Dysautonomia - POTS, following CoV era... consider artemisinin or Sweet Wormwood, Rosemary or evergreen needle tea or Star Anise in tea.

Adrenal symptoms are also commonly seen in "Long Covid"; and the symbolic language of flowers.

Thanks to a comment, (this post I think), it was pointed out that dysautonomia could be a ‘fifth’ main factor seen in ‘Long Covid’. I agree, methylation dysfunction would be an underlying risk factor for epigenetic or autoimmune reactions occurring that cause symptoms of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).

Writing that post was a wake-up for me - off an on I have had phases of sleeping 12 hours a night and wanting/needing naps during the day also. That just isn’t right. I increased iodine intake and added artemisinin back into my daily routine at 100 mg/day (1 capsule) since writing that post and I have had more energy. Hypothyroidism became clear enough that General Practitioner started a 22 mg dose of Synthroid per day for me which I’ve been taking intermittently. I would like my thyroid to not be suppressed and return to more normal function. Selenium is also part of my routine when I drink my Cheerful Juice mix.

Daily self-care for a complex autoimmune case with mystery symptoms…. is not easy. But can be possible!

• This post is related - phytonutrients or functional foods that might help health. Licorice, DGL, is an adrenal support herb too, about 1/4 teaspoon a few times per day might be a reasonable use - good in a hot beverage or added to a porridge or baked good. Dandelion season is on the way and is a safe herbal tea or salad green (small amounts, cut small - it’s bitter tasting) for children or women of child-bearing age. (Substack)

Functional foods that may be effective against spike effects at the ACE2 receptor in particular.

POTS post (I’ve had the symptoms twice and got better on my own twice): (Substack)

POTS - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, can be epigenetic & therefore may be reversible.

This post has links to a few of my protocols and mentions the post listed above. Leptin Resistance and PCOS protocols are linked in this post: (Substack).

Essential oils can help calm a racing heart rate - tachycardia. I have found Ylang ylang essential oil to be an acute care response - calming within 20 minutes when also resting, elevating the legs above the level of the heart can help. Other oils found useful for POTS include Rosemary (one of the flowers in the language of flowers coloring page below), Lavender, Peppermint, and Marjoram. (vivorific.com)

Rosemary, shrubby evergreen used as a cooking herb: Rosemary is like pine needles in medicinal value and a strong tea made with Rosemary has pain-relieving benefits for arthritis in traditional use and is known for supporting a better memory - helping brain health.

Juniper needles used in tea and dried juniper berries are used as a seasoning: Juniper tea can be beneficial for urinary tract problems as it acts as a diuretic, helping to clear the kidneys, bladder, gallbladder, and prostate. Additionally, it can help with heartburn and calm an upset stomach.

• Evergreen needle tea is likely effective against CoV era issues and may be beneficial for autism or other neurocognitive inflammatory conditions.

To make Rosemary tea, or tea with any pine, spruce, juniper, Arborvitae, or cedar needles/leaves:

• Add 3 tablespoons of evergreen needles to a quart of hot water and let steep for 20-30 minutes.

• Or steep overnight starting with hot or cold water can work like making Suntea. (post with Structured water beverages and Suntea directions)

• CAUTION: do not use the needles of Yew as those contain some negative toxin of some sort.

• Caution individually: People sensitive to phenols in the diet may not be able to tolerate evergreen needle or Star Anise tea as they are rich in phenylpropanoids - medicinally beneficial but chemically are phenols and genetically some people can’t process much of that group. More on that after Star Anise.

Star Anise spice or tea: Star Anise seed pods can be broken into a few small pieces and just a few pieces adds a similar phytonutrient benefit to tea and is soothing for a sore throat too, AND it tastes quite good, a bit like a spicy licorice. CAUTION - really quite potent, tiny pieces are bark like and add a lot of flavor. They can even be reused for a second or third pot of tea if still fresh (wet things will rot/mold). Medicinally, Star Anise seed pods are quite potent and are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, (Li, et al., 2022)

Antiviral and Antioxidant Components from the Fruits of Illicium verum Hook.f. (Chinese Star Anise). (Li, et al., 2022)

For whatever quirky genetic or autoimmune reason, I found I couldn’t use Star Anise or evergreen needle tea anymore but initially during my three weeks of untested mystery illness, it was very soothing to my throat and tasty in my citrus/pomegranate peel tea. Li, et al., 2022, reveal my problem, twenty molecules were identified by the team including many “phenylpropanoids” - a potent aromatic group of chemicals within essential oils. Genetically I don’t break down phenols well and too much may accumulate for me.

