Experiences with Chinese Skullcap?

I took it in tincture form for years without any problems.. I always thought it was one of the most helpful herbs for me. Stopped it for a while then tried a powdered extract form and didn't tolerate it very well.. not sure what that was about.

As you said it is antimicrobial. In fact there was a Zhang study put out recently (after Buhners work) which proved it to be a potent anti-spirochetal in vitro.

Yeah I don't know how the in vitro effect would translate..

I also took it for the reasons Buhner specified- mainly cytokine modulation. Just threw that other bit out there because the study wasn't available back then and it the info might be applicable here

I stopped last night, and definitely feel better today. The herx wasn't anywhere near my worst, so I don't suspect I'll have too much trouble titrating up.

I'm just surprised, and wondering what could've caused it.

i will echo some of the other comments on here - in that I took the original Lyme core protocol for years when i first got ill and suspected Lyme but didn't get many benefits at that time
then around 18months ago i added Chinese skullcap again - mainly as I had persistent headaches and its in buhners protocols for that pretty much regardless of the cause

i have been making very slow but steady progress since then and think Chinese Skullcap is one of the elements that has contributed to this - though i have added a few more from Buhners last book also.

in the early weeks of titrating up i experienced pain in my back and flanks and a kind of general achiness all over - something i get when i have herx like reactions - but thsi was relatively mild compared to some of the strong antimicrobial herbs like sida or even houttuynia - so i suspect it has some antimicrobial properties.
The Zhang study is another reason to keep taking it - its also known to be a very safe herb that can normally be consumed in large quantities for the long term without issue so feel pretty comfortable with it.
i started at around 1ml 4x and worked my way up from there over a couple of months.

every herb i have ever come across - even the most innocuous ones - seem to affect some people adversely. lots of accounts of that on here.

i guess its just a feature of Lyme and co - in that persons with these chronic infections have unusual perturbations of the immune system and can be super sensitive to medications herbs, food, etc - this seems to be highly variable from one person to the next.

my experience is paradoxical in that the ones that seem to give me trouble at first also seem to bring the most benefit in the long run.

as other have suggested - i would take a break or reduce to what is tolerable and let everything stabilize - then try to gradually work up over time - but let your body be your guide - mild discomfort is OK - but this is a long hual rather than a short sharp shock treatment and you have to be able to function.

this approach seems to be working for me - I have been gradually increasing doses of buhner herbs and am still moving forward.

I've posted this on here before, but I am nearly 100% sure that Chinese Skullcap gave me liver damage.

At the beginning of my Lyme "journey" I was on Knotweed, Cat's Claw, and Chinese Skullcap for two months straight. After those initial months, I began to experience crushing fatigue right after each dose of herbs along with a persistent pain on my right side. My next blood test showed high liver enzymes. I quit the Chinese Skullcap and the extreme fatigue upon dosing herbs stopped, and over the next few months the liver enzymes normalized. Chinese Skullcap is the only herb I was taking that had any case reports of liver toxicity and based on the situation was nearly certain to be the culprit.

All that to say, I believe we should all pay attention to signals that something may be "toxic" for us, as the potential for damage is real, and it's better to quit before you get too far down the line.