Should I keep taking antibiotics through the end of my pregnancy and breastfeeding, or can I go off of antibiotics and trust that herbs will keep my baby from contracting lyme in utero and via breastmilk? I am concerned that the antibiotics will damage my baby’s immune system and gut health just as it’s getting established, but I also want to protect him from getting lyme. Any thoughts? Many many thanks for all you do.
I am not up enough on antibiotics to say on this one. My tendency is to suggest the use of astragalus which is safe in pregnancy and will help the child’s immune function as it matures, to resist lyme infection.
Author
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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.
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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.
Hi Stephen – You mention that astragalus is safe in pregnancy, but I am finding both negative and inconclusive evidence to say it can cause harm to the baby and also miscarriage. My daughter is in her 3rd trimester and was bit by a deer tick and is wanting to take precautionary measures in case of transmission of Lyme. Do you have info to share to show that it is safe to take? Thank you.
Hi Stephen I have been on your protocol for 3 months now full Japanese knotweed 10 tables a day, cats claw 10 a day, andrographis 6 a day, gou teng 4 a day, Chinese skullcap 12 drops a day, eleurocco 3 a day and I have just found out I am pregnant. What do you recommend stay on any herbs or come off them all? Thankyou so much for your help.