Herbal forum

This was eerie, I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday! I’d love to hear any suggestions. There’s questions about diy tinctures and stuff that I’d love to ask.

Here’s a list of herbalists recommended by Buhner

It’s an older list - and some aren’t practicing anymore

https://buhnerhealinglyme.com/resources/herbalists/

They don’t necessarily need to be close to you - many do phone consults.

Check out the Woodland Essence website - see if Kate Gilday (founder of WE) is still doing consults.

Edit: she isn’t doing consults.
But there is someone else listed on the website.

I forgot about Facebook groups! Had to reactivate my account. Do you know if anything I post in the group shows up on my timeline and my friends can see it? I don’t want that.

you can always create another account - and use that to remain anonymous

its a shame we feel the need to do that - my friends know what I'm going through - but while there is still such stigma attached to chronic lyme in my country i don't want to make it public to future employers etc

Garzie said...
there are a few keen herbalist here on the forum some of whom like myself make our own tinctures and who i am sure will be happy to help

Hi Garzie,

I am wondering about making apple cider vinegar extracts. Can those be made in a crockpot with a water bath like glycerites?
I cannot have alcohol tinctures so I’m trying to figure out efficient ways to still take these herbs.

Garzie said...

Canary63 said...

Hi Garzie,

I am wondering about making apple cider vinegar extracts. Can those be made in a crockpot with a water bath like glycerites?
I cannot have alcohol tinctures so I’m trying to figure out efficient ways to still take these herbs.

cider vinegar is only around 5% acetic acid Canary - the rest is water - so i don't think you will see much advantage over using pure water for this.

some herbs are extracted slightly better in slightly acidic water - i.e. 1 table spoon of vinegar per pint of liquid is suggested in hard water regions - but that's a slightly different thing

you could heat the mix in a crock pot - but be aware that some herbs are tolerant to heat and can be boiled extensively - eg to reduce the mixture down - others are sensitive to heat and the constituents are easily destroyed and should only be heated briefly.

if you really cannot tolerate any alcohol at all - ie the evaporating mat i mentioned before is no use to you - then simply put i don't think tinctures will be the best way for you to go - as you will likely not dissolve enough of the important constituents from the herbs with alternative solutions.

I'm not saying it will not work at all - more that its likely to be a lot of effort for a less than optimum result.
my own experience is that while initially a few drops of a tincture might seem to be enough to do something - this is mainly because people with Lyme are often very very sensitive - and as you ramp up you find you need to take quite large doses for a long time with Lyme and the effects are in the end rather subtle.

however the good news is human beings have been eating powdered herbs for millennia - and this certainly works well enough - is even preferred for some herbs.

and in traditional Chinese medicine - making herbs into teas or decoctions is the most standard way to take almost all of them - and this has also been demonstrated to work for hundred of years

if i were you and you are fixed on the zero alcohol approach then i would just focus on the end goal ie - moving your health forward - rather than any attachment to tinctures as such - and choose one of these approaches

Thank you SO much. All of that was so helpful and really gave me a good perspective. I have tended to get hung up on certain aspects of protocols which just ends up being a burden instead of a path to healing (there’s probably a broader life lesson in that!).

I love that you pointed out how sensitive Lyme patients are to so many things. You’re right, I bet a few drops would be the max I could tolerate and such a small amount of alcohol. I have a glycerin extracted cats claw that I can only take 5-8 drops at a time because I react so strongly to it.

Thank you, this really helps me think about the way I’m looking at and incorporating these healing herbs.