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Lyme Disease
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Posted 3/7/2019 2:07 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on Buhner's herbals for 17 months but only about 5 months of 1/4-1/2 tsp of most of them. It took a long time building up. Pretty much sick the whole time with plenty of detox. Previously on antibiotics and anti malarials and rife. A mold doctor ruled out mold and said my CIRS was infection based. Metals were ruled out.

The only herbals I don't take are sida acuta (allergy), andrographis, isatis, and glycyrrhiza. I started alchornea about a month ago and am up to 21 drops a day. Out of the blue yesterday, I developed so many burning cat scratches, nausea, head pressure, eye pain, panic... It has to be the alchornea because nothing has changed for 5 months.

Has anyone experienced this with alchornea? I really want encouragement that herbals are just slow. My gut was so wrecked with antibiotics but I am thinking that I may have to resort to them again and definitely a new doctor. I would try BVT but my family is unsupportive and would probably have me locked up.
Posted 3/7/2019 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
As you worked your way into the alchornea it sounds like you may have triggered a pretty strong flare. I would consider cutting back the dose or taking a few days off to let things calm down, then restart at a lower dose. If you keep having trouble with it could rotate to some other herbs, but it just might be that the dose is too much at this time.

Have you seen progress with the herbal therapies? I think if you've seen some progress you could keep rotating through various herbal therapies before hitting abx back up, especially if you still have gut issues. Better to exhaust the herbal armamentarium, especially if it has given you some progress.
Posted 3/7/2019 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Sebreg. Yes, I skipped a dose of the alchornea and will add it back in at a lower rate. I have had no luck with herbals so far with bartonella. Cryptolepis and bidens pilosa definitely keep me breathing but have not eradicated the babesia. I have microti and duncani so it is a battle. I take lyme herbals but lyme seems to be in the background with bartonella reigning on top and in control.
Posted 3/7/2019 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like the alchornea is hitting bartonella hard for you. It must be targeting it in a way that previous treatments have not, which is miserable but good news. I reacted like that to the DesBio series kit treatment for bartonella - just nuts how intense the herx was, once I found a treatment that was effective! You certainly should dial back the dose and ramp up slowly. But it sounds like a good match for the remaining bugs. Herbs sometimes target infections in different ways from pharmaceutical antibiotics, so it's great that you are continuing to tweak your regimen.

If you are not into trying further herbal therapy or pharmaceutical antibiotics, then you could try other treatments. You mention BVT, but there's also rife, PEMF, ozone, fasting, homeopathy, and other things that people have found extremely useful. Good luck!
Posted 3/7/2019 6:18 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you saraeli. I actually did the DesBio series for lyme and babesia and bartonella back in 2014. I did three boxes of lyme/babesia and two of bartonella. I had no reaction but I forgot about those and may try them again and get a different reaction. Appreciate the suggestions!
Posted 3/7/2019 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
Wow, you really gave the DesBio a chance! I had not had good luck with them initially, but once I backed off mint tea and minty toothpaste, they seems to pack more of a wallop.

Also, I'm curious, how did your mold doctor rule out mold? I have had all the tests done (except the Real Time labs) but my LLMD and I can't figure out whether mold is an issue for me, as some tests strongly indicated mold and others indicated no biotoxins at all. Confusing. :-/
Posted 3/7/2019 8:19 PM (GMT 0)
saraeli, she used the National Jewish health lab for the C4a. The other tests were the C3a, all the HLA-DRB's, HLA-DQB1, MMP-9, TGFB1, Osmolality, Melanocyte Stimulating hormone and some others that I would have to go find. Great Plains and she has requested my insurance allow the Neuroquant MRI but that is still pending. I don't think they will allow it and I am not paying out of pocket based on the other tests.
Posted 3/7/2019 10:06 PM (GMT 0)
Okay, so all of your markers were not indicative of mold? I know C4a can be high from mold or Lyme, so it's sort of hard to know how to interpret that one.
Posted 3/7/2019 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
saraeli, even my C4a was low and I have neurological lyme. So who knows.
Posted 3/7/2019 11:08 PM (GMT 0)

Loutucky said...
saraeli, even my C4a was low and I have neurological lyme. So who knows.

Wow! I’m surprised. Did you have any of the susceptible genes? What was your TGFB-1?

As for alchornia, I normally take 6-8 drops 2x day, but I did take dropperfuls for a limited time when dealing with an acute illness and had no symptom exacerbation from it. Everyone is different, though. Some herbs that hit me hard at a few drops, others could probably take teaspoons of with no effect. I can also take a dropperful of isatis without issue, but I have never been brave enough to do it with houttuynia. Maybe one day when I an feeling pretty good and can afford to be out of commission for a few days, I will try it.

Have you taken cholestyramine ever? You may be feeling no relief due to endless recycling of toxins.
Posted 3/8/2019 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
WalkingbyFaith, yes I do have the susceptible genes. The TGBF1 normal range was 867-6662 pg/mL and mine was 3400. I couldn't handle cholestyramine. It caused stomach pain and blocked me up for a week. I take charcoal and Pectasol C. My doctor thinks I am circulating toxins. Going to try more epsom salt baths. If I took a dropper of Alchornea I would probably ignite. The burning is bad. Glad to see it is working for you!
Posted 3/8/2019 2:38 AM (GMT 0)

Loutucky said...
WalkingbyFaith, yes I do have the susceptible genes. The TGBF1 normal range was 867-6662 pg/mL and mine was 3400. I couldn't handle cholestyramine. It caused stomach pain and blocked me up for a week. I take charcoal and Pectasol C. My doctor thinks I am circulating toxins. Going to try more epsom salt baths. If I took a dropper of Alchornea I would probably ignite. The burning is bad. Glad to see it is working for you!

3400 is a high but not by a lot. Shoemaker does not use the lab’s ranges. I posted a link to Shoemaker’s lab tests and ranges in case you don’t have this.

https://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/lab-tests

I have the Lyme gene and one of the multi-susceptible genes. I couldn’t tolerate cholestyramine either and also take Pectasol-C and charcoal. Nothing really helps my symptoms, though. I still have mold and chemical sensitivities 2.5 years later. I never got to try VIP.
Posted 3/8/2019 4:33 AM (GMT 0)
WalkingbyFaith, I can't seem to get a handle on any of my infections so there is no way I see taking VIP in the future. I hope you find relief. A sauna might help if you are able to sweat. I appreciate the Shoemaker lab ranges.
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