Dear Stephen,
I was diagnosed with the Fry Labs bartonella bug in March of 2010 and was put on 4 different antibiotics and bolouke for 4 months. I improved a lot but never fully recovered. I changed my LLMD for other reasons and have been up and down with symptoms ever since. My current LLMD clinically diagnosed me with lyme and I have been on minocycline and klonopin for almost a year. I was still having a lot of symptoms and looking for some answers when I found out about your protocol. I’m currently taking your protocol ( 6 weeks now up to 3×3 of each), my doctor’s antibiotics and bolouke. I feel like I’m starting over again, having a lot of my early symptoms returning (too many to list). Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for all your help and hard work with this disease.


Stephen’s response:
If you have bartonella, then you will have to treat it as well as the lyme. The best easy protocol for bartonella is:

Sida acuta tincture (from woodlandessence.com or [email protected]) ¼ tsp 3x day for 30 days
Hawthorn tincture, same
Japanese knotweed, (tincture, same dose as above, from woodlandessence.com or [email protected], or capsules from greendragonbotanicals.com 2 capsules 3x daily)
ECGC 400mg +- daily
Houttuyina (Yu Xing Cao – 1st Chinese Herbs, powder) 1 tbl daily
L-arginine 5000 mg daily in divided doses
Milk thistle seed, standardized, 1200 mg daily

All for 30 days.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have active herpes, chicken pox, or shingles DO NOT USE L-arginine.

In general, the most important thing is to decrease the inflammation dynamics that are occurring in the lyme (knotweed), increase immune strength (cat’s claw, rhodiola tincture – ¼ tsp 3x daily, eleuthero tincture, same), and work on the bartonella. Plus addressing specific symptoms.

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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19 Comments

  1. Bea Seibert

    Have been waiting since mid October, but Woodand Essence should finally have the sida acuta in stock in another week or two weeks at the most.

  2. Bea Seibert

    Stephen,

    I did some research on arginine and found a couple of PubMed articles on using that amino acid for babesia and ehrlichia as well as for bartonella.

    I switched hubby from 1000 mg x 3 of niacin to the same dose of arginine and he feels it is much more helpful for babesia head swelling/pressure headaches. I am stopping the butterbur, vinpocetine and gingko capsules and the prickly ash tincture as they seem to have lost their effectivenes..

    Will try increasing the dose of arginine to your suggested dose.

    Thanks so much for continuing to update your protocols.

  3. Lynn

    Bea and Stephen
    Going on 7 year struggle with Lyme Bartonella and Babesia.. been through mulitple protocols, doctors, LLMDs, naturophaths, glutithione and detox ivs, Rife etc… I am finding the same issues noted just never leaving me is agitation for no good reason and rage that just can come up out of nowhere, massive head and sinus pressure, travelling pains, neck and back pain, fatigue, bouts of ADD-like symptoms that wax and wane, crushing fatigue and just wanting to hide out socially when like this so I dont hurt anyone plus its just draining trying to try and function normally…..these ups and downs impacts my family and kids greatly… I just cannot be who I want to be and just cant seem to get over this. I dont know if I have beaten any of the 3 infections over the years and still dont know which one I am battling .. I know the Byron White A-BAB formula helps but I tried the A-BART formula and just 2 drops were unbearable. I stopped seeing doctors in Sept because just tired of the fight and constant research and trial and error…. but I am getting worse and need to get on a protocal again.. I have never tried the Buhner protocol… but not sure if should focus only on the above noted Bartonella protocal stephe recommended. any advice or thoughts to get my fighting spirt back are appreciated! Note, I was also on a year and a 1/2 regjime of rifampin/ and boluke some cortisol control and other support stuff when Frye and PCR finally uncovered the Bartonella and babesia that never showed up with my original positive Lyme diagnosis..

