Herbal only treatment?

Has anyone recovered with herbs only?
My story- I developed fatigue when I was around 16. Not really any other symptoms besides a few food intolerances. Tried the GAPS diet and got a bit better. Still always tired, but only GF/DF and no can sugar.
Fast forward 9 years (2020). Had to switch jobs due to Covid/family I worked for not needing me. Started working retail. I don’t remember which came first- the joint pain or the death of a close friend. Either way, March/April is when I got worse. Still super tired, but also had severe hip and knee pain. Also wrist pain, mostly attributed to holding a baby too much in January. I also developed “lead leg” where my leg feels super heavy and hurts deep inside. Mostly I just ignored everything. Still had a super clean diet.
July 2021 I finally decided to go to the doctor. Was tested for Lyme, thyroid, iron, and a few other things. Only abnormal result was a positive Lyme test. I decided not to pursue antibiotics and instead started the Buhner protocol. I am self treating as I am a master herbalist and lack the resources to pursue an LLMD. I started seeing some progress, but not a ton. A lot less pain, better endurance, and sometimes I have a day or two that I’m not tired. I decided I wanted to see more progress and tried doxy, but quit after 5 days because I couldn’t handle the side effects.
Has anyone had success only using herbs? I’m pretty sure I have bartonella as well.
My current treatment is the Buhner protocol (20 or so different tinctures 3x a day), chemical free house, and the AIP diet. I was seeing slow but steady progress until the family I work for started using chemicals around me. Now I need to get up the guys to talk to them about it. Kind of just looking for success stories.
Edited to add my protocol:
Japanese knotweed
Cat’s claw
Chinese skullcap
Cryptolepis
Eleuthero
Sarsaparilla
Red sage
Cordyceps
Red root
Hawthorn
Milk thistle
Ginkgo
Ashwaganda
The above herbs I made into a mixed tincture. Herbs are in order of amount, jk and cc are at twice the amount of most of the others. I take 30ml 3x a day.
I also take
Licorice 1 dropper
Isatis 1 dropper
Houtuynia 1 dropper
Alchornea 1 dropper
Teasel 4 drops 3x a day
Walnut- took for a month and am taking a break.
Gotu kola 1/4 tsp am/pm
Extra 1/4 tsp ashwaganda before bed
Kelp- 1 drop in the am
1/2 tsp ashwaganda and lion’s mane powder in the morning. I put it in my iced coffee (frozen coffee, 1 T collagen, and milk straight from my goats). Coffee is also a supplement in my opinion. Greatly reduced my hypersensitivity to lights/smells.

3 mg copper
22mg iron split into first and second doses of the day.
1 tsp cod liver oil in the am.
I think that’s everything. I was taking Pectasol c but it’s expensive and didn’t notice a difference when I quit.

Post Edited (GoatLady) : 4/20/2022 8:18:37 AM (GMT-6)

GoatLady said...
Has anyone recovered with herbs only?
My story- I developed fatigue when I was around 16. Not really any other symptoms besides a few food intolerances. Tried the GAPS diet and got a bit better. Still always tired, but only GF/DF and no can sugar.
Fast forward 9 years (2020). Had to switch jobs due to Covid/family I worked for not needing me. Started working retail. I don’t remember which came first- the joint pain or the death of a close friend. Either way, March/April is when I got worse. Still super tired, but also had severe hip and knee pain. Also wrist pain, mostly attributed to holding a baby too much in January. I also developed “lead leg” where my leg feels super heavy and hurts deep inside. Mostly I just ignored everything. Still had a super clean diet.
July 2021 I finally decided to go to the doctor. Was tested for Lyme, thyroid, iron, and a few other things. Only abnormal result was a positive Lyme test. I decided not to pursue antibiotics and instead started the Buhner protocol. I am self treating as I am a master herbalist and lack the resources to pursue an LLMD. I started seeing some progress, but not a ton. A lot less pain, better endurance, and sometimes I have a day or two that I’m not tired. I decided I wanted to see more progress and tried doxy, but quit after 5 days because I couldn’t handle the side effects.
Has anyone had success only using herbs? I’m pretty sure I have bartonella as well.
My current treatment is the Buhner protocol (20 or so different tinctures 3x a day), chemical free house, and the AIP diet. I was seeing slow but steady progress until the family I work for started using chemicals around me. Now I need to get up the guys to talk to them about it. Kind of just looking for success stories.

Yes, we do have members that have primarily used herbs to heal.
One of them is a long time member (and Moderator) Traveler.
She pops on now and again to keep in touch.
You could email her.

I will get her email address later and post it here.

Question: What are the specific herbals you are taking?

JK?
Cats Claw?
Houttuynia?
Sida Acuta?

And are you taking anything for Babesia?

Sida acuta?
Alchornea cordifolia?
Cryptolepis ?

