• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Cowden Lyme Protocol

Charles555nc

Senior Member
Messages
572
hi 2many! thanks! yes...samento made me SOOO sick right away! i couldnt believe it. i do inject b12 regularly

i think i have figured this out. i will start with 1 drop banderol twice a day....10 drops pinella and burbur at the same time in the same water (i read you can do this) twice a day.....and 10 drops of the parsley twice a day.

i do this for 1 week, then raise the banderol by 1 drop

but i think i am supposed to lessen the parsley at some point to 4 drops? not sure about this

Where/what brand are you getting for your samento and other herbs? Id love to try something too strong :D
 

Charles555nc

Senior Member
Messages
572
hi charles:) i think there is only 1 company that makes it....Nutrimedix

Daffodil, you are always so cutting edge :D When I run out of things to research, I always check out what your doing.

I just placed a nutrimedix order for 130$ for herbs lol...geez I hope they work. Samento, banderol, barberry, enula, pinella. 4 gets you one free...

After you are done with herbs, you should definitely try molybdenum, I am herxing so bad right now that I went from two pills a day, molybdenum- to one pill every 3 or 4 days. A brain and body herx...long time since I had to whip out the benedryl during a herx.

Never one to wait, Im trying those herbs when they arrive! 24/7 herx is really the goal here lol.

Edit: Might be getting some results from Mimosa Pudica- an anti protozoan herb and Lugol's iodine.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
Daffodil, you are always so cutting edge :D When I run out of things to research, I always check out what your doing.

I just placed a nutrimedix order for 130$ for herbs lol...geez I hope they work. Samento, banderol, barberry, enula, pinella. 4 gets you one free...

After you are done with herbs, you should definitely try molybdenum, I am herxing so bad right now that I went from two pills a day, molybdenum- to one pill every 3 or 4 days. A brain and body herx...long time since I had to whip out the benedryl during a herx.

Never one to wait, Im trying those herbs when they arrive! 24/7 herx is really the goal here lol.

Edit: Might be getting some results from Mimosa Pudica- an anti protozoan herb and Lugol's iodine.

Hi Charles:) Before you try Lyme treatments, perhaps you should make sure you test positive to the LTT Borrelia test.

I tested positive but deep down I still have some doubts. I can tell you that I did respond extremely well to Rocephin, but that is a wide spectrum antibiotic and could be acting on all kinds of things. I also had herx on Samento....so maybe Lyme is an issue. As you know, I got sick after EBV.

I have never heard of molybdenum. I just looked it up. Looks interesting..I am going to read more about it. Thanks for the tip:)

xoxoxxo
Sue
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
I tested very positive with the LTT Test at Infectolab plus positive for Ehrlichia and I am going to start the Cowden protocol next week. Have printed out their chart with all the instructions from their website. There does seem to be some impressive studies and reports from doctors in the US who use this protocol (Dr Horowitz for one).

Have tried some of the Buhner herbs and a tincture from a herbalist but they have crashed my adrenals despite being on steroids. It was probably also caused by a tiny dose of 1 mg of LDN for 9 weeks. Have had to back off all the herbs to stablise thyroid and adrenals.

Pam
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
....

I just placed a nutrimedix order for 130$ for herbs lol...geez I hope they work. Samento, banderol, barberry, enula, pinella. 4 gets you one free.....
Never one to wait, Im trying those herbs when they arrive! 24/7 herx is really the goal here lol.
....

Do you have the Cowden Protocol from your doctor or the internet? You have to combine the herbals is special ways. For instance, according to my doctor, it is best to start with Samento and the supporting herbs that help detox pathways, then after 2 or 3 months start rotating between Samento and Banderol.

Apparently they should not be taken together as my instructions say that after I start the rotation, to finish Samento, wait two days, then start Banderol for 10 days, then go directly back to Samento for 12 days and so on....

Sushi
 

Lou

Senior Member
Messages
582
Location
southeast US
On this protocol, when you start alternating between samento and banderol (approximately 10 days of each), you have to wait two days after stopping samento before starting banderol. I have made this switch twice now and both time I felt really bad for the 2 days without either antimicrobial remedy. Today I started banderol again and immediately felt good.

Any ideas?

Sushi



Do you have the Cowden Protocol from your doctor or the internet? You have to combine the herbals is special ways. For instance, according to my doctor, it is best to start with Samento and the supporting herbs that help detox pathways, then after 2 or 3 months start rotating between Samento and Banderol.

Apparently they should not be taken together as my instructions say that after I start the rotation, to finish Samento, wait two days, then start Banderol for 10 days, then go directly back to Samento for 12 days and so on....

Sushi


Hmm, didn't know that. I take both, practically every night, at 5-15 drops each and take Banderol first and Samento about 20 minutes later.

Maybe I'll try your way, what I've been doing seems to help, but I'm not gaining any new ground.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
hi all. just an update. i started this protocol with banderol instead of samento (as my doc suggested), because samento was too hard for me.

i have been raising the doses of banderol by 1 drop every few days, and i am now up to 5 drops per dose. i am really starting to feel bad and it might be more than i can handle...i will see.

this time around, i am also taking pinella, parsley root, and burbur.

i am also on 1 gram of immunoglobulin per week.

hard to say if there have been any changes in my condition lately. if i feel a little worse or a little better, i don't know if it is because of the immunoglobulin, cowden herbals, disease process, something i ate, etc etc etc...

xox
 
Last edited:

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
...
i have been raising the doses of banderol by 1 drop every few days, and i am now up to 5 drops per dose. i am really starting to feel bad and it might be more than i can handle...i will see.
xox

I you notice that you are feeling worse and can related it to your increased dose of Banderol, it is possible that you are increasing too fast. As I understand it, the idea is to increase slowly enough that you don't get difficult reactions.

