The prospect of using Teasel Root as a great ally for folks particularly with chronic Lyme Disease comes from Matthew Wood’s splendid book, “The Book of Herbal Wisdom” which I HIGHLY recommend to the class just in general, but he’s also got an entire chapter just on Teasel Root in it.

Matt has a great sense of ALL the things that plants are - energetically, chemically, what they BRING OUT, what they have to SHOW us. He pulls from all KINDS of traditions and weaves things together with personal stories of how he’s used various plants to treat all kinds of things.

With Teasel, Dipsacus sylvestris, he first learns about the Chinese Dipsacus japonica whose Chinese name means “Restore What Is Broken”.

He says “Teasel is excellent for chronic inflammation of the muscles, with limitation of movement and great pain....Teasel is well indicated in chronic cases where a person becomes arthritic, the muscles all over are stiff and sore and they are eventually incapacitated.”

The late William LeSassier, Matt’s friend and teacher said: “It is for people who had a use, but lost it. They stepped off the path.”

But why SPECIFICALLY for Lyme? Matt writes: “After entering the body through a tick bite, the spirochetes burrow into the muscles where they settle down to live. Here they produce chronic inflammation and pain, with destruction of muscles and joints. People become like the broken-down ‘tertiary syphilitics’ described in old medical text books”

Matt describes the progress of five clients, all somewhat different, who experience incredible healing from taking Teasel. One that got my attention described her symptoms as getting better ‘from the top down’. (mine went in reverse order, remember?) Some of the clients described from mild to fierce aggravation of symptoms as the healing took place. This is where you need to listen to yourself. The doses Matt recommends are truly TINY, but if they aggravate your symptoms, do back down to a level you can deal with. My symptoms were merely ‘revisited’ over a few days’ time. As I worked my way up to the 9 DROPS a day, my body just didn’t want that much and I listened. I leveled off at 2 drops just 2x a day and STAYED there for 6 or 7 weeks.

When I can see folks in person, I have them Self-Test with the Teasel. Sometimes, even though we both KNOW they have Lyme, they test negative. I have seen this most often with folks currently on doxy. When they’re DONE with the doxy, I have them test again and often NOW they test positive. Matt has seen folks do splendidly taking Teasel at the same time as abx (antibiotics). He does suggest, however, that due to its profoundly subtle nature, that you take it at a different TIME of day from anything else you may be taking. I totally agree with that.

Although you’ll often see Teasel recommended for the joint/muscle pain OF Lyme, it completely addressed the actual disease that for me was manifesting as extremely severe neurological symptoms, with the help of St John’s wort to heal the actual nerve DAMAGE (see the damage page below)

So: Here’s the schedule that both Matthew Wood and I recommend.

Day one: 1 DROP of teasel root tincture in a little water. (yes, a mere DROP)
Day two: 1 DROP 2X
Day three: 1 DROP 3x
Day four: 2 DROPS, then 1 DROP, then 1 DROP
Day five: 2 DROPS, then 2 DROPS, then 1 DROP
Day six: 2 DROPS 3x
Day seven: 3 DROPS, then 2 DROPS, then 2 DROPS
Day eight: 3 DROPS, then 3 DROPS, then 2 DROPS
Day nine: 3 DROPS 3x (if and ONLY IF your body feels GOOD with that much)

and so on, just staying at the 9 drops per day level IF your body wants that for between 6 weeks and 3 months. Yes, although other herbalists recommend far higher doses, Matthew and I have just not seen that as being necessary.

I chose to take GrapeFruitSeed WITH (but at different times of the day from) the Teasel. Matt and I talked about this. He mused about how something truly, shudderingly bitter could set off a distinct reaction in the body which COULD be a valid part of the healing. Other herbs that might well do a similar thing for truly resistant cases would be Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata), or Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium)
 

Email me for sources of Teasel Root tincture

Also, any of you who have taken it, I’d SURE like to hear your feedback (which I’ll add to the updates page) The more, the better.

Am I promising that this ‘protocol’ will ~cure~ every case of Lyme?
 Oh come now, we know better than that.
Line up 100 Lymers and you have 100 different stories/patterns.
But both Matthew and I have seen truly ENCOURAGING results, and as of Oct’08, they continue to come in.(See the updates page)

The teasels who enjoy the gardens where I now live grew to over NINE FEET TALL! I guess they’re as fond of me as I am of them. [photo by Alan VanZuuk, 7/4/08]

<damage> <prevention> <updates>