Artemisia vs Artemisinin for Babesia

Artemesia Annua is the whole herb and Artemisinin is the active constituent that you can buy OTC.

In the case of this particular herb being used to treat Babesia, Buhner actually recommends the active constituent - Artemisinin.

He has an entirely different treatment protocol for Artemisinin than what Dr. M.R. and other LLMD's follow.

Buhner does not pulse nor does he recommend taking Artemisinin for more than 30 days. He says there is risk of neurotoxicity as a result of taking high doses for extended periods of time.

And, I know I herxed with Lyme symptoms on Artemisinin lol

Please excuse me if I'm preaching to the choir but, if you opt to take Mepron and are taking any CoQ10 supplements, you'll want to stop them - CoQ10 supplementation is contraindicated with Mepron.

"He said the intestines develop an enzyme that destroys the medicine" - I've read this as well, although I'm not sure of the time period they said that it could be used first.

Would you be taking quinine pills? I used tonic water to get some quinine. I would have had to drink nothing but tonic water - and LOTS of it - before I got too much quinine that way. Besides, I'm doing this without a doctor, so I have to be creative!

Trav: Actually I think it's something similar to quinine - Meflioquinine - that is added to the Artemisinin.
google gave me this information: an antimalarial drug consisting of a fluorinated derivative of quinoline.

Not sure if I want to take that...

mpost - I'm not taking artemisia yet...but just getting prepared - figuring out what I want to push for if I do start a Babesia treatment.
So, you are taking Artemesia, not Artemisinin?

I believe the neurotoxicity applies to Artemisinin, the derivative.

Artemisinin was part of Traveler's Lyme protocol and I think I now understand why I herxed with Lyme symptoms on it - persisters could have very well been getting hit.

Thanks mpost!

I am going to research Artemisia Annua more.....I actually have a bottle of tincture and might use it..

Trav - what else specific for Babesia did you use besides the artemisia annua?

Yah - I'm not sure I want something that is a 'fluorinated derivative" - we already have fluoride in our water...don't want anymore.

Yikes, Trav - sorry for getting that aspect of your treatment wrong!

In a selfish way, I'm glad you clarified. I'm going to use up that artemisia annua tincture I bought. Why waste it?

Yikes - I don't want that medication... thanks for posting that article, Volyme

I took Artemisinin, which helped. Zhang has Artemisiae and Artemisae 2. I think they are the strongest Artemesia product on the market. I have not tried them. They also contain a few other herbs, including red root.

Quinine is supposed to be very hard to tolerate. It has a significantly higher failure rate. Patients also tend to give up on it much more than other Babs meds. For these reasons, it is not used as much. Some have success with it though.

After I finish with Bart, I'm going to take Mepron or Malarone for Babs.

Girlie said...
mpost - have you had any results in the 8 months of treatment with it?

i think so, my remaining symptoms are occasional brain fog and eye issues. But the rest are gone, esp the heart issues (palpitations, tachycardia, air hunger, etc...).

Not sure what to do with these last two, i might want to try antibiotics. last time i was on abx was 11 months ago.

I was interested in this thread because I have or had Babs. Cryptolepis was what really helped me. I never went near the Artemisinin because of Buhner's advice on not taking it on his web site. Which is information from his first book. Now on his second edition he still does not recommend this herb. He states: (page 387) And Buhner list this herb as Artemisinin (Artemisia annua)

Note: Artemisinin begins to become less present in the blood the longer it is taken; by day seven the constituent is only present at 24 percent of its day one levels. The isolated constituent is not very effective if taken longer than seven days at a time for parasitical infections. It if doesn't work for babesia (or whatever) within a few weeks to a month, it is not going to. Pulsing will not help.

(page 386)

Caution: I have heard from several people with Lyme disease that they have been taking the herb for one or two years at relative high doses. This is highly contraindicated and should not be done under any circumstances. I repeat: This is a really bad idea. Artemisinin is extremely safe when used appropriately, that is in doses around 1,200 mg daily for seven days (and it's probably fine for a month or two if you really want to do it that long). If used long term in high doses, there is a significant risk of neurotoxicity, that is, damage to the central nervous system and brain. Sida Acuta, Alchornea, Cryptolepis, and Bidens are all much safer alternatives for long-term use, especially if you are treating any of the Lyme-group of microbes.

sorry if I made any typos - it is early out here.

>>Zhang has Artemisiae and Artemisae 2. I think they are the strongest Artemesia product on the market

my LLMD only uses these and says not to use Artemisinin because of resistance development. I took it daily for 2 bouts of 6 months total duration and had no toxicity issues that i'm aware of. I'm currently on Cryptolepis 30 drops 3x/day for about 4 months. Zithro/Mepron still seems to be the 1st tier abx treatment that's most effective.

Thanks everyone for your input. I am not ready to do Babesia treatment yet, but want to start educating myself so I am prepared.

So, some LLMD's still do use the Artemisinin...including THE Dr. J....but it isn't used daily - it is pulsed - Monday/Wed/Friday, along with Mepron.
I think Dr. M.R. has you take it for three days, and then eleven off.

It's so difficult to decide what to do...

Rikky - did you take the Artemisae or Artemisinin?