Dear Stephen,
I’ve just started on Japanese knotweed 3x daily (no other supplements), and it’s turned my urine a dark yellow color. Because I drink plenty of water, it is normally a much lighter color. Is this a common effect?
Stephen’s response:
This can occasionally happen, but I don’t hear of it often.
Stephen
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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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Not often but once in a while I see patient comments on urinary issues from knotweed. I think it deserves more awareness than it gets. My urine turned dark the entire time I was on knotweed….about 1 1/2 years. My opinion is for a few months it is probably ok, longer deserves caution. While we know a lot about the plant, there is a lot we don’t know. And if an herbalist cannot tell us WHY it turns urine dark, that is a warning flag. In any case, for lyme issues on a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being best, I would score knotweed at about a 3. I had a Bartonella flare-up and knotweed was completely useless in that. Overall it is helpful but not a miracle. We’re all different. But on the urinary stuff, yes, kidneys, bladder and prostate are at risk with longterm or chronic usage, despite no solid evidence of that yet. Most people have so many supps going it is not possible to definitively point a finger at this or that, but immediately dark urine is worth taking note of. imo
I too, have noticed dark urine. I am taking the core protocol. I am in the 3rd week. I have no diagnosed illnesses other than slightly high BP and the Lyme for which I took doxycycline for 1 month. The doxy helped (I have a lot more energy now most days) but I still have an achy joint and I’m concerned about long-term Lyme and co-infections.
I never would have known I had Lyme, but for my 3-year-old grandaughter being diagnosed. I thought I should be tested and came back positive. My only symptoms: I was tired and had an achy elbow, but thought it was just aging. I’m 62 this year. Her only symptoms: dark circles under the eyes, and leg pain. An observant pediatrician ordered a test.
Based on this new symptom, I’m cutting back on the knotweed. I think 3 caps 3 times a day is just too much for me. I will go without it until symptoms are gone, and may reintroduce in a lower dosage.