TEASEL TALES

[LadyB]

In the never-ending efforts to deal with the avalanche my inbox gets to be, I want to start a thread where folks can put THEIR Teasel Tales for all to read.

Just to keep SOME kind of consistency, please do try to provide:
(1)HOW LONG you had/thought you had Lyme before starting on Teasel,
(2)What else you've done/are doing
(3)How you FELT when starting on Teasel (herx? not? better? worse?)
(4)How long you've been on it at what dose
(5)And HOW's it all goin' NOW.

And I'll start:
1)I had 8 different cases of Lyme over 15 years (hey. I was a professional gardener in NYState)
2)I did 1 month of Doxy nearly every time (except when the Westchester Cty Med Ctr got convinced that I'd NEVER had Lyme and just put me through every test on earth) I also did a lengthy herbal protocol which helped some, but then I'd get bitten again.....
3) How I felt? It was nearly 9 years ago and I wasn't keeping notes, but what I most remember is the re-visiting of symptoms for about an hour and a half at a time in REVERSE ORDER, signalling that I'd gotten it ALL.
4) I stayed on it for 7 weeks, and my body just didn't WANT more than 2 drops 2x a day. In hindsight, more may have had me herxing (aka feeling horrible, HoRRibLe, HORRIBLE) so I stayed just below that.
5) If I knew then what I know now, I would have stayed on longer. Once it felt like it was OVER I didn't want to look back. We knew NOTHING of co-infections then and there are times when I wonder if there might still be some Bartonella lurking. I have my achey days, but I'm nearly 60 and still gardening for other folks and that gets me to hurting. I still Self-test with Teasel from time to time and TAKE IT if I get a yes. Hardly ever get a yes the next day. Does a 'yes' always mean an infection? Nope. There's lots more to TeaselHealing than JUST coaxing beasts.

OK, next!!!!!

[Cheryl]

OK, I couldn't resist! You all know I am a big teasel fan!

I think I have had Lyme since I was 7 or so. Didn't know what "it" was until September 2008. I started MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement) in April (approx) of 2009 and added Teasel from Lady B in July of 2009. I went off MMS sometime in July/August and added GSE (Grapefruit seed extract). Took Teasel and GSE from July 2009 until February 2010

The first thing I noticed of course, was no seizures/convulstions. The next thing was that sense of well being. I carried this sense of dread; in fact, I could often tell a big seizure was coming. One time, I came down the stairs and said to my husband, "I don't know what is going to happen, but something terrible is about to happen." Within minutes I had one of the worst seizures. It was nice to have that foreboding go away!

My pajama days have greatly diminished - in fact, I rarely have them at all any more. Only when I have gotten into something (cookies!!!) I shouldn't have or have tried a new supplement/detox that didn't agree with me.

So many little things that are really big things. Teasel just elevated my life all the way around! "Try it, you'll like it"!!

Cheryl

[LadyB]

Wow Cheryl,
Your post brings back a memory from my LymeDayz....a feeling of being 'deeply anxious'. I remember using those exact words.

I heard from a nursing Mama recently who was aware of her baby being born with Lyme (about the biggest heartbreak going) I encouraged her to take the Teasel while continuing to nurse, but she chose to wean the baby out of fear of passing on 'toxins' once her own spirochetes were being killed off. I honored her decision and suggested an 'essence bottle' for the baby, using 10 drops of my Teasel tincture in another 1oz dropper bottle filled with distilled water and giving the child single-drop doses from that.
A month later I got one of THOSE emails that just makes my whole day. She was ready to use that Five Letter Word, CURED. Her baby was WELL.