Phenol and Salicylate Sensitivity: Methylation function and glycine are involved in salicylate deactivation and excretion. If phenol sensitive, check out this post with a list of essential oils that are more concentrated in phenylpropanoids - the culinary spices or herbs would be similarly problematic for a sensitive person but the dose of essential oils can be much more concentrated and may cause symptoms more easily than use of cooking spices - but the herbs and spices count. I limit most of them now that I have identified that it causes worse ADHD like symptoms when I have an excess salicylates or phenols. Dietary ‘biomarker’ - if you or your child seem to react to red or purple food colorings than phenol sensitivity might be present.

More about POTS and adrenal fatigue

Spend more time, or a few minutes occasionally in this position, but particularly if your heart rate is racing, or with the legs propped up on pillows.

Exercise: prop your legs up against the wall and lay there for a few minutes…. I think I can do that! For a better image of the exercise and four other adrenal/vagal nerve support exercises see this clinicalyogainstitute.com.

I have also been trying to get outside for more fresh air and short walks, without over-exerting as that just tends to lead to an autoimmune setback for a few days of no energy again. Baby steps towards better stamina… muscle exertion creates inflammatory myokines which in excess can add to a cytokine storm ~ positive feedback loop of inflammation. Polyphenol rich foods and antioxidant support from vitamin C or alpha lipoic acid can help the body to recover faster after exercise. Note though, it has been top athletes who have tended to keel over.

POTS can include or be preceded by adrenal symptoms:

“Ready to learn more? https://www.womenshealthnetwork.com/a... The symptoms of adrenal fatigue are disruptive and destructive:

• Chronic fatigue, overwhelming tiredness and lack of energy

• Insomnia or sleep disturbances

• Inability to cope with stress physically or emotionally

• Cravings for salty and/or sweet foods

• Lightheadedness

• Weak immune system

• Infections and colds/flu

• Fuzzy thinking or brain fog

• Low libido

• Irritability

• Digestive issues

• Depression and anxiety”

-Dr. Sharon Stills, (Brief video about nutrition for adrenal support, Youtube)

Dr. Sharon Stills recommends salmon for protein and omega 3 fatty acids; dark leafy greens for vitamin K, and magnesium - for the energy that the adrenal glands and every cell needs; colorful produce, the rainbow, to provide plenty of vitamin B5, vitamin C, and other trace nutrients; Vitamin E can be found in avocados, nuts and seeds; beans are also a good source of B vitamins and Pantothenic acid (B5) is highlighted as it needed by the adrenal glands.

Try to avoid - sugary foods and caffeine - if a boost of energy is a need, then the body isn’t in balance and there will be a crash again and a tendency to seek more sugar or caffeine which overstresses the adrenal and cortisol system. Having consistent mealtimes each day is less stressful for the adrenals. (Brief video about nutrition for adrenal support, Youtube)

I have had POTS-like symptoms twice prior to CoV era and both times managed to reverse it on my own. Medical system doesn’t really understand the underlying issues which for me was a combination of stress and bad air adding up to excessive formaldehyde. Smog or smoking or stale smoke in the indoor air (and dust, poor circulation) can include formaldehyde. And when we are stressed our bodies also produce an excess of formaldehyde. We need methyl folate to help detoxify the waste chemical formaldehyde.

I was able to reverse my POTS symptoms (dizziness upon standing suddenly and a racing heart rate) by increasing use of methyl folate, decreasing my smoking (I didn’t totally stop medical marijuana at that time), and moving the smoking outside which improved the indoor air quality. Reducing stress level was an ongoing need which didn’t just go away but making the other changes helped enough and I probably modified my mental coping too but there was still stress.

Sunshine! traveling to warm and sunny locations helped improve my health a good bit more and reduced my stress - a different situation may have been an additive factor.

Resources for Adrenal and diet for a better mood - more follow later and more on phytonutrients after that.

A recommended Reading List by Julie Matthews, CFN, (slightly old now ~ 2013 list) for adrenal or brain neurotransmitter and mood support. Julia Ross is a big/early name in this area of specialized healthcare:

Stress, Hormones, Neurotransmitters and the Brain

Recommended

• Nutrient Power: Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain by Dr. William J. Walsh; 1988 - 13 academic papers which have cited the book, (semanticscholar.org).

