Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

My husband has been an episodic sufferer for over 35 years. Almost every year a black cloud hovered over our house for 9-10 weeks at a time. The cloud would follow us whenever we’d try to venture out so my husband had to up trying to leave. Our house would be filled with prescriptions, ice packs, energy drinks, and once, a giant oxygen tank. Every year would differ in treatment but that stubborn cloud remained. The only meds that worked well a few times were starting to have very bad side effects and had to be given up due to his high blood pressure.

The recent appearance of the black cloud made me come back to this site. After reading your post I raced to the stores. That very 1st day the black cloud started moving away. Instantly he was able to sleep through the night. The next day dropped to a  K4, the next a K2, then came about 7 days of K1. Today there is not even a sign of the cloud. My skeptical husband who didn’t want to waste more money on “herbs” is now shaking his head in disbelief. He’ll stay on them for a while, just to be sure. Hard to believe he was entering a full blown cycle just 11 days ago.

My whole family thanks you kilowatt3!!!!

Here is his recipe. You should look up his post……I’m sure glad I found it.

Kudzu - 1000 mg, 2x per day (morning & night) 
Magnesium - 250 mg, 2x per day (morning & night) 
St. John's Wort - 300 mg, 2x per day (morning & night) 
Skullcap - 425 mg at bedtime 
Melatonin - 10 mg at bedtime 

You guys are danged near a mirror image of my family!!! My girls are 24 and 22, they've endured the beast with me for all their lives. So damned glad you found something that worked. Hoping and praying it holds for you, it's nice not to have your life dictated by the beast!!!

Guiseppi

Cyndi - Has anyone ever told your husband he looks a little like Graham Nash?

If there is such a thing as "common" with this thing, it seems common start times are spring and fall around the time changes. That being said it's not unusual to start or end a cycle at any time of the year. I was spring and fall, 8-12 week cycles, like clockwork until my 40's, now it's all over the place. The most important thing to remember is to always be ready for a cycle to start so you're never caught "naked" without any meds. Hoping the remission lasts a life time!!!

Guiseppi

Well, if I should ever go into cycle again (see? I try to remain optimistic) I'll give it a try.

Marsh Skullcap is Scutellaria galericulata
American Skullcap is Scutellaria laterifolia

The capsules and tincture I have are both laterifolia. The capsules have nothing in them other than skullcap L. and gelatin. The bottle says it's used by Indian tribes for its soothing properties. The tincture contains skullcap L. and grain alcohol.

It would be nice to have input from an herbal pharmacologist.

cool beans. PF is a wonderful thing.
thebb

If there is a vitamin world near you, they have a sleep aid that contains skullcap and melatonin, It's called "Super Snooze".

Quote:

Hello all who belong to this wonderful site!
An update on Lorne:
Off all the herbs and is still CH free. If it weren't for Kilowatt's regimen he would still have about 4 CH weeks to go. Truly a miracle. I'm still going to hang around these boards. This community is awesome.
Cyndi

Cyndi and other Kudzu users,

I am just curious on why start at such high doses and also with the additional stuff tacked on?  What if 150 Mg of Kudzu twice a day does the exact same?  I know everyone is different but why not start with as little as possible?  I happen to be lucky with the 150 Mg of Solaray brand Kudzu that contains 2% Daidzin taken twice daily and I am 99% PF.

Just curious and wishing PF days!

Just a little background with my Kudzu experience:

My first cycle of using it, I was a week into having 4-5 Kip 5+'s a day most were probably Kip 8's.  I was going to do the cycle with just using cold rags and cold water ritual at the sink.  During this time I was watching this site and looking for a non prescribed successful remedy.  Nanni was talking about the effects of Kudzu and was taking polls on results peeps had.

After a weeks worth of suffering I said "screw it I do not need to go through this anymore!"  I may be mistaken but I think people were saying to get the Nature's way 750 Mg Kudzu.  After a very high Kip at work (well actually in my car because I had to leave my desk) that lasted 30+ minutes, I called my wife and asked her to please get me Kudzu but get the lowest capsules they have.  I hate taking anything and even in my misery I was still apprehensive of loading up on this stuff called Kudzu.

My wife called later that day and said she had just got the Kudzu (it was Solaray 150 Mg caps with 2% Diadzen).  I went home that night and took it around 9 pm that night because it was the hits at 9 in the morning while I was at work that I wanted to avoid or minimize.  I much prefer being woke up at home where I can deal with it than at work any given time.  Within 2 days of taking it, I was amazed to say the least.  It worked and got me out of that cycle with very minimal hits and basically just heavy shadows at times.

This is only my 2nd cycle with Kudzu and it started with having one kip 2 on 08/04.  I did not immediately start the Kudzu because I wanted to be sure this is actually a cycle.  It has been 2 years since last cycle.  Well on 08/14 I was tore up with 3 Kip 8's from sometime after 2 am to 5:30 am.  I frickin started Kudzu in the middle of the Kip 8 at 5:30 that morning.  I didn't have another CH until 8/20 and I must admit that was because of drinking 3 beers as I felt the Kudzu had my back.  I had a Kip 2-3 on 08/21 and a Kip 3 on 08/25.  I really hate counting my chickens before they hatch but damn I think I am going to get through this cycle with no more than 10 CH's and a handfull of them being above Kip 3.

