Brain inflammation

[Jessie 107]

Do any of you know what the name of the herbs Jarred Younger mentioned to help brain inflammation?
This is one of my worst symptoms, I too ill to listen to the talk he gave.
Or anything else I could try?
Ldn?

 

[andyguitar]

Lemon balm and Sage are might be worth a try and fish oil. You will probably get some members who suggest ginseng and tumeric. Whilst they do have a thereputic value, you might find them too stimulating as your health is a bit fragile. Look at it like this; Stimulation from outside- ie sound, light- generally make symptoms of me/cfs worse. So stimulating herbs might make things worse.

 

[jesse's mom]

@Jessie 107 I agree with @andyguitar turmeric gives me a headache and my insomnia is worse when I take it.
I found this out the hard way.

 

[rel8ted]

Have tried turmeric several times resulting in a crash each time. Dr Black is now recommending it FWIW.

 

[Thinktank]

I find boswellia serrata to help well for my brain inflammation, not sure if Younger has investigated that one.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I find boswellia serrata

My understanding was he mentioned: Boswellia, Curcumin, stinging nettle and ______ the fourth I am forgetting.

I am very interested in this part as herbs have been the only thing that help me, but I take Chinese herbs which are part of a "system" of herbs, an herbal protocol thousands of years old that plugs into your specific needs. Its not one pill fixes everyone medicine. So because I know herbs can be very effective, I also know they can interact, or be dangerous, or approach the situation from the WRONG ANGLE for your specific body. I just read about some herb that was described with qualities we all Long For. I asked about whether I"d ever been given that herb. Answer NO: it would not work in your body due to your deficiencies.

So: western here they are testing an individual herb and aren't attending to these subtleties. The Chinese attended to these subtleties.

BTW: I take ginseng in my chinese tea mix and it is helpful. I have not observed any over-stimulated condition. But it was prescribed by a trained Expert.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Ldn?

LDN really really helped me. A whole set of awful acute symptoms subsided and only now appear when I am really a big mess. 3.5 mg. I am supposed to try 4.0 next time.

 

[andyguitar]

The key point in your post @Rufous McKinney is that your ginseng was prescribed by an expert. By giving a combination of herbs the bad effect of one can be offset by another herb. Chinese herbal medicine is very complex subject, multiple herbs and interactions are difficult to get a handle on.

 

[Wolfcub]

My suggestion would be to have a consultation with a qualified medical herbalist, and if you can speak to the person first on the phone, and find out if they have any experience with ME/CFS that would be helpful.

We can sometimes have paradoxical reactions to some things. I know. I've been getting things like that over the past year. Even some herbs that used to help, now don't or even make me feel a bit worse, and that is the queerest thing for me! I have worked with herbs since the 1980s always with great results in the past!

There are many anti-inflammatory herbs (Western system) to choose from or to combine. But if you can find a professional to help....and if they have prescribed for clients with ME before (?) it may be more helpful in my opinion.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

multiple herbs and interactions are difficult to get a handle on

yes! thanks. And its mixed with maybe 30 other things. A key point is there are: multiple routes to approach a given symptom or set of conditions. So, one particular herb might: reduce Wind but does so by adding heat and I am already overheated so that is the wrong route to use in my body for that symptom. There are about 2000 CTM herbs commonly used (actually 6000).

 

[Seven7]

fish oil.

Be careful with fish oil, it loweres NK cell so not good idea for Cfs. It was hindering my progress big time!!!!

 

[ljimbo423]

Do any of you know what the name of the herbs Jarred Younger mentioned to help brain inflammation?

My understanding was he mentioned: Boswellia, Curcumin, stinging nettle and ______ the fourth I am forgetting.

I'm almost positive the forth one he mention was Resveratrol.

Although he did say that he tested 9 herbs in all, in Gulf War Illness patients and that 3-4 were "very effective". He said he thought Gulf War Illness was a neuro-inflammatory illness just as ME/CFS.

I am taking high dose fish oil, curcumin and resveratrol. Which have all shown to be anti-inflammatory for the brain. I haven't had a flu-like flare in about 5 months!! Although I do still get PEM when I over do it, it's much, much milder though.

