Olive Leaf Extract

[velha508]

Hi Velha,

Interesting observation. I haven't seen anything on line or in books I looked in that talk about olive leaf lowering stomach acid. However, that doesn't mean it isn't happening! Why do you think it is lowering the acid?

Thanks for sharing,

Hysterical

Hi Hysterical,

Thanks for responding. i started using betaine HCl for low stomach acid, I was told to start with one pill and increase by 1 per meal per day until I felt acid reflux. When I started I needed 2 per meal. After 2 weeks at that dose I began to feel it was too much acid (stomach burning, reflux, etc.) so I cut back to 1 per meal. I could visually see the improved digestion in my stool (less or no visible undigested food). I continued on this dosage for ~1 month. At that time I started the olive leaf to treat overgrowth of yeast and some bacteria. After taking it, I noted my digestion getting worse, so I tried more betaine HCl, while taking the full dosage of olive leaf I can take 4-6 betaine HCl per meal and have no stomach pain and no reflux.

I was running out of olive leaf and cut back on my dosage trying to stretch what I had until the next batch arrived - within a couple of days I needed to decrease my betaine HCl supplementation, then increase it again when back on the full dosage of olive leaf.

Thanks,
Velha

 

[velha508]

I do not know about stomach acid, but I did have trouble with digestion, especially at higher doses. My food just barely digested at all. I was about to fix this problem completely by taking a probiotic in between the OLE and eating -- e.g. I take OLE, wait 45 minutes to an hour, take the probiotic, wait another 45-60 minutes, then eat... kind of inconvenient but it works very well. I think this is due to olive leaf having an antibiotic effect and killing the good bacteria. I don't know why it would decrease stomach acid, but it should be taken on an empty stomach.

Hi cfs since 1998,

This is a good point. I take probiotics, but I was only taking them once per day, at night, figuring I was just killing them all day long with the treatments. I'll try adding more in during the daytime following my olive leaf and before eating (very inconvenient, especially with all the timed things I have already - before, after, during eating, yikes...)

I always take it on an empty stomach. Please see my reply about to Hysterical Woman, I noted a definite correlation in my production of stomach acid. I also do not know how or why this happened, but I am fairly certain it did. I was not adding or changing anything else during this period.


To those discussing changes in blood pressure,

I think olive leaf may have lowered my already low blood pressure a little bit - my blood pressure has typically been 105-110/65-70. I've been taking olive leaf for 2 months and have noted a gradual increase in some symptoms of low blood pressure I have had in the past - I feel faint and my eyes start to black over when standing too quickly or bending and getting up to standing, this happens immediately and then seems to correct itself within a minute or so. At a recent doctor's visit my blood pressure was 96/60, this doesn't seem like a large difference, but I thought it might be enough for me to become susceptible to noticing mild drops in pressure when I stand...

Velha

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Hi Velha,

Thanks for your clear explanation regarding both your stomach acid and blood pressure issues in connection with the olive leaf. Because you seem to have found a workaround for at least the stomach acid situation you must feel that it is worth it to continue to take it? You started it to treat yeast?

Thanks for sharing with the forum.

Take care,

Maxine

 

[silicon]

Hi silicon,

My post referencing my possible myclonic seizure was here:

http://forums.aboutmecfs.org/showth...&p=24541&highlight=myclonic+seizure#post24541

It's just a quick statement but here is a little about the evolution of it. As I have posted before I am very sensitive to many medications/herbs/supplements so I usually try to start slow. I had have problem with herbs in extract (usually stronger) form before so when I started taking olive leaf I looked for a company that I could get just olive leaf capsules from (not extract). I found that at olivus.com and took the leaf form for a couple of bottles worth before I "graduated" to the extract. I was doing fine on the extract but was taking it right after meals.

One day in the middle of the afternoon I realized that I had not taken the herb after lunch and took it at that time on an empty stomach - big different (for me). About 30 min. after taking it I was watching TV when I noticed partial blindness in one of my eyes. For example, when I looked at the screen guide, the first letter of the name of each program was missing, I was also very dizzy and felt very spacey. I wandered out into my front yard with the intention of going over to my neighbor across the street. I felt slightly better when walking around so I continued to do that going back and forth from her yard to my yard. I did that for about 15 min. and was slightly better. I came inside and called her and described what was happening. She said she had a similiar reaction to a medication she was taking and her doc said it was a myclonic seizure. I did not follow up with my doctor so I don't know if that was it or not. I went back to taking just the olive leaf itself for a while (not the extract) but stopped when I started taking inosine and later artesunate. I am not good at taking large numbers of things at once.