I am a 36 year old male, 5' 10" and weighing 150-155 lbs. and no other medical conditions besides a heart murmur.  I live in Illinois and I am a pack a day smoker and if any of that matters to why Kudzu works, then I will do my damn best to stay in Illinois at the height of 5' 10 and weighing 150-155 pounds and smoking 1 pack of Salem Ultra Lights a day and with a heart murmur for the rest of my life!

Quote:


In the future IF Ch starts again, Lorne may or may not adjust doses. The point is simply that it worked and completely aborted the cycle for at least 2 people these boards know of. Lorne is convinced it was the skullcap is what sealed the whole deal because he felt almost instant relief afterward.

Quote:


Hello, Geewilly, and thanks for joining the discussion.

Well, you ask why I start at such high doses, and with "additional stuff tacked on"...  You obviously assume that the Kudzu is the treatment, with "additional stuff tacked on".  I'm not sure where that idea came from.

I don't claim a rigorous scientific process for deriving the ingredients, or the dosages, of this treatment, but here are a few of the factors that influenced it:

For starters, the "high doses" of Kudzu are down right miniscule - many Chinese routinely consume kudzu root about like we eat potatoes.  A serving of a couple or three ounces (84,000 mg) would not be an unusual side dish to a meal.  I can' get too concerned about 1000 mg vs. 150 mg.  The real reason I chose 1000 mg for my formula is that when I first found kudzu in the store, it was 1000 mg capsules that I found.  I says to myself, "Self, that sounds about right..."

The "additional stuff" was not tacked on, it was part of my holistic (using the term loosely) approach to fighting CH.  I did a pretty good bit of research on anecdotal evidence about sucesses that people had reported.  A couple of the ingredients, I already had some experience with - I have learned that my body, for whatever reason, has some difficulty assimilating calcium properly.  There's considerable evidence that a lack of magnesium will interfere with calcium absorption so, when I saw that some folks had reported that magnesium helped prevent or abort CH, I says to myself, "Self, put some magnesium in the formula..."

You might recall a few years ago melatonin hit the news as a sort of miracle dietary supplement.  All kinds of claims were made for it, including that it would prevent cancer and heart disease, lower blood pressure, reverse aging, etc., etc., etc.  It was also touted as a very effective sleep aid.  I tried it back then and sure enough, it really is a very effective sleep aid!  When I saw that there seemed to be a connection between sleep disturbances and CH, I says to myself, "Self, you oughtta put some melatonin in the formula."  Several people had reported sucess with about 10 mg or so at bedtime, so even though that is many times more than I had ever tried before, I figured it was a good number to go with.  That was reinforced by the fact that I found 5 mg tablets in the store, making a 10 mg dose pretty simple!  Some interesting trivia about melatonin - Believe it or not, a tiny dose (say, 1/2 mg or so) will actually help you sleep better than a large dose, like the 10 mg in my formula.  I dunno why - I just know it's so.

As for the other ingredients, the St. John's Wort and the Skullcap - These are both recognized as anti-anxiety or antidepressent herbs.  It became obvious to me while reading up on CH that stress plays a part in CH.  Some report that stress triggers a cycle.  Others report that the removal, or sudden reduction in stress triggers a cycle.  We all know that a CH, a shadow, an impending cycle, or fear of CH can sure contribute to stress.  These two ingredients (according to the prevailing 'wisdom') seem to "level out" the body/mind stress mechanism, and help people deal better with stress.  So, I says to myself, "Self, you oughtta put some of this stuff in there, too."  The dosages I arrived at were based more on what was commercially available in capsules or tablets than anything else.

After I pulled all this info together, and bought all the stuff at the store(s), I took my first dose one night just before bed, a couple of weeks into a cycle, and continued the morning / night doses as Cyndi described.  I had about three more HA's over the next week, then was pf for six months.  The next time I had a CH, I went back on the regimen for a week, and had NO more headaches.

One detail I probably should reiterate - I am a pretty big guy, at about 215 pounds.  Someone of average or smaller size might do just fine with smaller amounts of the ingredients.  Ask me why I don't try smaller dosages, or see if I can eliminate some of the ingredients from the treatment, and I'm just going to say, "WTF - I beat the !#@#% HA's, why should I change anything??? After 16 years, I'm pf and loving it!!!  Don't just take my word for it - ask Cyndi and Lorne

Just as an aside, the "Super Snooze" has three of my ingredients in it - the melatonin, skullcap, and magnesium, although all of these are in considerably smaller doses that I'm using.  A "Super Snooze" along with a little St. John's Wort and some kudzu just might do the trick for some people - who knows?

Anyway, there's a little insight into my thought processes, and how I came up with the formula - FWIW!!!

Best of luck to all!

Regards,
Jim