posted
I am getting significant symptoms (nausea, dizzyness, memory loss, brain fog...all normal Lyme symptoms for me) from simply taking a single dose of wormwood tincture (artemisia annua).
Does this indicate babesia?
It is my understanding that wormwood is a standard treatment for babesia, although it also kills other parasites and even candida. I have never been tested for the coinfection babesia.
Is the herx-like reaction from a single dose a back-door diagnosis of babs, or is something else going on?
posted
Well that seems to be the big question all the time,is it a herx or somekind of reaction.Are you killing off bugs or becomming toxic.This whole thing is patly a guessing game,its a CRIME and its a shame.Its a disease of not many answers.Now that Ive vented I can tell you I took artemisia annua for about a week and my face sweat all the time,was it killing babs,I dont know.It is a stong herb so be careful,its not recomended you take it much longer than a couple of months.Have you tried mepron?Artemisia is usually used with mepron.Artemisian is suppose to be much stronger than artemisia.
Posts: 225 | From mass. | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Wormwood for babesia? I have taken it for cleaning parasites and it seemed after taking it I always felt better. I also have been getting those red pinprick dots they say are common with babesia.
Posts: 107 | From Milford,Ct.USA | Registered: Jun 2004
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beachcomber
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5320
posted
I experimented with artemesia annua a year ago. I reacted so strongly to it that my MDs decided to treat me for Babs. The subsequent Babs treatment has been the turn-around for me. I still take a small dose or artemisinin with my Mepron. Joe is right, it is a strong herb. Please be careful with it. The herx can be a doozy.
posted
It seems that mepron/zithromax/artemisinin is the current combo for treating babs. Can you substitute another macrolide for zithromax? Zith tears my gut apart and I have problems getting to the full dose.
I read on an orthodox medical site where the combination of quinine and clindamycin were used. Is clindamycin similiar to mepron...both anti-parasitic drugs?
posted
If a single dose of 36 mg of wormwood tinture pushed up such a big symptoms reaction, then what will Artemisinin do, which I'm told is 300 times more powerful than simple wormwood? Sounds dangerous.
Dan...Besides that, why would you just start on Artemisinin, and not try to bring down the load by using mepron and a macrolide?
dontlikeliver
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4749
posted
I am now on Artemesia, Clarithromycin and adding in Mepron shortly for Babesia.
My LLMD uses this as standard, and said none of the one things would work on it's on, but only make the babesia resistant and "impossible" to treat.
He didn't say anything about taking a break from the Artemesia.
DLL
Posts: 2824 | From The Back of Beyond | Registered: Oct 2003
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danq
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 2126
posted
Benny, to say that Artemisinin is "300 times more powerful" is meaningless without context.
The sun is a gazillion times hotter than a frying pan, but you don't fry when you go outside - because the dosages are different.
One doesn't take as much Artemisinin as one does Wormwood. And, as I said, "proper dosing is important".
"Besides that, why would you just start on Artemisinin, and not try to bring down the load by using mepron and a macrolide?"
For one, I tested negative for Babs so the doctor wasn't going to treat (and thus in theory I had no load to bring down); and I have a history of little or no herxing; and all info that I have read indicates that Artemisinin is safe at doses far higher than I would contemplate.
Note that the herb Artemesia has many components that are not present in Artemisinin, which is a refined product. So your strong reaction does not necessarily predict anything about how you'd react to Artemisinin.
Add to that, the oft-forgotten truth: not everything that feels bad is a herx.
Dan
Posts: 2420 | From Davis, California | Registered: Feb 2002
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Just hitting on some of the questions that I didn't see answered. Clindamycin is an antibiotic aka Cleocin. It's the quinine that would be acting in lieu of the Mepron.
Another macrolide that people use instead of Zithromax is Biaxin XL.
Also, my LLMD rx'd 1 100mg NutriCology Artemisinin 3 x's a day. The bottle says 1-2 capsules 2 x's a day.
The general rule with Babs is that you have to use at least 2 things against it at the same time. Using only one will create drug resistence.
Also, babesia is a protozoa not a parasite. It attacks and destroys red blood cells.
I tried my artemisinin when I started all the other stuff. I got hit so hard, I had to stop. The next time I started up while continuing with Mepron and Zith, there was no problem at all.
Did it form resistence or did the Mepron and Zith lower the load enough for me to tolerate it? I don't know.
That's all I can add to this thread for now.
I will say that I've been treated for Lyme, Bartonella and HME for 2 years and I did not make any progress. Now that I'm being treated for Babs, I feel a whole lot better.
Good Luck,
Corgilla
[This message has been edited by Corgilla (edited 20 July 2004).]
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