Cryptolepis not agreeing with me?

Hi yall I recently started taking Cryptolepis and Alinia and my head has been feeling a bit hot/flushed. I'm not sure which one is causing it but I don't think its the babesia as the feeling is different than what I normally feel when symptoms arise.

Has anyone else had any experience with Cryptolepis causing unintended side effects and if so how? Note I'm on a big amount 30 drops 3x/day. Thx.

That sounds like a Babs herx. My head was very hot yesterday. Babesia causes lots of weird head symptoms. Sometimes, my forehead has just started sweating-nothing else.

That is a huge dose of crypto to start out with. You might think about backing down a bit if you don't feel too well. :)

thanks for the replies. i'm only on one herb right now crypto. the other is an anti-malarial used to treat diarrhea caused by parasites but in this case for babesia. while i'm taking crypto daily i only take alinia 3 consecutive days a week than switch over to zithro/tindamax the other 4 consecutive days. in the next day or two i should have a better idea of at least which of them is causing the feelings in my head.

hey itsnotjustlyme. after about 3 days the flushed/hot feeling in the head has subsided so yes it was most likely a herx or my body needing to get used to it.

i upped my intake from 30 drops 3x/day to 50 drops 3x/day to align with buhner's recommendation. I'm also going to add sida acuta to help with red blood cell defense.

I am amazed at the doses you're tolerating, Rikky1.

I started transitioning to Buhner's Lyme protocol while also titrating his Babesia and Bartonella protocols back in mid-July.

While I'm up to the full doses of the Lyme protocol, I'm only at 8 drops each of the other 6 herbs I'm taking.

I suspect increasing the herbs for Babs and Bart has been a challenge for me because I never took abx/antimalarials for Babs or Bart....and whatever treatment I did have for those infections was the rotational Babs and Bart herbs in the full Cowden protocol.

I need to balance treatment with living my life and this means minimizing herxing. I know I'll still heal...it just might take longer at lower doses.

Callaway2288 -

Buhner's current Babs protocol incorporates more than 3 herbs now and you want to build to the doses listed below:

1/2 tsp TID Cryptolepis
1/2 tsp TID Bidens Pilosa
100-200mg TID Artemisinin

1/4 tsp TID Sida Acuta
1/2 tsp TID Salvia miltiorrhiza
1/2 tsp TID Ashwangandha
1/2 tsp TID of equal parts of each: Panax ginseng, licorice, Schisandra chinensis

600-1200mg TID milk thistle seed
30-40mg TID Riboflavin (B2)
2000mg TID L-arginine

I must admit I'm also taking Alchornea which is part of his earlier Babs protocol and will slowly titrate up to the 1/4 tsp TID recommendation.

Rikky1

My research tells me that our symptoms are no indication of our actual bug load. Since my symptoms have always been mild yet it's taking what I consider a long time to get rid of them, I do wonder about my bug load lol

I can't tell you specifically what worked for me because I'm taking so much stuff lol All I do know is, I'm finally experiencing improvements that were elusive after going off abx and almost 6 months on the full Cowden protocol.

Based upon how long you've been treating, I'm thinking that the majority of your issues could really be herxing....especially since you're up to such significant doses of Cryptolepis in combination with Alinia and Tindazole.

In his new coinfection book that includes Babesia, Buhner is quite adamant about taking everything he recommends to beat babesia. It seems that people have asked about a reduced protocol and he indicates cryptolepis, artemisinin, sida acuta, salvia miltiorrhiza, l-arginine and ashwagandha as being absolutely necessary. He also recommends Chinese Skullcap root since it appears to act as a fairly strong immune modulator.

L-arginine is a very big player in Buhner's Babesia and Bartonella protocols - he says taking it alone could very well prove healing since it increases NO levels in the blood which would make the blood inhospitable to these infections. Caution must be exercised in those with high viral loads because l-arginine can reactivate viruses. Some people take l-lysine to counteract this but I'm not sure if supplementing both will cancel each other out.

Since you have a stubborn strain of Babesia (ducani) and might have other, unidentified strains, I'd be inclined to follow Buhner's full Babesia protocol. A machine gun approach seems to have better potential than rifle shots.

I'd also consider the addition of Japanese Knotweed. It's highly anti-inflammatory and crosses the blood/brain barrier which can enhance the actions of the abx/herbs you're taking.

Please understand that herbs work synergistically - they enhance the actions of each other. By not including all of the herbs he recommends, it follows that effectiveness could be reduced.

If you haven't read Buhner's coinfection book that includes Babesia, I highly recommend it.