HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

How to take Cryptolepis?

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/9/2013 3:51 PM (GMT -5)
I just received it from Woodland Essence. My Dr. told me to start with 1 drop per day. Do I put the drop under my tongue or can I put it in a liquid to drink it? They aren't open until Monday and I want to get started on it right away. THanks!
Posted 3/9/2013 6:37 PM (GMT -5)
doesn't matter which you do. I put mine in water and drink it.
Posted 3/9/2013 6:55 PM (GMT -5)
ok, thanks!
Posted 3/12/2013 11:09 AM (GMT -5)
I didn't notice any herx when I started with that low of a dose. I went up to 20 drops -3x a day pretty rapidly starting at 5 drops, 3x a day. Not that everyone of course will have the same reaction. Once I got up to 20 drops, I had some coughing and chest compression. I think about ~25 drops is = to 1/4 teaspoon when I checked. I'm kind of keeping all dosages at the same level right now. I have an appointment with herbalist on Thursday and will see what she recommends.
Posted 3/12/2013 12:50 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks for the info. opugirl. I'm now at 2 drops 2 times per day and will increase by one drop daily. I'm taking it slow because I'm having a lot of lightheadedness and swaying sensation right now, either from possibly disease progression (maybe babesia) or a bactrim herx or side-effect. I still need to increase the Bactrim dosage also, yikes!
Posted 3/12/2013 1:00 PM (GMT -5)
Ohhhh Bactrim,

My doc had a notable grunt (like "Aha - this is significant" ) when he read my update and I said that I had these terrible lower abdomen cramps when I started the Houttuynia that felt exactly like how I felt on Bactrim (which before I put down I was allergic to)
Posted 3/12/2013 3:47 PM (GMT -5)
I'm not noticing other side-effects to it at all. I'm having this dizziness and swaying sensation, but I had that some before I knew I had lyme and before treatment, it had kind-of subsided, and then started up again. So, I'm thinking it's either a herx or flare of one of the infections, but I'm going to wait and see,
Posted 12/3/2013 12:59 PM (GMT -5)

opugirl said...
I didn't notice any herx when I started with that low of a dose. I went up to 20 drops -3x a day pretty rapidly starting at 5 drops, 3x a day. Not that everyone of course will have the same reaction. Once I got up to 20 drops, I had some coughing and chest compression. I think about ~25 drops is = to 1/4 teaspoon when I checked. I'm kind of keeping all dosages at the same level right now. I have an appointment with herbalist on Thursday and will see what she recommends.

opugirl - How did you do with cryptolepis?  After 7 months on sida 1/4tsp 3x daily my daughter and I have started using WoodlandEssence's CSA tincture (cryptolepis/sida/alcornea).  We have increased to 1/4tsp 2x daily with sida 1/4 tsp 1x daily.  We immediately saw some impressive gains in executive function and mental clarity, but now our daughter is complaining of intermittant tightness/pain in her sternum which is alarming her.  She has not had this symptom before.  She has had panic attacks before, first occurring before treatment for lyme/bart and then again with herxing with high doses of houttuynia.  This is not the type of panic attack she is familiar with.

What did you associate your above mentioned chest compression with? And can you describe the feeling for me.  Thanks so much.         

Posted 12/3/2013 1:54 PM (GMT -5)
Hi rowing mom,

I did well with cryptolepis. I found it to be more effective with the cryptolepis tincture and the sida tincture (both separately) then the CSA tincture. I used CSA but I never noticed much of a difference on it and also the percentage herbs is different since it is a combo.

The chest compression sounds very similar to what your daughter is describing. It kind of felt like a mixture of someone sitting on my chest and/or a sort of heaviness resting there. I think it was hitting babesia, that was my best guess - from the chest heaviness and the coughing and I would get little pains in my calves. It was all annoying but completely tolerable.

It did go away for me after about two weeks. I tended to herx pretty fast though and have it dissipate relatively fast. I still occasionally get little things like that but I know it will take some time for my immune system to completely reboot!
Posted 6/21/2017 7:18 AM (GMT -5)
I started out with cryptolepis with the dosage on the bottle (20 drops) and had some pretty bad chest compression later which made me feel panicky. Stephen Buhner made it sound like there were no side effects in his book "Herbal Antibiotics" which made the chest compression seem really scary. Thank goodness for forums like this where people can share their experiences. Looks like chest compression is a normal reaction to a high dosage of this herbal?

