curcumin: has anti-microbial properties, yet can "improve herxes"? how's this?

I was reading about curcumin lately and was interested in it for it's anti-inflammatory properties for my son. Also, I liked that I've read it can "limit and improve herxheimer die-off reactions".

But I also read it has antimicrobial properties and can "may kill lyme and co-infections".

so, I'm wondering if it has antimicrobial properties, wouldn't that cause it's own herx reactions? so, how would it still help limit herxes, if it might cause herxes?

I'm wondering, b/c of how I'm still detoxing my son and trying to help him clear toxins, that we know were/are there from the increase in herbs (such an obvious connection in timing). The motor ticcing he's had is really mellowing out, but not gone just yet. The blinking tic is still there, about the same as the last several days, but less than a few weeks ago. That long. I won't get discouraged though as I do see it all lessoning with detoxing and holding back the herbs.

Anyway, I may be doing this wrong, I don't know, but I don't want to give him anything that could "kill the lyme" right now; not until the ticcing is gone, b/c from what I've read and heard a bit, that is indicating that the toxins are getting ahead of him. Maybe that's not the right approach. trying to figure it all out.

Post Edited (stacestar) : 11/24/2014 10:53:40 PM (GMT-7)

Yes. Curcumin is also known to have potent antibacterial properties. Sometimes it seems to me everything is an antimicrobial!

Margaret

Thanks for posting this. I was going to send you our daughter's charts for the last couple of weeks so you could see her similar response to the artichoke, phytolacca, fenugreek, uva ursi, licorice combination.

I started her again on this combination detox botanical (suggested by our naturopath), the one that's similar to your son's. After a few days of 10 drops TID (the naturopath had suggested 25 drops TID), she had an emotional herx, so I decreased to 5 drops TID which resolved that problem. But then after another week or so at lower dosage, motor ticcing started to re-immerge (mouth stretching to be exact), and she hasn't had significant ticcing for a long time.

It took me a while to remember that you had found some of these herbs to be tic-provoking, so I was slow at discontinuing the botanical, but discontinue I did and now she is almost back to baseline.

Another interesting thing is that A-Bart also contains licorice and was horrible for producing ticcing symptoms.

Thanks for further investigating and mentioning the antimicrobial properties of licorice.

I think the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin help with herxing. Bacterial cell destruction and die-off releases endotoxins which initiate inflammatory cytokine cascades. Curcumin helps to stop this response. So although curcumin may induce die-off, it also alleviates the inflammatory reaction of it.

We can use curcumin tincture and Meriva powder capsules with no herxing. Higher doses of curcumin are what actually help stop a horrible ticcing flare caused by GSE a couple of years ago.

rowingmom, after all you've helped me with, I'm glad you found some help in this info.!

I still haven't tried the curcumin, although it's sitting in my cupboard waiting. After that ticcing herxing, I'm hesitant to try almost anything other than his vitamins. But, I do feel like that will be okay, and not cause herxing, now. Thanks for the information on how it works, and good to know it actually helped your daughter through a herx.

I'm glad your daughter is almost back to baseline. That's so good. My son is almost too now. It's taken awhile, but sure enough the tics have really declined and he's almost baseline too.

This weekend I'm going to take some time to research, think about, consider, if maybe I want to try Buhner's protocol instead. I realize he could herx from any herb, so it's not like it couldn't happen on Buhner's, but the one thing that I like about it is being able to give him one particular herb at a time. Then if he herxed badly, I'd know which caused it. Then again, maybe it doesn't matter to know exactly which one, as long as I start slowly and lay off it (or cut back dose) if herding again.

I'm taking just a little longer to detox him and do the anti-yeast diet; get that stuff under control.
The last two times that a tic went away, or was only trace (a couple of times of day), I would then restart the herbs, and bam...just about 24 hours later...a new tic. I think each time the toxins had built up in him and had gotten maybe just below "ticcing threshold" as I think of it, but not low enough to be able to handle another die-off without that tic herxing.

He did go for 3 weeks+ on the herbs without any tics at all, so I think it was the increase that triggered this all really. It wasn't a big increase, just up to the next drop, but it tipped the scales.

If I do stick with Beyond Balance, and I might give it another try, before switching, I would do what I read recommended here (or somewhere) to put 1 drop in a cup of water and give him about 1/4 c. to drink.
Needless to say, we are starting up again slowly.

thanks too Healing98 for your info and input. Even if it doesn't eliminate the problem, at least it helps, so that's good reason to try. My son has just a few remaining symptoms, that come up occasionally, and joint pain is one of them, so I think I will try this!