I had serious and worsening leg problems. Tingling, numbness, restlessness, heaviness, weakness, pain, cramps. The answer was magnesium, the glycinate form being highly absorbable. I take 800mg a day, and even now, if I have a lot of dairy i have to take a little extra to balance the calcium.

I have had my ups and downs on herbs, but generally I have become functional, and the arc is positive. A lot of it hinges on discerning the best dosages.

I take most of those. Not kudzu or sida acuta. I thought teasel was supposed to be a lower dose? I take 4 drops 3x/day.
How do you take methylene blue? I hate needles and according to google that’s generally how it’s given.
The reptile mat is a good idea. I measure mine out a week at a time. In shot glasses.
I do take iron, copper, kelp, vitamin d and cod liver oil. So not strictly herbs.
Maybe I’ll bump up to 4x a day. Sometimes I forget to take 3 though.

Would it mix in liquid? I’ve never been able to swallow pills/capsules. I’ll look into it and see if I should add it. I did just edit my original post with my complete protocol.

I Goatlady!! (absolutely LOVE the screen name!!)

I am one that healed with herbs/minerals only - I couldn't tolerate the antibiotics. I didn't use Buhner's protocol, but one that is similar.

I can tell you that I have healed very well, as I have had an overload of stress over the last 1.5 years (see below, if interested) and none of the symptoms of these infections have come back. I did get reinfected with Lyme last year, was able to tolerate Doxy in high enough doses for long enough to treat the infection - a first for me! =)

My stress has been developing malignant hypertension, and it seems that any stress on my body set off 'episodes' of severely high BP along with shaking that resembles Parkinson's. I'm still in the process of getting every little thing tested looking for the cause of the sudden onset. When I first started BP meds, a week later my BP started spiking into the 'stroke zone' daily, with those shaking episodes happening at the same time. That continued daily for 6 weeks, until I was finally admitted to the hospital.

I do hope in all of that writing, you can find some useful information! LOL! You are always welcome to email me - as is anyone else that would care to.

I love your screen name - and my main email address for personal business has herby goat lady in it! I also have had dairy goats, and I was studying to be a Clinical Herbalist until last year when my health took yet another turn for the worse.

I used to hand milk my girls, so I never allowed myself to get to 9 of them although I did milk 4 most of my time with them. I can no longer take care of 'livestock' so I had to give my goats to my son who had a dairy business he was hoping to build.

Yeah, I had the same thoughts about Billy goats! LOL! Once my kids were adults and moved out - I opted to keep the dairy goats, but no more billy goats! I would rent one, or borrow one instead!

I was an oddball on diets - I became very allergic to all forms of soy, so I obviously make sure that I don't get any from any source, and I couldn't tolerate cow dairy products. Otherwise, my diet was basically just high protein and low carb. Nearly all my carbs came from veggies.

LOL - it's only weird if it's not what you need! Actually, that's not true, as animal products are not safety tested to the same level, and, of course, they are designed for critters, not people.

I did take a fulvic acid (plus other things) supplement for a while, and I took supplements like Methylcobalamin, and a few other supplements - but nothing long term. Nothing seemed to make much difference for me until I got further into my herbal treatments where the bacteria were at low levels. I have a 30-year history with these infections, so it took a while.

Most do well with just a good basic multivitamin - although I couldn't afford any of them that didn't use soy.

My very best option has always been to keep moving - as much as I could at any given time. I've been bed-ridden, house-bound, and able to be extremely active throughout the years, so I had to learn how to adjust. The absolute worst for me is being unable to get out and do things! I have a harder time getting through those periods of time in my health journies.

The hardest part of all of this is realizing that we each need such different things in order to heal! I had to do my best to figure out what my body was not getting enough of, what it lacked, and to try to support my body or supplement those things - without a doctor for me. I do still feel strongly that a person doesn't need the best or most expensive of anything, but getting as good of quality (what I could afford) of anything that I put in my body definitely helped.

I responded to your other post about herxing. But, I would like to add something here about the "losing my mind". You likely are experiencing brain fog, and if you haven't had that before starting the herbs, then consider that as part of a herx. Brain inflammation is the usual cause, and that can be dealt with by increasing your detoxing also.

3 milkers is enough! LOL! Do you hand milk or do you use a machine? I loved hand milking, as I felt closer to my girls, and I enjoy that while I had them.

But - OH!!! BABY GOATS!!! I just adored each and every one of them!! It was hard to let them go, but I couldn't keep every single one of them. LOL

I felt the same way about all the babies - but I sure had fun with them while I had them!! I used to let them out of their pen to go to their grazing area and would run the yard first! =)

Good news about not herxing! Although I am sorry you are dealing with brain fog. It can drive me batty some days.

Chemical sensitivities are a complete pain! There were several isles in my local grocery store I simply couldn't go down due to the scents of everything. I still seem to be slightly affected by a ton of scents (headaches/nausea if I am around them for long periods), but at least I can walk down the isles now!