Dear Stephen,
My question now is about knotweed. I could take it for a few months last year in low doses but recently developed a clear reaction to it. My mouth burns, gets red, I get diarrhea and other normal food I usually take without problems (like bananas!) start to burn my mouth and react the same way too. If I discontinue its use for a while, everything gets back to normal. I re-started it again later on 1/3 of a capsule A DAY and got similar reactions in my mouth…I believe I developed a sort of intolerance to it. Knotweed also never tested good on ART for me either, even different brands. I can take all other herbs without problems if in low doses. I feel I’m reaching an end of my lyme story, but still have minor symptoms and wonder what herbs would you recommend me to stay in as maintenance dose, if I can’t tolerate knotweed? Or do you think if I insist, my body should accept it one day? I tried both Planetary Herb brand and dried root (I did capsules myself or boiled in tea). All of the forms burned my mouth. Can I continue with andrographis for years?? I’m on my 13th month of it now, 4 capsules a day. Or teasel tincture? Thanks for any input!



Stephen’s response:
Thank you for your feedback on this. The first side effect to knotweed! Diarrhea is a possible side effect but I have never heard of the mouth problems. If you want to continue with something like this I would suggest stephania as an alternative.

Many times, when people take an herb that they need, once the body is better it begins to reject the herb which indicates that it is no longer needed.

As to the andrographis I think it can be taken long term. I think a good maintenance dose is 1 tablet 3x daily, knotweed (or stephania) the same. Teasel should work long term as well. My goal would be to find the smallest dose needed to keep all systems going well and then stick with that.

If under unusual stress for one reason or another (home for the holidays?) I would add eleutherococcus tincture to keep immune function high. If you pay close attention to your body you should be able to determine just how low a dose is right for you and perhaps, as your body gets more and more healthy the herbs can be discontinued completely.

In my own case (hepatitis C and severe chronic fatigue) I just keep the herbs I need on hand and if I experience a relapse (rare these days and only from extreme stress and overwork) I take them to help me get back on course. And I always have eleuthero around as it is the best thing for helping restore health if overstressed.

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.

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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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