Starting Herbs Now Too...

A few weeks ago I started seeing a Chinese Medicine doctor and acupuncturist. Her name is Karen Vaughan and she's thankfully located only a short distance from me — finally a doc I don't have to drive far to get to... not that going into Manhattan to see Dr. R. is all that far, but it's a hassle.

To date I've seen her twice. At our first session we mostly talked. I gave her my Lyme story and she laid out her thoughts and background in treating people with the illness. She's worked with several sufferers with great success (she says). Her herbal mentor, who's name escapes me but wasn't anyone I'd heard of, was one of the pioneers in treating Lyme with herbs (she says). I need to get his name and look him up to verify what she's saying, but in general, I trust what she's told me so far.

First session
During the first session I got an herbal/acupuncture 101 class. She did a basic acupuncture treatment on me. I'd never had acupuncture before and it actually hurt more than I was expecting. Not a lot and certainly less than some of the blood taking experiences I've had, but I felt it. She also gave me a tincture (medium-sized bottle shown) to help my worst symptom, brain fog. I'm to take one dropper full (approx. 20 drops) 3x a day. This includes:

• Rosemary - Not exactly sure why this is in there. Didn't really see anything about it working with Lyme, but it's a pretty standard herb so I'm not worried about taking it.
• Ocimum - Couldn't find a link-worthy page for this one, but I did see lots of reference to it being an antibacterial agent. Also saw some reference to it being a treatment in India for Malaria, so there you go. 
• Cimicifuga  - Wikipedia tells me the name means "bedbug repeller" in some language. Nothing surprises me anymore.
• Horseradish - I did a snort-laugh at this when she told me, but a quick Google turned up a bunch of technical documents that, as far as I could tell, said that B. Burgdorferi reacts poorly to it.

Additionally, she gave me a little aroma therapy mixture (tiny-sized bottle shown) to sniff whenever I'm feeling "foggy". This seems absurd to me, but I make a point to leave it on my desk and take a whiff whenever I remember. If nothing else it seems to work like smelling salts. I get a little perk off it. Inside it has:

• Rosemary (again)
• Linalool - It smells kinda minty

Second session

In our second session, she did a "raindrop" treatment on my back. Aside from being rather relaxing and leaving my skin feeling nice and soft (and smelling like Italian dressing) I didn't notice any results. Not that I really expected to after only one treatment... I'm just saying. Anyway, I wasn't really there for the needles and oils. What I started seeing her for was her knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine.

Between the 1st and 2nd appointment I had emailed her a list of all the supplement and pharma things I'd been taking. This allowed her to better refine and customize her "prescriptions". Here's what I ended up getting. I'm to start with one dropper full (approx. 40 drops) 3x a day for two weeks and then move up to two droppers:

• Sarasparilla - An old fashioned treatment for Syphilis, so there you go again. BTW, I recall that the Smurfs liked to eat Sarsaparilla leaves. I'll leave any connection there to the reader's imagination.
• Andrographis - One of the core herbs in the Buhner protocol
• Stillingia - Another treatment for Syphilis
• Flower Extract - She was a little vague on this one. Flower power? 
• Guaco - An antidote for scorpion and "serpent" bites. Oh, and a Syphilis treatment as well. 

And how's all that going for you?

I half-heartedly started the brain fog mixture right after the first session. Other than it tasting like a combo of lighter fluid and bourbon with a cigarette butt thrown in for texture I notice nothing good, bad or otherwise. It seriously may be the worst tasting thing I've ever voluntarily consumed.

After the second session I started the Lyme tincture very slowly. It too tastes like poison. I did one dose a day for a couple of days to see what it did to me, but I really didn't feel anything other than a burning in my stomach like I'd just chugged some rubbing alcohol. So, after 3 days I moved up to 3x a day. That's when it all started to hit me. I've felt like ass since Tuesday (it's Friday morning now). It's gotta be a herx.

Everything's jacked up. My head feels completely hollow yet over stuffed at the same time. My head is so foggy that I had to defer driving my daughter to school today over to my wife. I did a little driving of the Audi yesterday and felt kind of moderately safe. However, there's no way I would have ridden the Ducati. This is rare for me because I often, weird as it may seem, sort of come together when I drive... especially the bike. It really focuses me and I tune out all the noise in my head. So to not even be able to drive the car today is major impairment for me.

In addition to the above, I have little muscle aches and stiffness all over — something that I very rarely get — and the right side of my face is feeling a little frozen — though you can't see it when looking at me. I also itch all over like when I started the Mepron, but I don't have a rash. Good times!

What's next?

I was really skeptical about the herbal route, but this reaction — assuming it fades over the next few days like my other pharma-induced herxes have — is telling me that there's something to it. I see Karen, as well as Dr. R., again next week. I'm interested to see what Dr. R. has to say about the herbs. When I've asked him about them in the past he's encouraged me to look into it, but didn't really offer any guidance.

Comments

[EyeBob]

MMMMMM, I'd say chase it with a little Kambucha and you'll have one mighty nasty afterburn...if you know what I mean.

bt

[Karen Vaughan]

The oncinum is Tulsi, holy basil, which is an adaptogen good for the mind fog of Lyme. Cimicifuga is black cohosh, which works on suppressed conditions ("Vents rashes" in Chinese medicine) and works on depression and is also antiviral. 5 flower extract is like Rescue Remedy, a flower essence. Guaiacum is as noted a syphilis treatment because it kills spirochetes, which are not easy to kill and are present in Lyme. Andrographis is one of the most vile tasting herbs there is, but it is good for Lyme, so sorry about the taste.