I've added this thread to my "Teasel Notes" I send out to everyone asking about ordering Teasel tincture from me in hopes of gathering some more tales so everyone can see how DIFFERENT all the teasel tales really are.
LadyB

[KarenD]

Hello everyone, and thanks LadyB for opening this forum on teasel! My experience started with a positive lymes and babesia last July (09). My symptoms consisted of migraine-like headaches, memory loss, poor concentration, brain fog, fatigue, restless sleeping at night, muscle weakness and joint pain and stiffness. I'm sure it sounds all too familiar to many of you out there! Initially I was put on doxy and mepron, and then combinations of other antibiotics (zithromax, flagyl, ceftin, biaxcin) for several months thereafter. As anyone with lymes is well aware of, through the herxing, physical and emotional roller coasting of symptoms, I kept asking myself, there has to be something else out there, something I'm missing.

As a Reiki Master/practitioner, I've always believed in the healing of body,mind and spirit as one. Yet, somehow I had missed the part of really listening to my own body, and jumped completely into mainstream medicine. There is nothing wrong with that, except I knew for myself, I had forgotten one important component of my healing regimen, going back to basics, Mother Earth.

Nothing in life is a coincidence in my own opinion, and synchronously I was guided to Lady B's website. It all seemed too easy, but there it was in plain site, teasel root! So, at the end of January ('10) I ordered my first bottle of teasel. I followed the directions as recommended by Lady B, and initially had no problem as I slowly added the daily drops. At about the 3rd week I did experience some minor herxing, so I did not add more drops, instead keeping more of a maintenance dose as my body was adjusting to the changes within. A week later, I felt I could try to increase to the additional drop which I did without any complications.

The most amazing thing that happened at the end of week four, was that all of a sudden I woke up one morning feeling almost completely better, as I had felt pre-lymes! Gone were the majority of neuro symptoms and fatigue that had plagued me for months, once again I felt clear-headed! I am still having some joint pain and stiffness, but even that seems to have lessened somewhat. I still take the teasel, 3 drops, 3 times a day, since I am still symptomatic.

The combination of azithromycin and flagyl were my winning combo in mainstream treatment, adding the teasel made it olympic gold! I believe, it was the breakthrough that took me to the next level towards healing myself of the gloomy dark invader. I truly believe I'm on the right path to recovery now Listen to your body, innately it does tell us what we require. Slow down when you feel tired, smile and laugh often, and live life as fully as you possibly can! Good luck to all, peace.

Karen

[mikey68]

Hello and thanks LadyB,

I came down with Lyme in Oct 08 after a deer tick bite. (then over 2 months without treatment)
My good Lyme doc that I found uses both antibiotics and Herbs. He uses Teasel for Lyme also.
After several months on treatment,he wanted me to use teasel.
I started on teasel and I herxed really bad. I tried to slwoly work up from 1 drop morning and 1 drop at night.
I still herxed. I have the whole herx symptoms. He told me to drop the teasel for a while then he wants me to slowly back into it again. After 15 months on antibiotic treatment, the doctor has taken off my regular antibiotics for Lyme because of my improvement.. He wants me to continue with my teasel however because of my remaining symptoms.
Everytime I take teasel however, I herx.
When I first came down with Lyme, I always had cramps and intest. discomfort. Before treatment I could get sick enough
to vomit after my bowel movement. When I use teasel, I start to herx and the first thing is the bad cramps come on. Along with all the dreaded herx symptoms. And when I herx, some Lyme symptoms that I thought were all gone come back for a while.
Doesn't this prove if I still herx while using teasel, it still shows that I have Lyme still in my body?
I am also being treated for Bartenella with Banderol.

But the Teasel makes me herx so bad that I do not want to take it.
A lot of my major "lyme" symptoms have left.
But I still have stiffness at times. With pain in my jaw muscles,stiff neck, and occ gastro.

I know that teasel DOES work. But how do I take it without herxing so bad?
Please help. I want to finish my progress. And I know teasel can help me.

