Toxicity/die-off with protocol

by | Oct 2, 2008 | Columns, Healing Lyme, Herb Reactions, HERXHEIMER REACTION | 0 comments

Dear Stephen,
I have been taking knotweed, stephania and smilax for eight months, while also adding a lot of supportive vitamins/minerals, garlic, oregon grape, and some Nutramedix tinctures per Cowden’s protocol. In the last two months or so I have also been doing oxygen therapy per my doctor, and also did a course of artemisinin over the summer, which led to a period of general improvement.

In any case I have been under a lot of stress (work, small toddler at home) while ramping up knotweed in the last month (up to 3 3x/day) and I have been having stronger and stronger die-off—the oxygen seems to do that as well—to the point where I felt extremely toxic all the time and was having big emotional effects (panic/depression) and having trouble functioning. I went to an osteopath last week who I see periodically (he is not overly lyme-educated but very good and knowledgable) and he said my body was very toxic and that he recommended stopping all supplements/treatments for a while and focusing on detoxing—fasting and acupuncture are his suggestions.

I have stopped the herbs and oxygen for a couple of days and the acute die-off feelings and depression/anxiety got better, but now I am trying to sort out symptoms of the illness from what may be toxic overload—hard to distinguish. You have written here that you do not feel it’s good to stop the protocol, but what might one do under such circumstances? I feel I have been slowly improving over the past few months but lately it’s become hard to tell that because of the big die-off. I have read that herxing too much is not necessarily helpful even if it is a sign of die-off. I think I will reintroduce the therapies slowly, but I am trying to balance between the die-off and trying to heal and living my life.


Stephen’s response:
When something like this happens I recommend lowering the dosages to where die-off effects are not so severe. I also suggest caution in taking a great many things at the same time. I think it best to pay careful attention to all the body responses and then to adjust the things you are taking and the dosages to where the healing process is tolerable.
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.



You May Also Like …

Natural solutions for PMS

Natural solutions for PMS

Dear Susun, Is there something natural that would help with severe pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)? I’m completely done with trying antidepressants. But I still suffer and could really use some help.

read more
Adhesions

Adhesions

Dear Susun, Have you ever worked with adhesions? I have them all throughout my abdominal/pelvic area, esophagus, diaphragm, ribs, and lungs.

read more

0 Comments

empowering the environmental illness community