• The Diet Cure by Julia Ross;

Julia Ross’s website: (juliarosscures.com/diet-cure/);

• an eight=part screening questionnaire based on her book (updated 2012) to help identify individual issues (juliarosscures.com/diet-cure-questionnaire/) A thorough review of personal symptoms, food patterns, and lifestyle habits is generally a NEED, in order to provide individualized health or nutrition guidance.

• A recommendation for the book is written by Dr. Amen, an author and researcher in the area of SPECT scans and mental health. His clinics look at brain activity and do a thorough question based screening for individualizing nutrition in order to help improve mental health:

“An amazing book, filled with wisdom, experience, and practical advice.”

• —Daniel G. Amen, M.D., author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life; his site (brainmd.com/change-your-brain-change-your-life-revised-and-expanded)

7 Screening categories considered by Julie Matthews: “Food Cravings; Diet Record/Food Frequency; Foods Reactions; Common Symptoms; Laboratory Testing; Genetics; Client Considerations”

• Client considerations = personal food preferences or picky eating/food aversions unrelated to symptoms, food cravings can mean that is an inflammatory food that is being craved because endorphins are created when it is eaten, or stimulatory glutamate seasoning might be involved or other addictive food reactions; Work schedule, Travel, Budget, Resources, Time, Help/Support, Client Goals and Desires (what is the client’s main motivation in working toward change? Reducing negative physical or mental symptoms, or improving energy level, or improving appearance or weight or blood sugar or blood pressure?

Some moodiness ahead:

Someone replied ~ angrily to a comment I had made on X.com regarding Retinoid Toxicity and how strictly reducing vitamin A and carotenoid foods, supplements and medications might resolve chronic fatigue symptoms - even reverse the problem. Their point - How can an extremely fatigued person make dietary changes that will likely require more home cooking?

That is part of “Client Considerations” - does this person have the mental motivation or understanding to test a new theory? Does this person have the physical capacity to try a new approach? Can this person find help within their life to prepare different foods for them? Does the person have budgetary control over their food choices or are they stuck within a cafeteria or take-out style of food choices? (Does this person know how to cook or have a kitchen?) Is this person so incapacitated physically that they need a three-week full-service type of facility to help them reach an improved baseline of health and energy before they would be able to have the energy/health to prepare their own food and maintain changes learned at the facility?

Quite a while ago I wrote a post stating that people with complex chronic health issues like Chronic Fatigue, likely need a full-service care facility to provide the healing start their body needs for symptom improvement to be able to learn new skills and have energy to practice. Intensive education in new methods of self-care and cooking are likely needed to improve their health enough to be able to keep going with the newly learned self-care lifestyle and diet skills.

YES - trying to improve your health while you are unhealthy is QUITE challenging and often includes more expensive foods or adding some quality supplements rather than continuing to use standard foods or low-quality supplements. If it is at a grocery store or big box store, then it is probably not a good brand - based on looking for stuff for myself. I can find very few supplements worth buying at standard off-the-shelf stores except for a place like Better Health alternative chain stores.

Negative ingredients may be in the supplement, or too little of the nutrient, and it might be a health negative rather than benefiting health. Titanium dioxide is used as a whitener in supplements and in commercial foods like ‘mashed potatoes’ - if the food is eerily white…. like white paint, then don’t eat it. Titanium dioxide includes nanoparticles of a heavy metal - it is basically a poison to the body…. so why is it in our food and supplements? Because we want eerily white paint-like food or riboflavin supplements that are not yellow? I don’t think that is the reason.

I wandered from my point…. yes, trying to improve your health while you are unhealthy is quite difficult, and therefore preventing chronic inflammation and chronic illness in the first place is far better than becoming ill and having to cope with it. However, …is life fair? …Is life easy? …Does life hand-out three-week full care stays at an alternative functional health clinic?

No, not really.

You might get committed against your will in a lock-up psychiatric facility though. And that base level of food might help restore base health to someone with severe malnutrition, using those standard foods. But the standard care won’t be individualizing the diet or supplementing individual needs caused by genetic or other dysfunction. And it will likely be forcing psychiatric medications that tend to deplete essential nutrients and lead to worse symptoms due to mitochondrial dysfunction having a wide array of ripple effects. Health could become significantly worse from a three-week stay in that standard psychiatric care setting. Withdrawal from the meds can cause even worse symptoms of akathisia too.