That said, I am up to 16 drops of Samento, and in my Banderol cycle, 8 drops. So far so good with some good changes coming...slowly!

Sushi
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
I you notice that you are feeling worse and can related it to your increased dose of Banderol, it is possible that you are increasing too fast. As I understand it, the idea is to increase slowly enough that you don't get difficult reactions.

That said, I am up to 16 drops of Samento, and in my Banderol cycle, 8 drops. So far so good with some good changes coming...slowly!

Sushi
Thats great, Sushi!

If I increase at a slower rate, how will I work up to 20 drops? Don't I have to switch to Samento in 2 months? I guess I can increase the Banderol later on too?...
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
@Daffodil

You don't have to increase up to 40 drops (that is the goal for Banderol) in one cycle. You get as far as you can in each cycle, and then keep increasing cycle by cycle until you reach 30 drops of Samento and 40 drops of Banderol. For most, it seems to take many months! I am able to increase them at different rates. Cumanda has been the slowest for me--I am only up to 4 drops though I take it every day.

Sushi
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
Update: I will be asking my doc if I can go back to regular antibiotics, despite the severe GI problems. I feel I am getting much worse on the Cowden...and not in a good, herx way....I feel that the disease is progressing.
 
Messages
233
I have been reading some lyme forums and many people seem to favor the Byron White formulas over the Cowden...anyone tried these?
I have also been wondering about this. How does Cowden stack up to other protocols (Buhner, Byron White, etc.)?

Does anyone have links to studies showing the herbals work?


Edit: Found an interesting Amazon review by EwoK earlier that suggests the Buhner protocol might not address all forms and that patients will end up relapsing because of this.

Also found a Samento/Banderol study co-authored by Eva Sapi, but I'm interested in other studies, too.
 
Last edited:

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
Hi All. Just wanted to give an update. After gaining some ground after a year of antibiotics, I started to decline after stopping them and switching to herbals (which I could not tolerate for long).

My doc decided to again start me on regular antibiotics which are again causing me a lot of problems (severe diarrhea). This time, I am not sure I am willing to put up with a year of constant diarrhea and I also wonder if I am not decimating by gut completely by being on them this long (I cannot tolerate probiotics and the other gut protective treatments are not working).

I am going to talk to my doctor soon and perhaps suggest restarting Samento at an even lower dose.

Not sure what to do, as I am not making gains anymore and the neuro problems are as bad as ever.

My doctor has suggested further testing in a few months, which I might do.

I am experiencing a lot of night sweats. I find that they are bad when I have worse gut issues, but maybe the antibiotics are causing more gut issues/leaky gut, and that's why I have them? Maybe its herx? How can I even begin to know?
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
Hi All. Just spoke to my doctor. He is switching me from Doxy to Chlarithro. I talked about trying Samento at 1/4 drop per dose and he is fine with that. I asked if the fact that I get a lot worse on Samento means it is working....he said yes, it is working..

I also found out that the lab in Reno is either open or will be opening soon. It was closed for 2 years. It sounds like they will be doing more comprehensive testing than just cytokines.

Feeling hopeful-ish again:)

Thanks for reading
xoxo

.
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
I wanted to try herbals but my doc says if I cant tolerate abx at all then the herbals would be waaaay too much. Even 1 drop could put me into shock!! :eek:
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
I wanted to try herbals but my doc says if I cant tolerate abx at all then the herbals would be waaaay too much. Even 1 drop could put me into shock!! :eek:
Justy.....It is weird that the herbals are THAT powerful. I had my doubts but they really are. ....why not ask him about starting Samento at like 1/8th of a drop? Surely that cannot affect you badly!

After months of immunoglobulin, your immune system will be stronger. Then you can handle the treatment..I am sure this will happen.
xoxoxo
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
Another tidbit. I read on some websites about some people doing better on lyme treatments after they address hormone imbalances, so I asked my doctor if I should have some testing done. He said that with brain inflammation, hormones will of course be unbalanced; if we take them, we might feel better for a couple of months, but in the end, it will slow the brain down more.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
I wanted to try herbals but my doc says if I cant tolerate abx at all then the herbals would be waaaay too much. Even 1 drop could put me into shock!! :eek:

That is my experience--the herbals are harder to take than most abx. I started with 1/2 drop of Samento and it knocked me out for 3 days. I waited a few days and then started with 1/8 th drop. A whole drop would have been way too much. For me, increasing the dose has been a very slow process.

Sushi
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
That is my experience--the herbals are harder to take than most abx. I started with 1/2 drop of Samento and it knocked me out for 3 days. I waited a few days and then started with 1/8 th drop. A whole drop would have been way too much. For me, increasing the dose has been a very slow process.

Sushi
Yes he actually felt that abx would be easier first - then herbals after!