That is probably more information than you wanted to know.:Retro smile:

I understand completely about being on many different things at once and being concerned about interaction. In the thread I recently posted regarding how magnesium has helped me, one of the reasons I list for magnesium having such a positive impact on me is that I wasn't on a lot of other medications/herbs/supplements that might interfere with the magnesium absorption. It also made it easier for me to identify what the magnesium was helping with.

Thread is here:

http://forums.aboutmecfs.org/showth...nsomnia-heart-palpitations-muscle-cramps-pain


Take care,

HW

HW,

That's quite a story! And definitely it was hard, if not impossible, to see something like that coming. Sometimes it's like walking on eggshells!

silicon

 

[Hysterical Woman]

HW,

That's quite a story! And definitely it was hard, if not impossible, to see something like that coming. Sometimes it's like walking on eggshells!

silicon

Hi silicon,

Nope, couldn't see it coming. Love your analogy about "walking on eggshells", a perfect description.

Take care,

HW

 

[velha508]

Hi Velha,

Thanks for your clear explanation regarding both your stomach acid and blood pressure issues in connection with the olive leaf. Because you seem to have found a workaround for at least the stomach acid situation you must feel that it is worth it to continue to take it? You started it to treat yeast?

Thanks for sharing with the forum.

Take care,

Maxine

Hi Maxine,

You know, I was very uncomfortable with the fact that I found I needed such higher doses of stomach acid. I was comforted enough by it's apparent return after stopping the olive leaf briefly to make me brave enough to continue. I guess I felt I really didn't have a choice as I felt the olive leaf was working as an antifungal (I had flares of my yeast allergy symptoms during initial and increasing doses) and I really needed help in that aspect.

I believe I'm supposed to take it for a minimum of 3 months at full dosage, this may increase depending on symptoms. I think we will do an additional stool test prior to stopping or deciding where to go next.

Take care,
Velha

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Hi Maxine,

You know, I was very uncomfortable with the fact that I found I needed such higher doses of stomach acid. I was comforted enough by it's apparent return after stopping the olive leaf briefly to make me brave enough to continue. I guess I felt I really didn't have a choice as I felt the olive leaf was working as an antifungal (I had flares of my yeast allergy symptoms during initial and increasing doses) and I really needed help in that aspect.

I believe I'm supposed to take it for a minimum of 3 months at full dosage, this may increase depending on symptoms. I think we will do an additional stool test prior to stopping or deciding where to go next.

Take care,
Velha

Hi Velha,

Thanks for the additional information. Sometimes we have to make tradeoffs. I believe, like you, that the olive leaf can be very beneficial. It's sounds good that you are doing some testing and reasoning before deciding how to proceed. I just wish there was sometimes an easier way with all this stuff.

Good Luck,

Maxine

 

[wciarci]

Olive leaf extract allowed me to clean, clean, clean and host Easter dinner

I have always been a believer in olive leaf extract but after reading so much about XMRV and HHV 6 I decided to take two tablets every day, not just when I was feeling ill. I don't have new energy but I have a longer duration of the energy I have, albeit with rests, frequently. After not cleaning my house for over a year, I have cleaned and I mean cleaned it. Washed walls, ceilings, showers, floors and the dreaded windows for two days straight, went food shopping and hosted a large Easter Dinner. Tired but no crash? Purchased at Prohealth, high potency, 500 mg, two pills in the morning. I am thinking of adding garlic, but I am a teacher and students are so sensitive to smells. Could it be the olive leaf or just the weather? High barometric pressure rather than the low that has plagued New England for almost a year! I just had to share, in the hope that it is indeed 'the reason' and that others can benefit from it.

