Unrelenting diarrhea

by | Nov 5, 2006 | Columns, digestive system, Healing Lyme, Symptoms | 2 comments

Dear Stephen,
You don’t seem to recommend any herbs specifically for diarrhea (except to help with damage from long-term antibiotic use). I am confused about how lyme is presenting in me. I don’t have the neuro and pain symptoms that many seem to have. However, I have had joint issues my whole life, have had chronic diarrhea since I was about 12 years old (diagnosed with Crohn’s at age 19), frequent urination, low energy, low-grade depression, extensive food, mold, and chemical sensitivities, and emotional herxes. I did test positive for lyme per both Igenex and CDC standards on the Igenex IgM Western Blot. Does this sound like lyme to you? Do you have any herbs to recommend for healing the inflammation in my intestines? Would it be dangerous for me to start your core protocol if it turned out I do NOT have lyme and had a false positive? Much thanks.



Stephen’s response:
I would suggest you work hard on your GI tract first. Crohn’s is moderately easy to treat. I have suffered a few bouts of IBS myself and do have a protocol that I find effective and have used with success with others over the years. You can find it in my book Vital Man: Keys to Lifelong Vitality and Wellness for Men, out of print but available from amazon.com for $4-5 (see bookstore). I have a lot more detail on the protocol there, but in great brief here are a few things to do immediately that will help:

• each morning, drink fresh juiced cabbage (which for some reason I don’t mention in the book)—about three sliced pieces the size of a large carrot each—with three stalks of celery, juiced
• oatmeal daily after the juice
• applesauce daily

The rest of the protocol is somewhat detailed, so please see the book if you can.

I would begin there and then look at the lyme. I can’t really tell about your individual situation without seeing you. There are cases of intestinal lyme but it might simply be that you have a type of leaky gut syndrome with chronic IBS and attendant arthritis. This would also produce low energy, depression, etc.

The applesauce can help normalize diarrhea, PB8 probiotic can help as well. The intervention would be somewhat detailed but I would also begin with a good anti-diarrhea tea, primarily based around blackberry root. The can be taken in large quantities and I would work to see just how much it would take to normalize your bowels. As this is a long standing problem it might take a while to get things on course, but it can be done—it just takes tinkering.

Stephen

Author

  • Stephen Harrod Buhner

    Stephen Harrod Buhner was an Earth poet and an award-winning author of twenty-four books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine including the acclaimed book Healing Lyme: Natural Healing & Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis & Its Co-infections.

    Stephen came from a long line of healers including Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States under Eisenhower and Kennedy, and Elizabeth Lusterheide, a midwife and herbalist who worked in rural Indiana in the early nineteenth century. The greatest influence on his work, however, was his great-grandfather C.G. Harrod who primarily used botanical medicines, also in rural Indiana, when he began his work as a physician in 1911.

    Stephen’s work has appeared or been profiled in publications throughout North America and Europe including Common Boundary, Apotheosis, Shaman’s Drum, The New York Times, CNN, and Good Morning America. Stephen lectured yearly throughout the United States on herbal medicine, the sacredness of plants, the intelligence of Nature, and the states of mind necessary for successful habitation of Earth.

    He was a tireless advocate for the reincorporation of the exploratory artist, independent scholar, amateur naturalist, and citizen scientist in American society – especially as a counterweight to the influence of corporate science and technology.

    View all posts

This protocol was incredible. After only a few weeks most of my symptoms were gone. After six months all my symptoms were gone… it has given me my life back.

– Amazon review by Joseph

Please note:

Stephen Buhner is no longer living and this Q + A column on Planet Thrive is closed to new questions. It will be kept on our website so readers can access vital information in the archives, communicate with each other in the comments section, and find herbs, books + lyme adjuncts in our directory. If you want to read more of Stephen’s writings, please see his website at: stephenharrodbuhner.com.



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2 Comments

  1. Elaine Hipple

    I have Hashimotos and raw cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower aren’t good for me. Is there something else I can do?

  2. Becca Gibson

    I am going to try the things mentioned above. I checked for the book on Amazon and it’s very expensive now!! I wonder if you could share this information in another format? And if any changes for women?

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