Thank you,

Mike

[LadyB]

Hi Mike,
And thanks for sharing your tale. A couple of things come to mind about the mean herxing still. One is to have some Licorice Root tincture on hand. (unless you have any problems retaining water or with high blood pressure) I'm hearing from more and more people that it's wonderful at just stopping the horriblehorriblehorrible feeling quickly. The other is to make yourself an 'essence bottle' from the Teasel. Put 10 drops of the original Teasel tincture into another 1 oz bottle, fill it with distilled water (as your alcohol content is too low to preserve it) and work on a single drop from THAT.

I've been asked a zillion times what I meant by 'my body didn't WANT more than 2 drops twice a day'. I think what I found with the 2 drops twice a day was my level BELOW herx, where I could stay on the Teasel and continue to function. But if a single drop is causing such a herx for you, we need to dilute it further. Willing to give that a try and let us know? It's REALLY hard to take something if you know it's going to make you feel terrible.

Thanks for posting, Karen too, you're all helping EVERYone.
LadyB

[mikey68]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.!

I am trying the teasel and distilled water.

Thank you so much and I will keep you updated!


-Mike

[lenasquest]

Hi Lady B,

I've been on 9 drops of teasel a day for over a month now. After initially doing too many drops and then ramping up from one to 9 slowly according to Cheryl's teasel schedule , I can't say I've noticed any dramatic changes; just better sleep and night-time kidney function which is more than acceptable.
However, this last spring moon must have been a major flare, because now I'm herxing almost like the old days when my path load was much heavier. (I'm rifing through all the parasites, viruses, fungi, etc of Sutherland's frx series all the time; have been for 4 years, with great success.)
I'm wondering if if teasel, the only new variable, is responsible for this herx level. I'm not complaining, being at old hand at painful herxes, but I'd like to understand what's going on. If this is the case, should i back off until the herx passes, or back off the frx repeats?
Thanks for any info.

Be well,
Léna

[Jane B.]

Hi to All,

Below is a link to the website from the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the Cloisters in NYC, which explains the difference and history between the two subspecies of Teasel in question, very well (best article I've seen on this topic). For anyone currently on, or interested in, the Teasel Root protocol, it's very informative:

http://blog.metmuseum.org/cloistersgard ... o-teasels/

I may have to take the subway up to the Cloisters, to see the two subspecies of Teasel in the gardens there. Might be a good day's outing. Thanks to Teasel Root, I might just be up to it (I've got my fingers crossed).

Teasel Root, the second time around (for me), after about 10 months of coiling without it, has provided me with the following: increased energy and much more stamina, undisturbed sleep (like a rock), plus notably more efficient kidney function. That's after 2 weeks. I am at 6 drops - 3 drops, 2X a day. My immune system seems to be up and running now (unlike last June of 2009, when it had been destroyed by 2 months on an abx protocol). I have followed Matthew Wood's advice, and I am not taking GSE with the Teasel. It seems to be working all on its own. I had a strong hunch that it would work for me, as I experienced a powerful effect from it last year. Now that my bacterial load is reduced via coiling for many months, I can hopefully do both protocols, together.

I don't want to jinx this stroke of luck by mentioning it, but I do owe it to the Lyme community, and Lady B, in particular. So, there it is. Thank you again, Lady B! You are the source of healing for so many people.

- Jane

[Cheryl]

Jane:

Wonderful to hear your teasel tale!! Good news for you!

I read the article on teasel that you linked and I am confused....which doesn't take much, so bare with me.

It says that they are growing two kinds of teasel (in the caption under the photos at the top of the page), d.sativus and d. fullonum. They do mention d. sylvestris with the pics, but in the body of the article; does not appear that they have a picture of it and I question if they have it growing, according to their article.

To complicate it further, in the last paragraph, they say that they realized the teasel they had sown as d. sativus, isn't d. sativus at all and they are looking for a more reliable seed source. (How 'bout it lady B? Send them the real McCoy d. sylvestsris! )

Did I miss something? If anybody can set me straight, you can!

So glad you are feeling better!!! That is very good news!!

Cheryl