Peace, love and understanding

Wendy:innocent1:

 

[cfs since 1998]

I have been on olive leaf extract since February 2009. I am on 15 capsules per day (500mg of extract standardized to 15% oleuropein). I strongly feel it is helping to suppress some virus, because of a tremendous reaction at the beginning which recurs whenever I stop it--the same symptoms reported by Valcyte/Valtrex CFS patients. But it has not brought me significant improvement despite the high dosage for a long time. It may just take a very long time of many years to work or it may never bring me improvement by itself. I think maybe it's hitting "a" virus but not the right one.

 

[JAM]

I have been on olive leaf extract since February 2009. I am on 15 capsules per day (500mg of extract standardized to 15% oleuropein). I strongly feel it is helping to suppress some virus, because of a tremendous reaction at the beginning which recurs whenever I stop it--the same symptoms reported by Valcyte/Valtrex CFS patients. But it has not brought me significant improvement despite the high dosage for a long time. It may just take a very long time of many years to work or it may never bring me improvement by itself. I think maybe it's hitting "a" virus but not the right one.

Are you still taking the OLE? If so what have your results been? I've been taking it for 5 months at a lower dose, but have noticed huge improvement, still symptomatic, but functioning for at least a few hours a day. What I've read about the pharma anti-viral patterns say that an average of 2.8 years is needed to return someone to "healthy" viral loads and then recurrence happens within a couple of years. My guess is that continuing with a low dose after "healthy" levels are reached may prevent recurrence, but it is hard to find people who have continued for that long. Any info you have would be appreciated.

 

[rwac]

OLE promotes conversion of T4 to T3 and also increases T4 levels.

http://www.ergo-log.com/olive-leaf-extract-active-thyroid-hormone.html

I think many people may actually seeing the benefits from that probably due to subclinical hypothyroid.

Perhaps you might consider using thyroid hormones as well.

 

[picante]

OLE promotes conversion of T4 to T3 and also increases T4 levels.

I've been taking OLE since late April. Suddenly I've got thyroid pain/ sore lymph nodes this evening one hour after taking it. Could this be an autoimmune attack?

Yes, I have Hashi's (high TPO antibodies). Yes, I'm taking thyroid hormone (T3).

 

[Violeta]

I've been taking OLE since late April. Suddenly I've got thyroid pain/ sore lymph nodes this evening one hour after taking it. Could this be an autoimmune attack?

Yes, I have Hashi's (high TPO antibodies). Yes, I'm taking thyroid hormone (T3).

Good question, has anyone else had this experience? I am taking OLE, too, and having good results if I don't take too much. I think it lowers blood pressure by increasing nitric oxide, which relaxes the arteries.

 

[picante]

Thanks, @Violeta. I searched and found this interesting remark:

As recently as 1998, researchers investigated oleuropeins antibacterial action and concluded that it can enhance nitric oxide production in mouse macrophages. By increasing nitric oxide production, oleuropein appears to arm the macrophages against endotoxins (bacterial poisons generated by gram-negative bacteria). Interestingly, oleuropein only increased nitric oxide production when endotoxins were present.

http://www.cpmedical.net/articles/olive-leaf-extract-natural-defense-against-biowarfare

 

[Violeta]

Thanks, @Violeta. I searched and found this interesting remark:


http://www.cpmedical.net/articles/olive-leaf-extract-natural-defense-against-biowarfare

That is very interesting! I am sure I have endotoxins.

I like this sentence from the article: "Finally, it should be emphasized that the components of olive leaf extract inactivated every cold and flu virus they were tested against, indicating Olive Leaf should occupy an important place in the medicine cabinet."

 

[Gondwanaland]

@Violeta @picante do you ladies take OLE on its own or combined with coconut oil?

 

[Gondwanaland]

Could this be an autoimmune attack?

I think it is a possibility

 

[Violeta]

@Violeta @picante do you ladies take OLE on its own or combined with coconut oil?

I take it in capsule form and I also have a tincture that I add to tea. I bought mine from Olivus, and they also sell it in a tea form and something like a tincture but sort of like a syrup, I forget exactly what they call it.

 

[picante]

@Violeta @picante do you ladies take OLE on its own or combined with coconut oil?

Mine is in a capsule, and coconut oil is a really good idea! Thanks, Izzy .

 

[GreenMachineX]

I’m currently testing Olive Leaf extract, and I’m on day 2. If I were to experience die off from this, how quickly would I notice it?