So very sorry your other son is sick with lyme. That's really sad. Anyway, I don't know where you could buy "quality" herbs for a lesser price.

The only quality herbs that I know of is Dr. Jernigan's botanicals (he grows them himself and tests them) which I took for about a year and I was healed. His botanicals cost $48.00 a bottle and basically you need 2 bottles a month. Are your son's on a detox protocol?

Don't know if this helps or not,
Denise

So very sorry to hear that your other son is also dealing with Lyme - it's horrible enough that one child is dealing with it.

I totally relate to the expense of ready-made herbal preparations since I am following Buhner's Lyme, Babesia and Bartonella protocols and take a total of 20 herbs.

My wallet got so sore that I finally decided to make my own tinctures. Buhner's "Herbal Antibiotics" book provides detailed guidance (and I was lucky enough to get it for my Kindle for all of $2 and change).

I highly recommend that you buy this book if you want to make tinctures in the same manner that places like Woodland Essence, etc. do.

Some members here use the folk method and links were shared on my recent thread about making tinctures:

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3528407

Some of the herbs I take (Houttuynia, Motherswort, etc.) need to be made from fresh leaves so I'll still be buying those.

However, I was able to buy a very large number of herbs from a variety of Buhner-recommended sources. I used Mountain Rose Herbs, 1st Chinese Herbs and Monteagle Herbs (in Canada)

Since I want to use only organic grain alcohol, I bought that from a company in Oregon - quite expensive to start but, with a little math, I realized that I can get 6 months' worth of tinctures for what I've been paying for one month's worth.....and that includes me amortizing the cost of the ball jars and tincture bottles.

Here's where I got the alcohol:

organicalcohol.com/store/index.php/products/

Some people use Everclear grain alcohol that is sold in liquor stores (as long as it's not prohibited by state law). Others use 80 or 100 proof vodka but that will result in less potent plant medicine since it's the stronger alcohol that draws out the largest amount of the plants' constituents.

Bottom line, the first decision is whether or not you want to make tinctures like the ones you're using....or by using the folk method (easier but not necessarily the same effectiveness).

Making tinctures like Woodland Essence, etc. does will require knowledge about the herb/liquid ratio and alcohol percentage (all of this info is in Buhner's books).

You'd also want to review the information in Buhner's books about the various herbs you want to make so you'll know whether to buy dried roots or leaves. (the active constituents for some herbs are in the roots...for others, the leaves)

Buhner prefers whole herbs that are ground into powder at time of preparation (you'll obviously need a grinder of some type). Whole herbs maintain their potency longer.

You'll also want to decide whether or not you want to use organic herbs because many of them can be bought organic or not.

And, you'll need to decide what kind of alcohol you'll be using.

I bought a small kitchen scale (< $20) on Amazon for measuring the herbs....the Ball jars from Walmart...and the tincture bottles here:

www.glassbottleoutlet.com/

This all might sound overwhelming at first (it did for me) but, you'll find that doing things step-by-step makes things a LOT easier.

Please ask as many questions as come to mind. We'll do our best to help.

Good luck!!

Yes, it is overwhelming for sure.....that's what kept me from getting started.

Once I did things step-by-step, it was much easier.

I saved many of my tincture bottles for the exact purpose you mentioned. I don't know how well the labels will fare because everything should be sterilized before putting new tinctures in them.

I have yet to make my tinctures - I'm still waiting for everything to arrive and expect to be starting very soon. Thankfully, I'm finally quite clear about what I need to do and will move forward with confidence now.

Please consider buying Buhner's "Herbal Antibiotics" book - it has everything you need to know about making tinctures.

And, remember, we are here to answer any questions.

I wish you the utmost strength in dealing with the challenges both of your sons face. Please remember to take care of *you*.

Happy to help - we're all in this together.

I understand the challenges with finding energy. While I wouldn't wish Lyme on anyone, there are people who manifest with mild symptoms (I'm one of them - my LLMD told me it's because my immune system is taking care of things for the most part and my research shows similar).

You could do an herb challenge test on yourself to see if you are dealing with any of these infections. If you herx on any of them, that's a sign you are most likely infected....

Based upon the herbs you're using for your sons, have they been diagnosed with Lyme and Babesia?

Are you giving them any of the supportive herbs that Buhner recommends? Herbs like Kudzu, Baikal Skullcap, Stephania and Lion's Mane (this one is really a mushroom) can really help with brain function issues.

And, if they do indeed have Babesia, you might want to consider getting Buhner's latest coinfection book that includes Babesia:

/books.google.com/books?id=rZxfBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=buhner+coinfections+babesia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAGoVChMIjrui1KOQyQIVhx8eCh3d9AMo#v=onepage&q=buhner%20coinfections%20babesia&f=false