Random(ish) onset of symptoms

Hi Everyone,
I am at my whits end and I don't know what to do.
Background:
I am following Buhner's protocol for Lyme and Co-infections, still on "baby doses" even after about a year (although the doses are way higher than when I first started a year ago):
Capsules:
JK capsule- 2 x day
Cat's Claw capsule - 2 x day
Andrographis - 2 x day

Tinctures (2 times a day):
Red sage 7 drops
Alchornea 4 drops
Lions mane 4 drops
Teasel 1 drop
Red root 3 drops
Gou-teng 7 drops
Sida acuta - 7 drops
Crypto - 7 drops
Kudzu- 7 drops
Hotty - 7 drops

I also take a multi vitamin and pro-biotics and try to detox as best I can.

So my issue is I can't seem to get away from having a reaction. Let me explain: so I'll take the herbals in the morning (usually I'm feeling generally ok in the mornings, but sometimes this can vary), then by lunch time I start to feel bad. I get a bit better over the afternoon and then generally bad in the evening. But, the problem is this can vary sometimes with symptoms popping up so randomly at all different times day or night.

I generally know if I need to take a break and stop the supplements for a day, I generally feel ok. So if I'm getting really tired of feeling on and off awful or I have lots of activities scheduled I won't take anything (when I don't feel ok after taking a day off of herbs is the worst mentally, as when I'm taking them I can just say "oh it's just a herx" but when I haven't taken anything I get so scared - ie. is it a flare). But, as soon as I go back on my 'baby doses' after taking a day off I start to feel crappy. For example, I took yesterday off of herbals and felt pretty good all day, then took my evening dose, took my morning dose today and I feel awful (my prime symptom is neuro stuff).

I should also mention that overall I have been slowly getting better (this I especially feel on the no herbal days when I can almost feel normal).

Any advice. Part of me thinks I should ramp up and push through, but I also know I feel too weak psychologically to handle this (herxs, flares or whatever - when my symptoms pop up- put me in such a horrible psychological state that it's too tough to handle) and I have a lot of life responsibilities. Then part of me thinks cut back on the herbals and take things slow where I'd hopefully feel better overall but then I'd be worried that I'd be giving the infection head way.

Please any thoughts or advice from those going the herbal route would be so appreciated!

I know its frustrating - but its good to hear you have overall been getting somewhat better.

I have been following the buhner protocols and take all the same herbs as you are.

what i found after several previous experiments trying some of the antimicrobial herbs( sida, houttuynia, cryptolepis, etc ) in short sharp protocols like in his Bartonella book, was that these herbs simply floored me with herx i could sustain for only a few weeks - and that was not enough to get through to this mystical place on the another side!

so i determined that long and slow was the only way to go and set about using first all the immune-modulating herbs that i could tolerate much better.
over the course of 6 months or more i added these one at a time waiting a week before adding another or increasing the dose and found that though i had some herx like symptoms from the following herbs this was tolerable typically and passed after a week or
so and i was able to build up to the following doses( in ml ) 4x per day
Chinese Skullcap root - 4 (some mild herx/aches)
Uncaria rhynchophylla - 4
Cordyceps Mycelium - 3
Salvia Miltiorrhiza root - 3 (mild tingling in feet and brain & odd hypnotic quality)
Uncaria tormentosa bark - 3
Kudzu root - 2.5
Licorice root – 0.75

I was also taking Japanese Knotweed powdered root at around 20g a day throughout.

over this time I gradually made significant improvement after being stuck with a very low quality of life for the 3-4years prior.

i think these immune herbs have had the biggest overall impact on my progress

i am since starting to gradually build up doses of herbs for co-infections
sida, houttuynia, teasel, cryptolepis etc - but notice the herx from these much more and have to go slow - still I am up to around 40 drops a day or more of each now, and it's tolerable.

i can only step up around 10% at a time and even then sometimes have to go back a step ( but before 20 drops of any one of them wuld give me a strong herx )

perhaps you could try a similar approach and focus on the immune-modulating herbs first for 6 months or so and try adding the co-infection herbs one at a time later?

Hi All,
Thanks so much for the replies!
To answer your questions - yes I do have MCAS and have been on a modified diet to manage it (also have to watch exercise and stress). I'm not sure what else to do in terms of managing it so I can handle doses better- open to suggestions?
Very interesting to hear about the Lion's mane.
Garzie, I think you raise some valid points, that perhaps I need to approach this differently. When I started herbs I just wanted to feel better as I felt so awful. I wanted to kill the bacteria and just hope my body would "catch up" (even though I did try to detox). I even though I took them, I just didn't care about the supportive herbs, as I just wanted the bacteria gone (if that makes sense). But, really I need to start thinking about things more holistically and focusing on support as much as I focus on killing.
My neuro symptoms are weird head pressure, eye pressure, difficulty concentrating (mostly because of the "weird eyes"), just a weird sensation overall in the head (too hard to explain) and anxiety/fear (which sometimes I don't know if this is its own symptom or brought on because of the other symptoms - it's probably a mixture of both).
As for mold, I'm not sure. I do live in a drier climate and when we bought our small bungalow house we had special tests done to make sure there was no moisture in the basement behind the drywall, floors, etc. (it was bone dry, inspector was very happy), there's only one bathroom in the house (we had new bathtub tile and a new toilet installed and everything is functioning as it should), and the attic was inspected when we bought (no leaks or damage visible). I do know the house we lived in previously had mold (multiple floods in the basement), but that was 4 years ago.

Thanks!

Yes, 1yrinVA, I think you're right. I basically was feeling awful all the time, and just adding things. Now that I'm starting to feel better with ups and downs (instead of just bad and worse with no clear pattern), I'm not sure which ones I may react to. But, I think I'm going to formulate a plan to kind of take a step back and re-assess (ie. figure out what I could be reacting to and increasing/decreasing some) because what I'm doing now is not necessarily the best thing for me to be doing. Thanks for your thoughts!!