Dear Stephen,
I started on the 3 core protocol herbs about a month ago, and after initially starting with too high a dose, and then backing off completely, I’ve been gradually working my way back up. Starting again, initially with knotweed on it’s own, then adding cat’s claw and finally adding andrographis. Problem is, now that I’m at 500mg of each of these 4x per day I’m getting one humdinger of a sore throat. I’ve also had the backs of my hands turn red and and aching wrists. When I back off with the dosage the sore throat goes. The sore throat is the main problem – I don’t mind if it’s being caused by toxins from the bugs being killed, since I can just keep at a lower dose until things improve. But don’t know if it could be an allergy to the herbs. Have you come across any of these side effects? Best regards.


Stephen’s response:
Try leaving out the andrographis. If you have skin responses it will almost always be the andrographis. See if this relieves the sore throat as well. It would be my initial guess that it is the andrographis.
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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