Anyone using Cistus tea?

Hi Traveler!-

I am so sorry that you are hurting so much. I hope that today is a better day for you?

Sending you many (((Hugs!))) to get through this painful time.

Best Wishes!

I hope you are feeling better today. Following, as always. xo

I'm bumping this old thread because I started using Cistus tea today, my LLMD recommended it and I'll try anything. I am basically expecting either nothing OR a giant herx; so far I only had half a cup to start so we'll see what happens....

Does anyone think the tea tastes like perfume?

I let 1tsp steep in hot water for 10 minutes, uncovered it and then I actually burst into tears because it smells so familiar to me. It kind of smells like my mother's perfume, it's so bizarre. I was not remotely sad today when this happened, it was so strange. And I just think it tastes like perfume.

I bought it from BioPure.

So I tried Cistus Tea again and it set off a massive herx (it did this in Jan. too). I thought I would titrate up -- I started with literally 2 sips, then half a cup twice a week, then tried 1 full cup and that was a horrible idea. I had a week-long herx, I couldn't even believe how bad it was. Detoxing was barely helping. It brought up night sweats right away, which I have not had since Sept., so that was interesting. I also had major body aches in my legs and hips (new), in addition to all my usual Bart symptoms that it made 10x worse. I was in bed for a couple days, horrible headaches.

Now, almost 2 weeks later -- I feel a lot better, almost normal. Like normal normal.

I really like the tea, but I am scared to try it again. How on earth are people supposed to drink 6 cups a day? (Did anyone ever get up to that?) Is it going to do this every time I drink half a cup? I know it breaks up biofilms, but sheesh.

Does anyone know how long it's supposed to last in the fridge? If I make a batch of it can I leave it for two weeks?

I will try it again, at some point, and update. Hopefully next time won't be as bad.

I had a hard time with houttunyia, do you think i'd have a hard time with cistus? I am very hesitant to add a difficult treatment during the pandemic

I use cistus tea and I feel like it's definitely helping.

I first started taking it last summer, after it was recommended by an LLMD in Berlin who first diagnosed Lyme for me. In fact, his only recommendation for treatment was cistus plus chlorella, because he thought antibiotics would not be effective for my well established case. Interestingly, in Germany cistus tea requires a prescription.

I added it to the Buhner protocol and had what seemed to be a pretty horrific herx. It also seems to be a pretty potent laxative for me. I seemed to go through 2-week cycles where I would feel terrible for a week, then quite good for a week. The good weeks were excellent (and seemed to be getting better each time), but the down weeks were brutal and were starting to interfere with my job. So, I stopped taking everything in September and waited for my appointment with an LLMD in the US in late November.

I've been on most the Buhner protocol plus meds from that LLMD since January 1, and I was making steady but slow progress - painfully slow. Last month I reintroduced cistus tea, but here's the weird thing: even though it was the same brand I'd used previously (from Dr. Klinghardt), the leaves themselves were different. They were smaller, and extremely dry and brittle, and the resultant tea had quite a different character. I noticed no effects from it whatsoever (and I drink 1 liter per day).

Last week, I opened a new pack and the leaves were like those I had used last summer - large and pliable. The tea was exactly what I had brewed last year, and the effects were noticeable. Since then, I feel like I've improved greatly, with better mental clarity and an improved overall sense of well being. My HRV, chronically depressed, has jumped to the highest levels I've ever seen (49 - still low but twice what it was just a few weeks ago).

So I do think cistus is an extremely powerful substance, but the source matters. Klinghardt claims that in his studies, they found that only wild cistus from Sardinia had all of the desired properties. That could be marketing, of course, and even one batch I purchased from his company clearly was inferior quality. But the other bags have been quite effective, so far.

Even though the Klinghardt brand may be more expensive than others, he actually recommends that you brew 4 batches from the same set of leaves. I use 6-7 ounces of leaves to brew 4 liters of tea (4 1-liter batches), starting with a 5-minute simmer, then 6-minutes, then 7 and finally 8. Seems to work well.

