green dragon botanicals protocol

I have been reading the green dragon botanicals website.
http://greendragonbotanicals.com/products/lyme-protocols/

I am considering purchasing one of these combo lyme protocols.
I am already on cats claw, and other herbals as well as samento ( which is also cat claw ) and banderol.
So the new herbals I would add would be sarsaparilla- which I think is pretty mild, andrographis ( which I am unsure about as it says some ppl get an allergic reaction to it), and Japanese knotweed. ( It also has dandelion but I have taken that lots and know it is mild).
Has anyone here done this combo protocol from Green dragon botanicals?

I am feeling pretty good ( I think, changes daily) from my 6+months of abx and herbals. I am on cats claw every day plus other herbals ( I have ot look at the list to see what is in my capsules as I forget) but I don't think they have knotweed or andrographis in them.
So I am basically wondering if people have found those two ( Japanese knotwwed and andrographis) to be very effective, and if it is worth it adding it to my maintenance protocol?
And if so should I drop the banderol? Is banderol even any good for this?
I will ask my llmd about all this too. I just don't want to do too much= like do a million things at once, but it is appealing to get this combo already made and just add it to my daily regime. I know, it is the buhmer protocol which I know lots of people do well with.
I am jst wondering I guess about the andrographis, anyone have any bad reactions to it? And the knotweed.
I also wonder why my llmd( who I think is very knowledgable in both antibiotics and herbals for lyme, and whose practice combines natural and conventional medicine) doesn't use knotweed or andrographis.
He does use cryptolepsis ( I used it in the beginning) and cats claw. Just trying to sort through all the different options.
edited to add- the basic herbals in my current regiment are-
artemesia, pau Pereira, and oh wait- I do already take andrographis! ( I take a capsule and I have the ingredietns on a piece of paper), cats claw and GSE and garlic. So the only one not in my capsules is the Japanese knotweed. I am actually relived to know I do take the cats claw and andrographis. Because I know the buhner protocol has had some good successes. So then I guess my question becomes, should I add knotweed and sarsaparilla? and where does the banderol fit into it all?

Post Edited (Katebirch) : 11/15/2014 8:20:47 PM (GMT-7)

I have been on the green dragon botanical for a year now - started with 3 pills and weekly added one more til I hit 3 pills -5x day. I feel amazing. This is on top of abx and many other immune boosting supplements recommended from doctor. I have been diagnosed for 5 1/2 years and adding this to my regimen is heading me in the right direction. I tried the liquid - :-( it is just sooo bad taste and it lingers on and on and on. Looks like the pills are the way for me to go. I hope this helps someone who is wondering weather or not to try.

I started with the Green Dragon protocol and felt pretty good. I noticed that Misty Meadows also has a combination tincture so I switched to that since it seems to have a bit more herbs in it. It doesn't have Andrographis so I add that myself. I've been off antibiotics and doing herbals for 4 months and I definitely feel results.

I would just like to welcome you to our forum! I'm glad to hear that the GD protocol and andrographis is working for you. I hope you will keep in touch and let us know how you do with it long term!

Welcome, at201148 !!

I am also glad that the GD protocol is working well for you....


Since you are new here, it would be helpful for you to take a look at the thread at the top of the page titled: "new to Lyme?..Start Here! It's packed full of useful information.

And, here's a link to a website with good detoxing suggestions:

www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

Detoxing is so important when dealing with these infections.

k07 said...
at20148 - I take the GD core protocol too and have seen good results. Do you also take it 5x a day? I am only doing 3 pills, 3x a day.

How long have you been on the GD core? Are you taking abx or anything else?

I have been on the core protocol since the end of Jan 2016. I've ran out a couple times but otherwise have been on for about 6 months. I have only been on antibiotics a few times during that period (6 weeks and then 4 weeks). I'm thinking of adding in the 4th dose for the next few months to see if I can make even more progress.

Green Dragon is having a hard time keeping up with demand andit took almost 5 weeks to receive shipment this time. So I'm ordering a month in advance this time so I don't run out again.

Welp as an update, I'm tapering back down to 3x3 daily. Fairly certain I induced a 2 day herx. Will give myself a few days back on this dosage and see if status quo returns and then recalculate my plan moving forward.

Figured I'd keep the update going in this thread. As an update, I've been ramping up my intake of the GD Tonic protocol. The directions on the bottle are on the bottom level of the Buhner protocol. I am now steady at 9 pills, 3x a day. I plan on keeping this level for a few months. If you do the math, my consumption is:

1500 mg Japanese Knotweed x 3 per day = total 4,500 mg Japanese Knotweed per day
1500 mg Cat's Claw x 3 per day = total 4,500 mg Cat's Claw per day
1290 mg Eleuthero x 3 per day = total 3,870 mg Cat's Claw per day

I'd like to know if anyone else using the Green Dragon protocol is ramping up to these levels? Buhner says you can max these herbs out at roughly 8,000 mg per day. I'm a 190lb male so its possible I need to further increase. As a side note, I've not experienced any side effects or herxing in the process as I have been steadily increasing (also I don't take any antibiotics).

I just finished month 6 of the protocol.

Months 3-5 were completely symptom-free.
Beginning of month 6 I had some symptoms return. Began ramping from 6 pills, 3x per day to 9 pills, 3x per day and the symptoms have gone away.

Beginning month 7 now.

I'm interested in anyone else ramping to this level bc I haven't seen many on these boards take this many per day (and GD's directions keep the consumption on a low level), yet if you do the math, where I am currently is much more in line with a mid-level Buhner protocol consumption.

Thanks for the good words, Traveler. Yeah cost is a bit much, but quite frankly its worth it in that its a combo pill (1 bottle, 1 source, 1 pill = no fuss).

I am still at the 3 pills, 3x a day. Having some throat issues so have not increased. I'm supposed to start abx soon and not sure if i'm to continue herbs. If so, i think i will start upping. Do you think it's necessary to take 4x?

k07, thanks for that link. I missed that post last month and that is really helpful information. So I may try to ramp up to that much eventually. More interesting is maybe I'll try to spread to 4 dosings a day.

For your other note, I do know that Buhner says antibiotics work well with his protocol. Also it's worth ramping up for a few days/weeks and see how you feel. If it's too much just pull yourself back. I used this approach and have gotten myself to the dose I'm at now.