Having had a ten-day stay like that, I learned the definition of ‘sanity’ for a female was:

1. Wear a bra.

2. Wear make-up every day.

3. Talk slowly, and not too much.

4. Walk slowly and don’t move abruptly.

…. »»> Sane!

Medications given can have significant negative side effects that the patient is just supposed to accept as their lot in life - be compliant and swallow the pills without complaints. Medications or withdrawal from them can also lead to suicidal/homicidal urges and other odd symptoms of akathisia. The psychiatric industry is not providing care or guidance for those problems. Bad patients are just bad patients who are being non-compliant patients, roughly. Psychiatric medications can cause severe problems and are definitely linked to mass killing events or a murder/suicide within a family (or the psychiatrist can be at risk).

What does this have to do with dysautonomia?

Yes, it really is hard to cook healthy food, or shop, or drive a car, when you have a tendency to faint when you stand up or move quickly. I did faint once. It is weird to find yourself on the floor suddenly. What do you do then? Lay there waiting for someone to provide full-time care for you? Or do you slowly roll over onto your knees and slowly lift yourself up while holding onto a chair? Do you give up? Do you accept that you no longer seem able to do much for yourself? Or do you slowly, gradually, try to figure out what helps you to feel better and learn to avoid the things that make you feel worse?

Survival is a mindset.

‘Client Considerations’ - Mental, social, financial, intellectual, even religious considerations may affect individualized counseling needs.

Survival Mindset: Does this client want to survive? or have they given up hope?

Victim Mindset: Is this person a ‘blamer’ who only sees where other people aren’t providing them with an instant solution and maybe a full-service care facility?

Waiting for the medical industry to provide better solutions, while they are also denying harm, is kind of a Fool’s Game. ….in my opinion as a patient and health professional who has helped motivated people to improve their health. I can’t help people who don’t believe change is possible or who are unwilling to consider that current strategies led to the problems, and therefore current strategies…are a problem, or are part of the problem.

Turns out our governments have been trying to cull us with a bioweapon injection. What are you going to do about that? Accept the next bioweapon jab because it is what your government wants you to comply with? Wait for your government to apologize and give you a full-care functional health clinic stay?

Hold your breath and have a temper tantrum?

We have choices — whether we see the choices available to us, or we only see what seems unavailable or magically possible, is another question. And it is an important question to ask oneself, or to ask a client. Do you want to try? Or do you want a silver platter full-service handout that magically fixes everything?

Nursing home for full-care patients can easily cost $9000/month, and it will be standard cafeteria style food of varied quality based on the facility. Three weeks stay in a poor-quality facility can make health much worse, anecdotally (*my dad), …be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Seeking help within the same system that is causing harm… is a fool’s game. Fool’s gold.

*Pyrite, iron disulfide, looks a lot like gold, but isn’t. It fooled people during the Alaskan Gold Rush. Fool’s gold more recently has been found to contain very small amounts of gold though, which might be able to be isolated chemically. (scitechdaily.com/a-potential-goldmine-fools-gold-contains-a-newly-discovered-type-of-real-gold/) My dad was interested in the Alaskan Gold Rush and traditional camping. We vacationed in Alaska when I was young, and during the trip, we collected Fool’s Gold at location with lots of it, and we panned for gold in a river. He found a few flecks of gold at the Alaskan river where early gold rush explorers had also panned for gold.

**Panning for gold - a large wok like shallow metal bowl/pan is used to swirl river water so lighter flecks of gold rise above other rocks and sandcollecting in the bottom of the pan - hand pick the tiny flecks out of the water without losing it again in the grit. ***Tedious and boring for a little kid - but it involved wading in a shallow river, so fun!

Pyrite, Fool’s Gold, Iron disulfide crystals. Photo by Calvin Chai on Unsplash

Food cravings may occur for foods that stimulate internal production of opioids or dopamine or serotonin. Glutamate seasonings or naturally rich sources of glutamates, or aspartame/Neotame sweeteners, can be addictive as they increase excitatory dopamine. Sugary foods or refined starches might be over-eaten for the calming serotonin increase. Sugar and fat can be addictive. Sugary/starchy foods that also are rich in fats can cause an internal production of soothing and pain-relieving opioids - like ice cream, donuts and other dessert like treats. Is it a treat? Or is it Fool’s Gold?

