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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Kudzu dosage question
        
(Message started by: sgarner on Feb 17^th, 2006, 1:26am)

Title: Kudzu dosage question
Post by sgarner on Feb 17^th, 2006, 1:26am

Using Natures way Kudzu Root

613 mg per pill.

Currently on Verapamil 480 per day.

Just started a prednisone taper 60,60,60,40,40,40,20,20,20,10,10,10

How many of the 613 mg pills should I take per day and at what times.

HELP. Chronic for 3 yrs.

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by Mr. Happy on Feb 17^th, 2006, 1:37am

Two every 8 hours, but it won't matter......not with the Pred and the Verap. You won't know what's doing what.
Kudzu is best done alone, like a fine wine, a block of goat cheese, or sex.

What a choice to have to make.
RJ

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by Dragnlance on Feb 17^th, 2006, 8:34am

Quote:

LMAO!!

Seriously, Kudzu nutralizes the effects of the Verap. It is best to take one or the other, but not both.

Dragn

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by nani on Feb 17^th, 2006, 8:42am

Not exactly....
... kudzu and verap both have calcium channel blocking properties, so taking both could possibly bring your BP down too low. Keep an eye on it, should you choose to use both. Kudzu (within 2 hours of) can render Imitrex (and possibly other triptans) ineffective.
I know of others who've used kudzu during a pred taper, but RJ's right...how will you know which one worked? The choice, of course, is yours to make. I find folks get a little desperate and mix treatments sometimes. Personally, I really think it's best to find one and stick to it until you're sure it doesn't.
pain free wishes, nani

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by Dragnlance on Feb 17^th, 2006, 9:11am

Thanks for setting me straight Nani!

I use only Kudzu. Still too early to say, but so far reduced the degree of pain as well as duration of hits. Until I was told about Kudzu, I was not taking anything at all, for the last several years.

Good luck with beating the Monster!!

Dragn

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by TxBasslady on Feb 17^th, 2006, 2:44pm

I took the Kudzu, because I preferred to not use the triptans. The CH has a way of presenting itself no matter what I take.

I had exceptional success with the Kudzu. The first couple weeks on it was hell. Then everything seemed to settle down, and the Kudzu was like a miracle drug for me. The CH would break thru the Kudzu, but the intensity and the regularity of the CH was certainly held at bay by the Zu. I went from Kip 8's and 10's to 3's & 4's. Time wise...they lasted maybe 5 minutes to 10, instead of the traditional 30 to 45.

SeanC told me about the hot tea for the shadows, and I honestly felt for the first time, that I was in control of the CH, instead of it controlling me.

I stayed on the Zu for 10 months. I got my o2, and decided to attempt to taper off the Zu and see if I could manage without it. I tapered on the 30th of Dec, and only use o2 now.

Sometimes I wonder if we take too much stuff. I wonder if we aren't causing some rebounds by alot of the stuff we use for CH.

It's a scarey thought to try and go "med-free"...but sometimes it may help to get off everything, and slowly start over. I'm certainly not saying this would work for everyone. It worked for me...and should/would be a decision made by the individual. The CH seemed relentless for me. The more sh$t I took the worse it got.

The Kudzu seemed to get my CH under control and somewhat manageable. Unfortunately it doesn't work successfully for everyone.

Jean

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by Radha on Feb 20^th, 2006, 11:48pm

jean, what do you mean when you say the first weeks on kudzu was hell? i am thinking about trying this and any info about negative effects, or how long it takes to start working would help me alot, thanks
radha

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by nani on Feb 21^st, 2006, 12:01am

Radha, kudzu can have a BP lowering effect, so read all about it should you decide to try it. I noticed that you wanted to avoid that on your other thread. At the top of this board there is a thread called What's all the kudzuuuu about? Read it and all the links that are in it.
I can't speak for Jean, but I suspect she meant two things by "hell". One thing is that many of us have an increase in activity when we change treatments. The other is that it can take some time to figure out the best combination of dosage amount and timing for kudzu to have the most efficacy.

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by Dragnlance on Feb 21^st, 2006, 9:20am

I can say that I had only one side effect. That is if I take it on an empty stomache, I would get a sick feeling in my guts. It would only last for about 15 min or so. But if I eat first, then take it, no problem. I also have had very good luck with it, but I didn't have any other drugs in my system to interact either.

Read the other posts on it, there is tons of info here.

Lance

Title: Re: Kudzu dosage question
Post by TxBasslady on Feb 22^nd, 2006, 12:20am

on 02/21/06 at 00:01:22, nani wrote:

I can't speak for Jean, but I suspect she meant two things by "hell". One thing is that many of us have an increase in activity when we change treatments.

Anytime I change the "routine", the CH goes haywire.

I had more kip 10's the first couple weeks on the Kudzu, than I've ever had. I was determined to stay with it, cause Nani and others had found relief using the Kudzu. I suffered thru the bad hits without taking any triptans. It was well worth it....the Kudzu worked very well for me.

As I said, I am currently using o2....and I tapered off the Kudzu at the end of December. I'm happy to report that I'm basically pain-free.

Jean