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anyone have experience with artemisinin?

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Posted 8/29/2018 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
I just finished a month on Biaxin (clarithromycin) along with Plaquenil (which I was already on), and haven't really noticed a difference in my symptoms either way. The LLMD practice asked if I wanted to give it a little more time, or switch to liposomal artemisinin. She said that artemisinin can be very effective on small joint pain, which is my main symptom.

I read that artemisinin can also be helpful for autoimmune / connective tissue disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, etc. Since there is disagreement among my doctors about whether my symptoms are caused by Lyme et al or by a true autoimmune disorder, I thought maybe artemisinin might be a good next step. (My main symptoms are joint pain and swelling in my fingers, as well as some pain in my feet, ankles, left knee, left elbow.)

However, in doing a quick search on these boards, it seems like some people have found artemisinin to produce extremely difficult herxes, etc. So I was just hoping to get some feedback -- has everyone experienced this? What helps with these herxes? And so on. Thank you.
Posted 8/29/2018 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Lilypanda, if you didn't notice much herxing or effect from biaxin/plaquenil could be worth rotating and trying the liposomal artemisinin. Depending on if you herx and what symptoms flared it could help indicate babesia or some such thing.

If you have a difficult herx a couple ideas: one is pulling back treatment and taking some days break from the medicine. The other is really working up your detox and taking binding agents and trying to push through. Did your dr give you a timeframe for how long you would take the lip. artemisinin?

I think taking the artemisinin is a way to get more info either way.
Posted 8/29/2018 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
I'm on it and I don't notice strong herxes. I do think it helps.
Posted 8/29/2018 5:32 PM (GMT 0)
I did herx on it at first.


You know the Artemisinin needs to be pulsed, right?


I have been taking 1600 mg daily (on the days I take it).

Not taking it anymore.
Posted 8/29/2018 5:35 PM (GMT 0)
I'm taking it, and while I did have a lot of herxing at first, but not so much now. My worst herxing symptoms are back pain and feeling kind of out of it. I felt a lot better when I started taking milk thistle along with it.
Posted 8/29/2018 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
Wow, thank you for all these responses and useful advice.

Sebreg -- That makes sense; thank you. The nurse practitioner (she works in an LLMD office in Wilton, CT) said that she's seen artemisinin work well on bartonella, which seems to be my bigger issue. I don't remember if she gave an overall time frame for how long I'd take it.

Dahlias -- Can I ask what symptoms you felt it has helped with? And thanks for the information.

Girlie -- The nurse practitioner did tell me that it would be pulsed. She also said that I would start on a very small dose (due to my size) and that I would need to have blood tests to make sure it's not causing liver problems.

Notime4lyme -- Thank you for the feedback. I have milk thistle on hand and will try that. Can I ask how long the herxing lasted? So far, I've been lucky to be able to keep working, etc., as I've dealt with these health issues -- but I sometimes worry that there will be a day when a herx just knocks me off my feet.

Thank you again. This board has been a huge source of information and support over the past many months, and I hope one day I'll be able to return the favor to others.
Posted 8/29/2018 6:05 PM (GMT 0)
The first time I took a pill I got very bad back pain (I'm not sure exactly what it was), and I stopped for a while. The second time I tried it, I had milder back pain, and I felt kind of out of it for a day or so. I didn't really feel that bad, but some of my symptoms did get a little worse for a while. My main symptom was I would feel like everything was a dream and I wasn't really "there".

I did kind of turn yellow for a couple days before I started the milk thistle. I think the artminisin was just I lot for my liver on top of the other herbs I was taking.
Posted 8/29/2018 6:12 PM (GMT 0)

Notime4lyme said...


I did kind of turn yellow for a couple days before I started the milk thistle. I think the artminisin was just I lot for my liver on top of the other herbs I was taking.


