brain fog, or mood, or? improves there will be encouragement right there for your kids. The bigger challenge may be if they have a Herx reaction to their treatment and it makes them feel worse for a while. Your LLpractitioner should be able to speak to them as 'near' adults, with some direct explanations of what is going on. As for yucky tasting herbs, "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down..." Although I prefer chocolate kisses. A kiss after taking that round of treatment may encourage them to grit their teeth and bear it. Now, if they have weight issues something else would be wiser. Kisses are nice because there's a lot of flavor in one easy portion. Enough to flood the mouth with yum, but not be a big dietary no-no.

     Since you also have Lyme, I presume you will also be taking the herbs so you can lead by example and take your medicine without much fuss, when they do.

     When I used to give meds to horses I'd make a disgusted bleh face then shrug, pat whatever was hurting them and give them their nasty paste right on their tongue. Next I'd give them a treat and tell them how well they'd done. It worked well and they'd take the later doses too, even though they knew the stuff was gross. Don't pretend that the herbs taste fine if they don't. You want your kids to trust your judgement. But let them know, gross or not, down the hatch they go. Then, because you are not a mean mommy, and you know the stuff tastes foul, they get that yummy chocolate to clear the taste away. I hope some of this is of help.

 Oh, and read up on detoxing on this site to learn about dealing with a Herxheimer reaction.

cant write too much tonight - but my kids had lyme and the older ones took doryx (the tablet form of doxy) plus al complex for 3 months, and then remained on AL complex only for 6 months after. that did it for them. they have been fine. how long have your kids been sick? I know you are against antibiotics, but if they are young, and just be open to the fact that they will be very resilient and may not need to take them for too long a period of time. it all depends on the severity of the lyme - I don't know the whole story. good luck though, looks like you got tons of info on here!!!

oh, and maybe Calilyme, already said it, but the Beyond Balance herbs don't have any taste. It's a drop (or more as you increase) in water or juice.

I know of a couple of mom's who have had good success for their children on Buhner's protocol too.
And, speaking of homeopathy, maybe someone already mentioned this, but their is a Facebook group for lyme people using (or interested in) a homeopathic line for lyme can co-infections, called DesBio. I don't know much about it, just have heard of it a bit.

Good morning achievinggrace. So wonderful to see you posting at 3am with me:)

Thank you everyone for the advice. I'm looking into the homeopathy route and also different protocols. My biggest mental issue is, I don't want to kids to have to deal with the GI issues I had. I'm so afraid the antibiotics will tear up their stomachs.

You might want to look at the Cowden Protocol. www.nutramedix.ec/ns/lyme-protocol .

I've been reading up on it again and had forgotten about it when you first posted. I've only used the detox products so far and they don't have a strong taste at all. It might be worth getting a couple to try on them or just contact them and see if they're all mild flavored. Maybe someone on here who has used the protocol
will be able to tell you more.

I personally would not use homeopathics for lyme- I don't think they would be at all strong enough and lyme is really dangerous. I would look into the cowden or buhner protocols.

Homeopathy stimulates your immune system and if you use a classical homeopath, it is a strong med. If I did have Lyme 30 or so years ago, it got me healthier than I had ever been. I was very sick then with several symptoms and infections. It's just something hard to grasp until you experience it. It's hard to find a good, classically trained homeopath since they are in short supply currently. Some other things might be needed along the way and a good homeopath will let you know.