I have been taking herbs for babesia for almost 3 weeks. I am using part Cowden, part Zhangs protocol as recommended by my LLnaturopath and then approved by my LLMD who added Zithromax.
I can no longer see my naturopath (5 bucks a minute everytime I talk to her). So I am wondering if anyone can help me decide how to take things into my own hands to treat my babesia.
I have read that artemesia/artemesinin is a good herbal treatment when used with other herbs. My question is what I have read is there are many different approaches to taking art. with pulsing it for 3 weeks /off 2 weeks, or taking it with the cycles of the full moon, or 2 weeks on/1 week off, on 5 days/off 4 days. So many options.
Also my dose for Zhangs art. is 1600mg a day. That makes it prohibitably expensive, Any ideas on dosages and length of treatment? Any alternatives to Zhangs product?
Thanks so much for any help. amjrn
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
$5 a minute? Geez...wish I could charge that. Pretty expensive!! I'm interested in others' reply too. Sorry about your issues.
Posted by tickbattler (Member # 14873) on :
I am dealing with the artemisinin issue as well with my twin 4 year old boys.
Their LLMD, Dr. J in CT (the famous one!), says not to pulse (at least for children), but another LLMD I consulted with locally for the children said it is important to pulse because an enzyme builds up and makes it ineffective after 3 weeks.
I actually tried the 3 weeks on and then stopped giving it for several days and it seemed that my boys felt much worse without it. Complained of headaches more often.
After 4 days off, I started it up again and they seemed to have fewer symptoms! This would support Dr. J's opinion not to pulse since clearly the artemisinin was still effective for the boys after 3 weeks time.
With regard to Zhang's art, it also contains another ingredient. I am not sure if this helps it retain its effectiveness. You might consider consulting with DR. Z (it is free if you fill out a short survey on his website) to see if he recommends pulsing. He is an expert on this herb!
tickbattler
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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I suggest following the directions on the label. I would not be comfortable with increasing that. Art can be pretty rough. I'd start slow - very slow and do not increase until you feel ready. It may be a day or a week. But I'd start with one a day.
Yes, the Hepapro brand of art. does contain other ingredients to help it work better. (And it's usually part of a full protocol, too, with allicin).
If you ever take another brand of art and it has nothing else, you must take it with other meds as mono-therapy with art has high failure rates for malaria, another protozoan infection similar to babesia.
You can read more here - going into the protocol pages for detail.
Artemesinin from Holley Pharmacy was recommended by my LLMD, who sends people to who I think is your naturopath. It's a lot cheaper than Zhang's.
I was told to do 4 days on, 11 days off...1600mg/day. LLMD hasn't mentioned cycling around the full moon but he did tell me that babs is more active then.
Have you considered adding cryptolepsis as per Buhner?
Posted by amjrn (Member # 18996) on :
Thanks for the information. Still confused by the various protocols for pulsing. Any others opinions out there?