Wow! That's quite a reaction!
Posted 8/29/2018 6:34 PM (GMT 0)
Is this being purchased at Hopkington Drug in MA? It was rumored that one of the top LLMD's in the North East went to Hopkington to develop this for trials with his patients, then got more widely recommended. Its been around for a while and I'm sure other compounding pharmacies in the country also offer it by now.

just curious, I get my Liposomal Oil of Oregano from them also.
Posted 8/29/2018 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
I've herded pretty hard on it for the first 2 weeks. An elevation of all my symptoms and return of random old ones. But now it's much better..
Posted 8/29/2018 11:55 PM (GMT 0)
Ive been on it for a few months (on and off). Pulsing it 3 days on, 4 days off. Was initially taking it while doing Cowden but since mid July I have been on Rif/plaq and pulsing artemisinin. I haven't noticed horrible herxing these past few weeks. Just my normal ailments. I did while on Cowden but that was at the beginning of my treatment so who knows which supplement or detox method was causing the herx.
Im continuing to take it even though I am not seeing much improvement.
Posted 3/24/2019 5:26 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, long time lurker, first time poster.

I have some questions re: Artemisinin and thought I'd spare a new thread by piggybacking on this one.

Looking to do Buhner's Babe & Bart protocols and overwhelmed by all the conflicting info on Artmesinin. He states 100-200mg x3/daily for 30-60 days in Babesia protocol but then possibly contradicts himself in the materia medica monographs on Artmesia & Artemisinin in the Bart & Lyme books. So confused. I ordered enough Dr's Best Artemisinin for the 60 days at 300-600mg/day, now it's sitting there and I'm not sure how to start. I'm not taking any pharma meds, or intend to at this point.

@Girlie - hello - I have taken a note of your dosing schedule from another post (https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3645486) as pulsing/increasing made a bit of sense to me. How did you get on??

"I researched this recently - as I am now taking it, too.

500 mg twice daily seems to be a common dose. I started low and increased it.

On my first round of 4 days:
Day 1 200 mg twice/day
Day 2 300 mg twice/day
Day 3 400 mg twice/day
Day 4 400 m twice/day

Then 10 days off
Second round:
Day 1 300 mg twice/day
Day 2 400 mg twice/day
Day 3 400 mg twice/day
Day 4 500 mg twice/day

Round 3 in a couple days, I will start at 400 mg twice/day and then do 500 mg twice/day

Dr. MR - on his website says to get up to 500 mg three X day. But, I haven't seen/heard anyone else on that dose."

I have bee trying to contact a Buhner herbalist in the UK but no luck.

The other thing I was wondering is, I hear that parasites are more active during full moon. Anyone notice this with babs? Should I try to schedule the pulsing so I'm taking over the full moon?

Of interest: I've been eating dried mulberries and I get a babs herx a few hours after. Have to be careful because they are so yummy, it's easy to yam the whole bag.
Posted 3/24/2019 5:50 PM (GMT 0)

perkus said...
I have bee trying to contact a Buhner herbalist in the UK but no luck.

Try Bristol Botanicals and Napiers the Herbalists.
Posted 3/24/2019 6:04 PM (GMT 0)
Oh - so I only took it twice daily - I thought I’d taken it 3x daily

I’m not at home to check my notes.

It was difficult taking higher doses - I remember it ramped up one symptom - the internal shivers .

I bought the AllergyResearch Group brand
Posted 4/24/2019 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, sorry I was too unwell to reply.

@eat_more_veggies - thanks, I have actually bought a few things from both of those herbalists and never thought about contacting them for that! BB have been v helpful over email in the past.

Thank you @girlie - I know those shivers well! Have you seen any improvements with the herbs?
I have added little bits here and there over the last year and feel like my immune system is finally starting to "see" the infections now and seems to keep on fighting even when I'm not taking anything. Looking forward to sorting out my affairs so I can do the protocol proper in the next few months.

Did you do the 30-60 days as suggested by Buhner or did you find you had to keep on going?
Posted 4/24/2019 10:25 PM (GMT 0)
I did several 4-day 'rounds' of the Artemisinin. (with breaks in between the rounds)


I don't know if I really got any improvement from it. I think I was on it for maybe 2 months.


more recently Dr. J prescribed Artemisinin with my Babesia protocol and I think that was taken 3 days per week for one week a month... It was with Mepron, minocycline and Ceftin. No way of knowing how I did since I was on the meds at same time.
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