Astralagus

I’m rummaging through some of my prescription tinctures that I was given previously to combat coinfections, and I’ve just noticed they have Astralagus in them along with Sida, Artemisia Annua and so on.

I was sure I read in Buhner that somebody with late Lyme and co shouldn’t take Astralagus, I checked on here and there are other people saying the same. Does anyone know why she would put that in if this is the case, has there been new research since the book was published, or is she simply a crap herbalist?

Like everything else concerning Lyme, no clear cut answer 🙄
Sod taking that then, the last thing I need is more inflammation.

not everyone reacts badly Gemma - but in your case i don't think its worth the risk right now - perhaps save a trial of it for later in treatment

Gotu Kola
St John’s Wort
Sida
Smilax
Astralagus
Artemisia Annua
Milk Thistle

This is the mix in question, and in the other that I loved but stopped working because the doses were never raised, and who knows aside from her what the doses are..

Milk Thistle (again)
Bilberry Fruit
Black Seed
Black Walnut
Chinese Skullcap
Cleavers
Echinacea
Elecampane
Jap Knot
Reishi
Cryptolepis

I’m taking the latter with 200ml Doxy at the mo as I’m afraid of Sida and now Astralagus. I know it’s ridiculous to take so many herbs in one, I bought individuals of everything but my head is so far up my bum I couldn’t get to grips with it and got really sick when I stopped taking the latter mix. I’ve gotten more and more herxy as the day has gone on today so I think it’s doing something, unless it’s a flare :-( I don’t think it targets Babs much aside from the Black Seed maybe. Some of them increase the affects of Doxy at least. Is it normal to feel wired and high during a herx rather than fatigued? I can feel a lot of pressure in my head but it isn’t painful. Yesterday on the other hand, I was fatigued and sleepy on the exact same thing.

i would start with the basics many people find useful for lyme and well supported by the literature presented and summarised by Buhner - they are mainly anti-inflammatory - though some sensitive people do still react - so just go easy on doses till you have a feeling for how each effects you

from that list :
Japanese knotweed
Chinese skullcap
maybe milk thistle

the following tend to be more immune stimulating - or strong anti-microbial and are perhaps more likely to cause flares - so i would advise caution to begin with and introduce later if you would like - when things are more settled:
echinacea ( immune activator)
black seed ( immune activator )
black walnut ( strong antimicrobial )
cryptolepis ( strong antimicrobial)

Hey Garzie,
That mix you mention was brilliant until I plateaued on it. It wasn’t until I added Doxy to the mix again that I started experiencing problems in the fourth week during a flare. Trouble is, without the Doxy things were getting progressively worse and it has helped aside from this high feeling and head pressure I get off and on. Week 3 I was actually relatively normal.. ish. I would love to have the kahoonas to bin the mix and do it as you have but it’s become a bit of a security blanket. Without the Doxy my brain was mush so not stopping that until I run out. If things don’t improve over next week with some decent meals inside me and detox I may add Jap Knot alone and try to build it up. Everybody successful I have spoken to, like yourself, have done it this way.

Thanks for the link Walking. Yes, I wasn’t keen on the St John’s, it’s an SSRI I think too and I don’t want that. I’m binning that mix and increasing the one I plateaued on.. slowly this time :-P