Cortisol properties in stephania root?

by | Nov 8, 2008 | Columns, Healing Lyme, Herbs, hormonal issues, stephania root, Symptoms | 0 comments

Dear Stephen,
I’ve been on the core protocol plus stephania for about a month and a half. I’m currently taking 2 each 3x day, which I got to in about 2 weeks, and have stayed there so far. I was on 20 mg+ hydrocortisone for about a year and a half for adrenal insufficiency (it was BAD). I found that very soon after getting to the 2 stephania 3x day, I was able to lower my hydrocortisone dose to about 12.5 mg. As I am trying to wean off hydrocortisone, this is really good.

I’m wondering if stephania root has some cortisol-like properties? Because this didn’t happen a few months ago when I did a month and a half on the core protocol without stephania. (I had major depression/fatigue herxing then, and went to 2 months antibiotics, with the same herx results, by the way…). These days I am not experiencing the same intense herxing, which is great. I also did a month of cryptolepis, and it was WONDERFUL—definitely improved something (one doctor suspects bartonella and the other babesia). All I know is I saw more improvement in that month than in the last year and a half.

To the point, if stephania does have cortisol-like properties, would it also somewhat suppress the adrenals like hydrocortisone does, or is there some other effect which just improves adrenal function? Thanks for everything.


Stephen’s response:
Stephania WILL NOT suppress adrenal function; I am not sure why it is having this effect for you but it sounds great. It simply may be that the protocol is raising adrenal function, which it should over time.
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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