I decided to buy some Ku Shen Herbs from bristol botanicals (not the concentrated form).
The pure oxymatrine tablets and capsules that ME/CFS patients use contain around 200 to 300 mg of oxymatrine each, and these are taken several times a day, so over a day you might take a total of around 2 grams of oxymatrine.
The normal Sophora flavescens root (Ku Shen) contains 2% oxymatrine, which means you would need to use 100 grams of the root each day (since 2% of 100 grams = 2 grams), in order to achieve the oxymatrine doses that are normally employed to treat ME/CFS.
So you would need to use a lot of Sophora flavescens root to obtain your oxymatrine dose, which will work out to be quite expensive.
The pure oxymatrine pills can be obtained here:
Some Sources for Oxymatrine
Equilibrant oxymatrine tablets (Dr John Chia's brand) available at
equilibranthealth
Alternative Medicine Solutions oxymatrine (300 mg oxymatrine per capsule) available here:
alternativemedicinesolution •
betterlife •
alchemistlab •
organicpharmacy •
amazon
White Tiger brand oxymatrine (200 mg oxymatrine per tablet) available here:
chineseherbs •
acuatlanta •
naturalnutritionals •
goldenneedleonline •
maxnature •
biomedonline (Netherlands)
I found the White Tiger brand (which contains both matrine and oxymatrine) caused dizziness for an hour or so after taking each tablet, whereas the Alternative Medicine Solutions brand (which contains only pure oxymatrine) did not cause this side effect.
Note that Dr Chia says oxymatrine is not recommended for people with
autoimmune tendencies or seizure disorders.
There are a few things you need to know before embarking on an oxymatrine treatment for ME/CFS, so background reading is essential, and the following threads and articles may be a good place to start:
Dr Chia: Oxymatrine,
Oxymatrine, Autoimmunity, ME/CFS and FM,
Quixotic: Equilibrant,
Invest in ME 2010 conference transcript,
oxymatrine effects,
immunomodulators info.