  4. Kimberley

    Hi Lynn,
    I am sorry to hear that you are still struggling with this terrible disease; I have Lyme and Bartonella since 2008, I was on buhners to start then I decided to go with traditional chinese medicine. I was on the cowden program for two years I have been on Zhang’s protocol for about a year now and my Lyme is pretty much eradicated, but I have learned that the coinfections are harder to kill than the Lyme itself, so I am still battling some bartonella, but will continue with HH2 and possibly rifing which I have not yet done, to kill it off. I found this article which you may want to read;http://www.wellsphere.com/lyme-disease-article/i-met-with-dr-zhang-last-week-an/670773 I have found in my experience that TCM was the way to go, also if you are anywhere near Two Frogs Healing Centre in Maryland make an appointment with Dr.Greg Lee he speciializes in hard to beat Lyme cases, and is a master of TCM. I am in Alberta, Canada and he helped me greatly. I hope I was able to help you some, I am a mother of three myself and my prayers go out to you and your family. Don’t give up the fight.
    Kimberley

  5. Libby

    My son has been battling lyme and co-infections for 10the years. Has started to have heart and breathing issues due to bartonella. Anxiety is heightened as well. Did you experience this? If so what did you do for treatment? I am concerned about endocarditis. I am so afraid we are going to lose him.

  6. Andrew

    Hi Kimberley. I live in Alberta Canada also and have just recently caught the Lyme. Is there anyway I can get in touch with you? You seem to have come a long way.
    Thanks,
    Andrew

  7. Siela

    Rage from nowhere or easily triggered comes from pork. Leave all pork products out of your diet. It does go away quick and stays away unless you eat pork again. I don’t know why but it works like a charm.

  8. Markus

    Hi Kimberly,
    I have been through several Lyme protocols. Antibiotics brought me back from death’s doorstep. I have started going downhill again. I am starting on ABART bartonella protocol, hoping this helps.
    I am very interested in Zhangs protcol. The link to the article you mention goes nowhere, at least on my computer.
    It is great you are so much better.
    Thank you, Markus

  9. perry

    I had a western blot test done,all antibodies were abscent except IgG P45 shows “present”abnormal.What does this mean?Thank you,Perry.

  10. Marc Massery

    I suggest staying away from Benzodiapines completely and getting off Klonopin safely but as soon as possible. I was treated for Lyme and didn’t realize that many of the psych symptoms were not Lyme related, but the result of long term use of Benzodiapines.

  11. Gene

    Has this protocol worked for anyone?
    I had the bartonella rashes and intense skin itching. After throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it I’m better but now I have PATM.

  12. Peter Leuenberger

    I have not eaten pork in a year, and I have times of rage.

  13. David

    Sudden rage attacks come from Bartonella.

  14. Claudia

    Hello, does this protocol still work or has it been adjusted since it was originally posted in 2012?

  15. Dr. Raxlen

    For those of you who are suffering from the rage response, your probably have also
    one of light or sound sensitivity,or are overwhelmed by too much stimulation ( conversations. traffic. concerts, TV etc). The most effective treatment I’ve found for my patients is lamictal 25mgm to start, then build up to 50mgm or total of 100mgm. It must be prescribed by an MD and you have to watch for skin rashes. They can be very dangerous. Overall it works veery well. I call it the “marriage saver”
    Dr. R.

  16. Rebecca Wicks

    If you can access medical cannabis in an edible form , do . It was SO effective .Beyond a brief herx response- just one massive sweat- I experienced profound wellness and healing beyond any other herbal protocol I have used . It caused the spacisity in my tissues to resolve and boy do you sleep well ! I would still continue with the other healthful practices and protocols just in case . I used “Rick Simpson oil” as if I were treating cancer . Do your own research , as almost no doctors have any experience or knowledge about cannabis other then using it for pain relief. thc is healing element but do try organic cbd if that is your only option . Best of luck healing !

  17. Coleen

    Dr. Stephen,

    Have Lyme, Bartonella and Borrelia…..allergic to milk thistle. Any other recommendations for substitute? Just getting ready to start treatment. Had LLMD, no longer working with him, and moved to work with functional medicine MD. Thank you,

  18. Kelly Jensen

    Stephen,
    Is the above Bartonella protocol from 2012 still what you would recommend today in 2021? Thank you!
    Kelly Jensen

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  1. Sudden onset explosive rage from herbs | Buhner Healing Lyme - [...] bartonella protocol that is mentioned in depth on this site (it is more extensive than the book): https://buhnerhealinglyme.com/herbs/lyme-with-bartonella/. Stephen share…

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