In fact, I've walked for about 30 minutes twice in the last 2 weeks. Half of that time I was carrying a 20 pound backpack. The PEM I experienced was so mild the first time I didn't even need to take anything for the pain.

The second time, the PEM was hardly a bump in the road and again, I needed nothing for the pain or fatigue! So something seems to be working!

 

[ljimbo423]

Be careful with fish oil, it loweres NK cell so not good idea for Cfs. It was hindering my progress big time!!!!

I was also worried about lowing my NK cell cytotoxicity with high dose fish oil. We are so individual when it comes to how we respond to supplements though.

The last flu-like flare I had was back in October 2018, just before I doubled my dose of epa/dha from fish oil.

From 2 grams epa/dha a day, to 4 grams a day. I haven't had a flu-like flare since doubling my dose of epa/dha, 5 months ago.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I'm almost positive the forth one he mention was Resveratrol

yes!!! and technically : thats not an herb, its something extracted from: grapes....I guess curcurmin would be similar: something extracted or taken from a plant....

 

[Celandine]

I think PEA (palmitoylethanolamide) was on his list. It's not an herb. but something found in certain foods and also produced by our own bodies. Daughter has found that taking it reduced her pain.

 

[Hip]

I take Chinese herbs which are part of a "system" of herbs, an herbal protocol thousands of years old that plugs into your specific needs.

I don't think Chinese herbs prescribed by a Chinese herbalist necessarily plug into your specific needs, because if you go to one Chinese herbalist, they may prescribe one herbal formula, but another Chinese herbalist may prescribe you something entirely different. Which shows that these herbalists are just guessing.

 

[Wayne]

something extracted from: grape

Most resveratrol actually comes from Japanese Knotweed roots. It grows in most parts of the U.S., and if you can find some growing wild, a few roots (that you can make into a tea) will last a long time, and save you a lot of money. Grapes actually have comparatively little resveratrol compared to the JK roots. -- The tea is a deep red orange color.

 

[Thinktank]

I don't think Chinese herbs prescribed by a Chinese herbalist necessarily plug into your specific needs, because if you go to one Chinese herbalist, they may prescribe one herbal formula, but another Chinese herbalist may prescribe you something entirely different. Which shows that these herbalists are just guessing.

Doesn't exactly the same happen with ME/CFS specialists?
Chia will probably treat you for an enterovirus, Meirleir for the gut or "chronic lyme" or whatever that quack thinks is relevant at that time etc. Most doctors are clueless and just guessing. At least TCM is quite safe and not that expensive, if one thing doesn't work then you can easily try something else.

 

[rel8ted]

Doesn't exactly the same happen with ME/CFS specialists?
Chia will probably treat you for an enterovirus, Meirleir for the gut or "chronic lyme" or whatever that quack thinks is relevant at that time etc. Most doctors are clueless and just guessing. At least TCM is quite safe and not that expensive, if one thing doesn't work then you can easily try something else.

Both you and @Hip are both right, there is a great degreee of guessing because there are not many knowns.

After thousands of dollars in herbal treatments over many years, I have found TCM as well as other herbals to be not all that effective and sometimes down right damaging. I am much less well than I was even 5 years ago. Not planning on trying any more supplements. I feel like I just react poorly to them for whatever reason. If they work for others, great.

It seems to me that of all the “ME specialists” out there, Dr K’s patients have the best results. Might just be my perspective.

 

[Hip]

Doesn't exactly the same happen with ME/CFS specialists?

It does to an extent, but nobody is mythologizing these ME/CFS specialist doctors as having some mysterious ancient knowledge of healing, as you often get with the way Chinese herbalism is presented.

It's the mystique of TCM that I am questioning — this idea that these TCM practitioners have some special arcane and ancient understanding of the body that nobody else knows about, which allows them to tune into your body's state of health or ill-health, and then prescribe exactly the correct herbal formula to match that condition.

Not suggesting that herbs are not helpful sometimes, and I use many herbs and supplements myself. And I appreciate that after many centuries of experimentation, herbalists will have collected a large portfolio of plants that have useful medicinal properties.

Just questioning the "mysterious ancient knowledge of the body" thing.