Gluten from wheat and other grains, casein from dairy products, and soy foods all can have an opioid producing effect and may be craved. They also can cause opening between intestinal cells, leak into the blood, and damage blood cells - literally breaking cell membranes. Fool’s Gold? *Tofu that is traditionally prepared has less of the negative proteins but is still likely a risk for leaky bowel and increased autoimmune risks from undigested proteins entering the blood stream. Combine with low vitamin D metabolism from glyphosate effects and autoimmune antibodies are even more likely.

While POTS that is due to epigenetic changes can be reversed, if it is due to autoimmune antibodies attacking critical parts of the body systems, then it might be less reversible. With adrenal fatigue, salt may be craved. Coffee might seem like the blood of life - morning doesn’t start until the coffee is brewed.

Spinach and other oxalate rich foods might be craved even though the oxalate is causing negative symptoms. When the body is in pain, then pain-relieving endorphins/opioids may be produced - and those can be addictive - mood altering. Any allergen or food causing an immune response of some type or other changes (food sensitivities and intolerances are slightly different groups) may be craved due to the pain-relieving chemicals that are also produced in response to pain…. but chronic inflammation and damage to the body is also occurring. Histamine trigger foods may be craved even though or because they are causing negative symptoms but also a pain-relief response.

Food additives like whitening Titanium dioxide might be causing symptoms and some might add to cravings for those same foods due to production of pain-relieving chemicals or excitatory dopamine or glutamate.

A major first step towards change, is recognizing that whatever you are doing most often, is likely part of what needs to be changed. If current strategies are no longer working, then…. they are no longer working and need to be stopped. Better methods that are more effective in this new stage of life need to be discovered and used instead.

“Precontemplation” is the stage prior to recognition — “I have no problems that are of my own cause, or under my own control.” That can be an issue of having given up, having accepted a victim role within one’s own life. Someone else need’s to fix this for me because mommy’s do that. Why isn’t mommy/government/doctor fixing my problem? It might also be an issue of lack of knowledge - “This negative symptom has been present since childhood, and therefore it is normal and unchangeable.” But what if was changeable if the underlying issues were identified and modified? Would you be willing to gradually pick yourself up off the floor and work on figuring those changes out and making them part of a new lifestyle?

The MAJOR problem that I see regularly within conversation by psychiatrists and their followers, is a complete lack of attention to nutrition as a causal factor in mental symptoms. If you are wearing blinders, then you won’t be able to see or recognize a wider range of solutions for a problem.

Logging symptoms and logging progress can help during the change process.

From a post a year ago (I didn’t make as much forward progress in my own life as I had hoped then): a Positive Psychology exercise called “Building Self-Efficacy by Taking Small Steps.” (pdf in my Dropbox) The link includes the counselor guidance, references, and the exercise handouts for the client.

“Considering behavior change, engaging in new and different behaviors helps people realize that they can carry out these behaviors successfully. This has been referred to as self-efficacy, defined as the belief that one can carry out what is necessary to realize one’s goals (Bandura, 1997). Through a self-fulfilling cycle of achievement and confidence, self-efficacy can develop over time. In general, people who have high self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to be committed to their goals (Bandura, 1997; Gollwitzer, 1990).

Research also shows that initiating a behavioral change successfully has a positive effect on the brain. According to Histed, Pasupathy, and Miller (2009), people learn more from their successes than from their failures, and subsequent achievements are processed more efficiently. In other words, our brains learn quickly what makes us succeed so that we can repeat it.” — counselor guidance section of “Building Self-Efficacy by Taking Small Steps.” (pdf in my Dropbox)

A Pathway to Change worksheet doesn’t need to be fancy, or a print out, it could also be a simple daily log of the steps you are taking towards building the new habit. The example they provide is one for increasing exercise and daily walks or jogging is logged in minutes spent doing the activity and is really just a pretty log page.

Books for nutrition guidance about Adrenal health, stress, anxiety and mood - an older list ~ predating 2013 largely. I have added updated links when available.

Supplementary

• The Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson, NMD and Sara Gottfried, MD, also for sale used. 2018 edition, (penguinrandomhouse.com)

• The Bulletproof Diet by Dave Asprey, a newer book: daveasprey.com/the-complete-illustrated-one-page-bulletproof-diet/.

• Longevity Now: A Comprehensive Approach to Healthy Hormones, Detoxification, Super Immunity, Reversing Calcification and Total Rejuvenation by David Wolfe, 2013, (Amazon)

• Nutrition and Mental Illness – an Orthomolecular Approach to Balancing Body Chemistry by Carl C. Pfeiffer, Ph.D, M.D, 1988, (barnesandnoble.com)

• Adrenal Reset Diet Recipes by Stephanie Samson

• The Mood Cure: Take Charge of Your Emotions in 24 Hours Using Food and Supplements by Julia Ross, juliarosscures.com/mood-cure/.

• The Antianxiety Food Solution by Trudy Scott, (everywomanover29.com) - Brief video about the Zinc taste test - if zinc in a water solution tastes bad, then your zinc status is likely sufficient. Someone who needs zinc won’t notice a bad or metallic taste. ‘Zinc status test: The Antianxiety Food Solution’ (Youtube)

• Why Isn't My Brain Working? by Datis Kharrazian, drknews.com.

• Stress, anxiety and insomnia – what the drug companies won’t tell you and your doctor doesn’t know – the natural solutions that can change your life, by Michael T Murray, ND, 2012 - Nice giveaway, Dr. Murray has the full book pdf available as a free download on his website, doctormurray.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/StressBookFinal.pdf; his site: doctormurray.com/.

• Staying Healthy with Nutrition, rev: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine by Elson M. Haas and Buck Levin, 2006 edition, (amazon.com).

• RETHINKING FATIGUE: What Your Adrenals Are Really Telling You And What You Can Do About It by Nora Gedgaudas and Datis Kharrazian; a review of the book: (primalbody-primalmind.com/rethinking-fatigue/) (ebook, Amazon)

I would add the Tibetan Medicine book as a helpful mind/body approach to healing physical symptoms by also paying attention to thoughts and reactivity patterns. How to reduce stressful thoughts? Stop thinking them…. easier said than done. Practice with new thoughts is really a need to help the brain learn new self-talk patterns and kick-out old stressful thought patterns. We may have heard the negative self-talk our entire childhood, so it is embedded like bad software coding. It takes some work to ‘debug’ our mental patterns and replace them with better ‘code’.

Tibetan Medicine series of posts based on the book:

• Tibetan Medicine and You - A Path to Wellbeing, Better Health, and Joy, by Miriam E. Cameron and Tenzin Namdul, 2020. (GoodReads) (Rowman.com)

Miriam Cameron is a registered nurse with a PhD in nursing and philosophy/bioethics who has been studying Tibetan Medicine since 1994. Tenzin Namdul is a doctor of Tibetan Medicine. The book is a collaborative work with a goal of bringing the benefits of Tibetan Medicine practices to Western medicine practitioners. (GoodReads) (Rowman.com)

1. Learning self-appreciation Hawaiian style - Ho-oponopono (& Tibetan medicine introduction), a long post. (Substack)

2. Tibetan singing bowls and church bells - healing frequencies, (Substack).

3. Tibetan medicine, a Meditation on Anger, (Substack)

4. Embryology, Tibetan Medicine, Stereotypes & Individual differences, (Substack)

5. Chronic Pain and hearing risks; Tibetan Medicine - Happiness, (Substack)

Learning self appreciation Hawaiian style - Ho'oponopono.

Tibetan singing bowls and church bells - healing frequencies

Tibetan medicine, a Meditation on Anger.

Embryology, Tibetan Medicine, Stereotypes & Individual differences.

Chronic pain and hearing risks; Tibetan Medicine - Happiness.

More recently, this week, I started reading a book I purchased about Tibetan Medicine and the opening patient/case example was about adrenal type imbalance from poor diet and intensive meditation leading to a psychiatric collapse, almost catatonia but fearful. Varied treatments were used for acute treatment including a Mugwort/wormwood herb used with moxibustion along acupressure points of the spine.

The mugwort herb was prescribed to be continued as an oral supplement along with improved diet, restricting alcohol, and spending more time in the real world/nature and less or no time in meditation - the patient was a young man visiting Tibet as a tourist or student. The symptoms being described sound somewhat like dissociation or depersonalization disorder - kind of untreatable by Western medicine. In the Tibetan clinic the young man was returned to a more normal state within the initial visit, although the doctor being observed did act rapidly and as if this was critical to bring the young man back promptly. It is not unknown even among experienced Buddhist meditation to hear of someone having a mental break.

