Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium, M. nervosa, M. spp. (a.k.a. Berberis spp.), Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Homework includes selecting a liver herb that I would like to use for one week, three times per day. Research regarding dosing must be done selecting three different book sources.
Common Name: Oregon Grape
Latin Name: Mahonia (Berberis) aquifolium
Plant Family: Barberry Family
Dosage suggestions & sources:
Herb Pharm tincture bottle: Two to four times per day take 30 to 40 drops in a little water.
Foundation of Health - Healing with Herbs & Foods: 20 to 40 drops (1 dropperful) morning and evening is a maintenance dose, while a dropperful morning, afternoon and evening is a mild therapeutic dose. (Hobbs)
Herbal Medicine - From the Heart of the Earth: 10 to 60 drops 1-4 times per day. (Tilgner)
Form in which I will be taking the herb: tincture of young lateral roots
Day one: Monday, 5/23/2011; I have diagnosed myself with strep throat, as it hurts too bad to swallow and my tonsils are covered in white nasty. This started on Saturday afternoon, and today I’ve been drinking garlic tea with cayenne and honey. I’ve also been taking Immune Defense Tonic, a compound tincture from Herb Pharm that contains Echinacea root, Astragalus root, Reishi mushroom, Schisandra berry and Prickly Ash bark. 
Starting this morning I have decided to gargle this tincture along with Oregon Grape tincture also from Herb Pharm. This gargling was decided by myself and I have not read about anyone else doing this. The numbing effect is quite nice.
Yesterday I slept most of the day away, did not eat much and mostly drank a tun of tea. Today I stood home from work to continue healing and with wonderful results; 90% of the white on my tonsils has cleared away and the sore throat has dissipated almost completely. 
I will continue taking the Oregon Grape tincture for the next 7 days.
Day two: Tuesday 5/24/2011; My throat is 100% better today. I feel great and full of energy. Also, I have gotten my appetite back.
Day three: Wednesday 5/25/2011; I feel quite good. I haven’t noticed any difference in my digestion. 
Day four: Thursday 5/26/ 2011; I really love Oregon Grape. I am so amazed at how quickly my strep went away and how well I have healed. This is much different from being a kid and getting so sick for at least a week and having to be on anti-biotics. This time I have taken probiotics and I feel so good about this.
Day five: Friday 5/27/2011; My body feels good and I feel like I have plenty of energy.
Day six: Saturday 5/28/2011; I forgot to take my Oregon Grape as often today because I was busy, busy filling my brain at Medic Training. I feel good overall just tired from a late evening.
Day seven: Sunday 5/29/2011; I feel itchy! I’ve felt itchy for days but hadn’t really thought of mentioning it. There doesn’t seem to be a rash; my entire torso itches. It’s a light itch the worsens with scratching.
Day ten: Wednesday 6/1/2011; I am still itchy and haven’t been taking Oregon Grape so luckily it doesn’t seem that I have an allergy to Oregon Grape, Hooray! I have a crazy appetite the last couple of days. Perhaps making up from not eating much while I was sick or maybe something to do with not taking Oregon Grape any longer and my digestion is wonky. Guess time will tell...

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