Lisa,
It’s great that the oxymatrine seems to be working for you! I know it can sometimes be very difficult to unravel the cause of some of our health improvements.
I would think that if somehow the oxymatrine is strengthening XMRV, then somehow that would have manifested as some sort of health problem…but then again, so little is known about XMRV.
I was wondering if Dr. Chia did much testing on you to determine if you were a candidate for oxymatrine, or if he thinks it’s just a reasonable treatment to try for CFIDS in general, especially if one has gut-related problems as well.
I’m thinking of trying some oxymatrine at some point. One concern I have is that I’m also taking a bunch of Chinese herbs already (prescribed and frequently adjusted by my herbalist), and wonder if there would be any interactions. I guess I should ask his opinion at some point. One of the main reasons I take these Chinese herbs is for gut support—an area I’d really like to improve (I’m a little leery of the biofilm-busting approach, athough it does also have some appeal).
I also echo Jenny’s concern about whether oxymatrine is not advised when there are autoimmune issues. I once tested positive for Hashimoto’s, but I don’t know if this is the type of autoimmune condition that Dr. Chia is concerned about.
For what it’s worth, I see that iherb sells PhytoCort--a proprietary blend of reishi extract, shrubby sophora root extract (this is oxymatrine, I believe), chinese licorice root extract and noni fruit extract. Unfortunately, it’s not clear how much sophora root extract is in each capsule.
http://www.iherb.com/Allergy-Research-Group-Nutricology-PhytoCort-120-Veggie-Caps/7783?at=0