Kelley
Posted 6/21/2017 7:58 AM (GMT -5)

Mystery Illness said...
Thanks for the info. opugirl. I'm now at 2 drops 2 times per day and will increase by one drop daily. I'm taking it slow because I'm having a lot of lightheadedness and swaying sensation right now, either from possibly disease progression (maybe babesia) or a bactrim herx or side-effect. I still need to increase the Bactrim dosage also, yikes!

Bactrim is one antibiotic I will always avoid. It makes me so nauseous and dizzy even before I ever had Lyme.

You should talk to your doctor and consider switching meds, especially if the swaying symptom is new since starting. I believe this is a pretty common side effect of bactrim.
Posted 6/21/2017 10:38 AM (GMT -5)
Welcome to our community, Kelley

The chest compression - could be herxing, which is different than side effects.

When we treat these infections, and the die-off produces more toxins than we can flush out...herxheimer reaction will ensue. This can be an increase in current symptoms...even the addition of new symptoms.

We recommend all new members read through the thread at the top of the page titled: "New to Lyme?..Start Here!" It's full of useful information.

Please feel free to share your 'story' with us here.
Posted 6/21/2017 10:01 PM (GMT -5)
I did exactly what the bottle said, 20 drops x 3/day. I'm not a fan of this 1 drop stuff, I don't find it effective personally.

Mixed with H20, warning it taste pretty gnarly.
Posted 6/22/2017 10:27 AM (GMT -5)

Lymepilot said...
I did exactly what the bottle said, 20 drops x 3/day. I'm not a fan of this 1 drop stuff, I don't find it effective personally.

Mixed with H20, warning it taste pretty gnarly.

I don't find stuff at that low a dose effective either.

Lately I've upped my Cryptolepis intake to 1.5tsp 3x daily.

In his Babesia book, Buhner says you can do 1tsp - 1tbsp 3x daily for Babesia or Malaria.

If you have Malaria, you don't start with one drop and then see how you feel, so I don't know why we recommend doing this with Babesia.
Posted 6/22/2017 10:43 AM (GMT -5)
If taste is a major issue Infuserve America has crypto mixed with real peppermint, but they require an Rx. Cost wise it is more economical per oz than woodland or sage woman herbs. If I recall the bottle was around $90 but much larger than woodlands 4 oz bottle at $40 (?? been a while an Lyme brain memory still off)
Posted 6/22/2017 11:39 AM (GMT -5)

Mustard Seed said...

Lymepilot said...
I did exactly what the bottle said, 20 drops x 3/day. I'm not a fan of this 1 drop stuff, I don't find it effective personally.

Mixed with H20, warning it taste pretty gnarly.

I don't find stuff at that low a dose effective either.

Lately I've upped my Cryptolepis intake to 1.5tsp 3x daily.

In his Babesia book, Buhner says you can do 1tsp - 1tbsp 3x daily for Babesia or Malaria.

If you have Malaria, you don't start with one drop and then see how you feel, so I don't know why we recommend doing this with Babesia.

Starting off with one drop of any herb isn't because it's effective at those doses, but to help ease into it so that serious herxing doesn't hit suddenly. If I started off with full doses of many of the herbs, it would throw me into life threatening herxes because my body doesn't detox well. Since most that have questions in the beginning of their treatments have no idea usually how easily they may herx, this is the most sensible means to start herbs.
Posted 6/27/2017 10:05 PM (GMT -5)
After my experience with chest compression after using 20 drops of Cryptolepis, I went down to 1 drop 3x per day. I still had chest compression even with that tiny dose. Each day I raised the dose by 1 drop. Anyway, after about 4 or 5 days the chest compression went away. I am now up to 7 drop 3x per day- will keep increasing until I get to the recommended dosage per Stephen Buhner's book "Herbal Antibiotics".
Girlie, thanks for the info on herxing. I had not been familiar with that term. I don't have Lyme disease, but another illness for which Buhner recommends Cryptolepis.

Kelley
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply