Alternative treatments

I just looked up the Breath Easy tea if it is the same one and the first ingredient is licorice! Then eucalyptus. Can you consume eucalyptus internally? I agree one should make sure the source is pure and also understand that natural remedies can and do produce side effects. I know some people who got lead and heavy metal poisoning from herbal remedies from India.

Hi @siliai, @poppins, @kjellis, my name is Nan and I read Stephen Buhner's book and tried his liquid tincture herbs about a year or so ago. He doesn't address MAC in particular but he did talk about mycobacterium a little so I tried the two herbs that were the closest I could find. Shari, @pfists also used these herbal antibiotics and she would probably be a little better at explaining. The two used were bidens and cryptolepis and I purchased them from a good website called Woodland Essence which is one of the websites that Stephen Buhner recommends. I mixed mine with juice and as I remember I did them two to three times a day. I don't have the book with me at the moment but maybe Shari could remember what pages he talks about these two. I think they're used for lots of different ailments. I am free of MAC now (just went to my pulmonologist and infectious disease doctor today actually) but I can't really say what worked and what didn't. I did the big three for one year from 2016-2017 and then after that I did the herbal antibiotics for a few months but that was it and for the past year and a half I have been doing the 7% saline solution. I'm a big believer in that saline solution. I'm also willing to try just about anything alternative. So that's been my experience. Hope that helps. Nan

Stinging Nettle tea and tincture can be helpful for lungs. You can source it from your own yard (with gloves on) and steep the leaves. Best to google how-to beforehand.

Can we find these leaves in our backyard? I have never seen them. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Hi Carolyn -
Yes, stinging nettle is pretty much everywhere in North America. You may know it as "itch weed" depending on where you live.
I let a crop of it grow at the very back of my lot to harvest for dying fabrics.
Caution: read all about it first, and if you decide to harvest wear sturdy leather gloves. The tiny hairs on the stems and leaves can get into your skin and cause a reaction. (I harvest mine in long denim sleeves and gloves.)

Full disclosure - I have never made tea from it. If you decide to try it, make it according to directions you find online, and test a few drops on the inner skin of your forearm before taste-testing a small sample, to find out if you react adversely to it. Some people are allergic to it (uncommon) but you don't want a nasty surprise from something that is supposed to be helpful.
Sue

Yes! Great advice, Sue. You can buy the tea in stores, as well and also the tincture to add to water.

Yes! Great advice, Sue. You can buy the tea in stores, as well and also the tincture to add to water.

Hi Carolyn - I'm probably odd-man-out with teas and such - if I can gather it in my no-chemical yard, or the local no-chemical park, I prefer to make my own (my oven doubles as a dehydrator.)

Often in late summer, my 3 season porch can look a bit like an old curing shed, with plants and seeds drying everywhere.

Others, like goldenrod, which I use as a dye, are boiling away on a gas hotplate on the patio. Then the concentrate goes into the freezer.

Just one of my quirks, along with putting random weeds (herbs) and flower in my summer salads. But I have 60 years of experience and training recognizing plants and herbs so I feel confident I won't harm myself or anyone else.
Sue

Yes, it is the same, but at one or two cups a day, the dose is quite small. I have use Traditional Medicinals teas for over 40 years without any adverse effects. I just have to carefully read each label to make sure there are no plants to which I am allergic.
And yes to the poisoning. My sister got pancreatitis and kidney failure from overuse of imported herbal supplements, and now has liver failure as well.
Maybe that is why I sometimes come post so strongly about about supplements.
Sue