I add whole leaf stevia to the boil, as it improves the flavor and also contributes to the breakdown of biofilms.

Hi orbitingaround. I don't know anything about BioPure or any other brands. I just know that Klinghardt said that in his research, wild Sardinian cistus was the only one that all the required properties (link: https://klinghardtinstitute.com/articles/sardinian-cistus-incanus/):

[quote]In our research only the Sardinian wild harvested Ci, never sprayed with anything chemical, has the properties we need to fulfill our criteria for whole body healing.

The price was similar to other brands, so I went went with it. The LLMD I saw in Berlin was a proponent of Klinghardt's methods (though not affiliated, as far as I know); he didn't say anything about having to use a specific brand. He just gave me a prescription and said I could fill it at any pharmacy (I didn't, because I was flying out soon).

I worked up to 1 liter a day fairly rapidly, though I did herx pretty aggressively and as mentioned it can be a pretty powerful laxative (for me at least). Klinghardt recommends 6 cups per day, so according to him I'm probably not having enough.

I follow a combination of the brewing instructions at the link above and what appears on the bag. Klinghardt says to let it simmer for 5 minutes - I added a minute for each follow-up batch because otherwise it looked like the later batches were progressively weaker. In the link, Klinghardt says you can use the same leaves 3 times, but the bag says four ("The same tea leaves can be reused 3 times").

I do think my case isn't nearly as bad as others have it. My symptoms are primarily neurological, so when I herx I just get a more intense brain fog than usual, along with more pronounced fatigue (but not so much that I'm bedridden, like others). That's it though, so in many ways I'm fortunate.

I'd say listen to your body and build up slowly. I honestly have no idea how long a batch would be good for, but I imagine 2 weeks would be safe. It's possible it would be less potent after that much time, since Klinghardt does mention that some of the compounds are fragile.

I hope this helps, and that you manage to stick with it. Klinghardt thinks this is basically a cure, and the LLMD I saw seemed to agree.

cistus is interesting - as its actions seem to be disproportionate to the rather small quantities of the supposed / known active constituents in it -

it has thigs like carvacrol in it - which is active for bart and lyme - but the amounts in cistus tea are rather small compared to the concentrations needed to be antimicrobial in the lab - or compared to other sources like oregano oil - so i suspect something is going on here that is as yet not fully understood.

carvacrol and similar compounds are volatile - so i'm not surprised that the source/brand of herb matters - or that even if you get a supposedly good one it still varies from batch to batch - as volatiles will evaporate off relatively easily - especially if storage or transport conditions are not ideal (think of 40ft containers in the sun on the deck of a ship for 4weeks). This is a problem all over the world with many of the more delicate herbs. i guess the best guide is to use what other have found successful and then gauge for yourself each batch based on how strong a herx you have.

the other anomaly is that - while the supposed active ingredients are volatile - the instructions are to rebrew tea from it several times - which would typically yield very much reduced yields of volatile materials from each successive batch - and yet it seems to be effective - at least that's what many people seem to do - i take this to add support to the thought that there is some other active ingredient /s at work.

finally - because of the apparent very strong actions ( judging from herx reactions at least ) - i don't think adding it to a bath is such a crazy idea.
the bart and Lyme organisms are known to reside in the skin - and although we dont know for sure which components of cystus are actually responsible for it anti-lyme actions - there is at least a possibility that enough could be absorbed through the skin to do some good systemically - or failing that at least have antimicrobial action in the skin - where many of these organisms live.

i'd say its worth a try - but from the anecdotal evidence that brewing with hot/boiling water is required and extraction is ongoing even after 3-4uses - i would be inclined to make a large batch of tea and add that to the bath rather than simple sprinkle the leaves into the tub when you draw a bath.

if you do give it a go be sure to report back

Has anyone tried cistus essential oil? been thinking about trying that and/or making it into a liposomal formula

Check out table 1 and 2 Garzie:

https://docdro.id/sd9gyyr