The moderate balanced path is the recommended middle way of Buddhist philosophy, and likely is better for brain health than living at extremes of any type.

• A Tibetan Medicine Guide to Healing Anxiety, Stress, and PTSD - Healing Anxiety, by Mary Friedman Ryan, PhD, with Dr. (Lady) Dadhon Jamling, Personal Physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 2016, Born Perfect Ink. (Amazon)

I have found artemisinin or Wormwood tea helpful for fatigue related to CoV era. I have used 100 mg capsules of artemisinin once or twice a day on an ongoing basis or tea made with a spoonful or less of Wormwood which I bought by accident. Look for the milder tasting and safer Sweet Wormwood, and be aware that it is likely a salicylate source. The artemisinin isolate doesn’t affect my salicylate sensitivity but the Wormwood tea did cause symptoms of salicylate excess for me.

Individualizing self-care strategies is a need. Being patient and changing course sooner rather than later is generally a better path, more moderate, than waiting for the crash to occur before you change course. I just posted recently about artemisinin or Mugwort/wormwood species. The group as a whole all have similar potent medicinal benefits and locally, some of family is growing near you - pretty much anywhere in the settled regions of the world. Dry the leaves, make some tea… More specific info is in this post: (Substack).

Iron chelating benefits of Artemisinin or Sweet Wormwood or Mugworts, for fatigue or hyperinflammation.

The short story on oxidative stress is that we don’t want iron to be free to cause ‘rust’ within us. Iron chelating herbs like the Mugwort family or pomegranate or citrus peel would all help control iron or other metallic minerals that were adding to an oxidative stress load within the body.

Artemisinin may help IgG4 and T-cell balance: (Substack) - That post isn’t very long but has links to some of my health documents - the CoV Protocol draft is included.

IgG4 antibodies - the autoimmune kind we don't want, are elevated by increasing # of CoV jabs. Passive exposure is likely similar.

An oldie but a goldie: circa June 2020, (Substack) I started using 100 mg artemisinin on March 19, 2020, one in the am and one in the pm, because I was over the respiratory symptoms, but going up and down the basement stairs felt like climbing a mountain. Within just a day or two my energy started to return and I was able to increase exercise and build back my stamina. Three weeks of CoV was all I wanted, thank you bioweapon industry very much. #BaricandBuddiesforjail.

Artemisinin, arteannuin-B, sgp130Fc and COVID-19

• See below, Prep for Valentine’s Day - learn the language of flowers, more flower coloring pages and article on X.com.

Phenylpropanoid quote:

“Especially, compound 7 [(−)-bornyl p-coumarate] showed strong antiviral activities against influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 H1N1 (PR8) with an IC₅₀ value of 1.74 ± 0.47 μM, which is much better than those of Tamiflu (IC₅₀ = 10.01 ± 0.92 μM) and ribavirin (IC₅₀ = 10.76 ± 1.60 μM). The antiviral activity against PR8 of compound 7 was reported for the first time, which was sufficiently confirmed by cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), cytopathic effect (CPE) reduction, and immunofluorescence assays. In this study, the discovery of antiviral and antioxidant components from the fruits of I. verum could benefit the further development and utilization of this plant.” (Li, et al., 2022)

Herbal tea and a bouquet of flowers may be just what the doctor needs to order! ;-)

The symbolic language of flowers - color, shape and medicinal value are part of the language of flowers - used more extensively during the Victorian era when feelings were not as openly discussed as they may be now. May the White Rose of Peace be with, or a facsimile of your own creation.

Prep for Valentine’s Day - learn the language of flowers, more flower coloring pages and article on X.com.

Disclaimer: This information is being provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of Fair Use and is not intended to provide individual health care guidance.

Reference List

(Li, et al., 2022) Li W, Wu Z, Xia Y, Tan J, Zhao H, Chen S, Li Y, Tang H, Wang G, Zhang Y. Antiviral and Antioxidant Components from the Fruits of Illicium verum Hook.f. (Chinese Star Anise). J Agric Food Chem. 2022 Mar 30;70(12):3697-3707. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c08376. Epub 2022 Mar 16. PMID: 35293738. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.1c08376