Batik Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Any suggestions about useful things in teabag form for when you're feeling cruddy? This is for acute use I mean, rather than long-term use (at which point I personally prefer capsules or similar). So far I have:* black tea (or white tea, or green tea) - caffeine is a bronchodilator, so it's good for breathing problems.* mint tea - can be handy for nausea.* ginger tea - also handy for nausea, and meant to be warming.* valerian blend tea - tricky to find one which doesn't taste absolutely vile, but I quite like the Dr Stuart's blend. Can be useful for anxiety or jitteriness.At the moment, I keep heading for a very nice ginger tea blend. It's 51% ginger, 28% galangal, 17% licorice root, and 4% turmeric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Cruddy, like OMGoodness I'm getting sick or just the general blahs ---make me feel better?Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batik Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Either! Something that makes you want to deal with it on the spot, rather than ongoing things like always being dizzy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I think it depends on your POTS presentations. Those with low bp's will probably find Licorice tea to be calming and helps to bring up the bp. I like one by Yoga called Egyptian Licorice - it has some other spices in it and taste really good. (I'm sure Rama will agree with that statement, as he's an advocate of licorice.) I find that adding Lemon Balm to tea - be it ginger or something like chamomile or lemon zinger - helps to calm the nervous system down and it doesn't seem to increase my already high bp. If I'm getting sick, I turn to Olive Leaf (pill or liquid form) and/or apple cider vinegar in water with honey - heated. Don't put too much vinegar - but enough to taste and help with the issues at hand.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batik Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Yogi do all sorts of lovely licorice-based teas. I haven't had that Egyptian Spice one in a while, but it's a good choice.I now appear to be getting a menstrual headache if not migraine, so I will go and stare thoughtfully at my herb teas. What do you reckon would be a better bet, of the ones I have listed? Mint doesn't do anything for headaches for me. Probably the valerian, I suppose. I'm trying to stay off pain meds while I'm doing these trial days without antihistamines to see what it does for my HR and so forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 I found that anything with Raspberry in it helped with menstrual issues --when I had them.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batik Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Headaches too? I've never been able to find true raspberry leaf in teabag form, and it's such a hassle using the loose leaf stuff. And then after all that, I never noticed that it made the slightest bit of difference.I went for the valerian blend in the end. It's largely lime flower, and that's meant to be good for headaches too. I was partly led by my nose, as I think that sometimes your nose is indeed a good judge of what you need. I did the same with essential oils too, and there is now basil on the burner and my nerve oil blend (think it's currently clove, peppermint, basil, lavender and chamomile) has been massaged into my head and shoulders. Electric heat pad, here I come! Though I still suspect I'll be breaking out the painkillers in half an hour or so.Do you find that licorice tea has an immediate effect when the POTS is bad, or is it more of a long-term thing? I am hopeless at making up tea blends to take twice daily on a regular basis, or what have you, which is why I tend to go for capsules or similar in such situations. I have a health food shop order being processed right now, and I'm wondering whether it's worth asking them to add a box of licorice tea (probably the plain stuff), though I'll feel a bit cheeky as I've already amended the order once. It's not my fault that they suddenly started to stock black garlic and I didn't notice the first time around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batik Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 My Disability Living Allowance has just come through, and to my delight, I've been put on the high rate for both. This means that I will actually have a decent amount of money coming in. So I'm interested in trying some new supplements. At the moment I'm just taking a co-enzyme B complex on top of my usual antihistamines and such. I imagine a good multivitamin would be a start (any recommendations for good vegan ones?). I have severe ME, probable POTS, and I strongly suspect a mast cell problem. What should I look at? Quercetin seemed like an interesting one to try, though I'm trying to work out the dose. I used to take Omega 3 essential fatty acids, either echium oil or algae oil: are they worth starting up again? It was always hard to tell if they were making any difference at all. I'm in the UK, which will affect what is available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlyseBell Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Kava - nervine- Calms my HR and breathing difficulties before bed- dopamine agonist, antispasmodic, relaxing, mood elevatingI thought Kava was alcoholic and I was told that alcohol is contray indicated with Pots Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batik Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Kava isn't alcoholic, it's a herb. If you buy the tincture of kava, it will be in alcohol, although only a tiny amount. That's true of any herbal tincture, however, and with some you only take a few drops, or a teaspoon at most. I don't know whether that's enough alcohol to cause a problem with POTS. However, kava is used as a recreational drug in some countries, and there have also been concerns about liver toxicity. This means that in some countries, it's banned. I would be more careful with sourcing kava than with other herbs due to all of this, since supply problems of this nature make it more likely that poor quality/adulterated versions would be on the market (I can't simply go to my usual brands such as Bio-Health, for instance), and would also be more cautious in taking it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batik Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Any opinions on a quercetin/bromelain combination? Apparently it can be good for mast cell problems, and I suspect those are at the root of my issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 I use quercetin and olive leaf and turmeric. I think it does help me. The bromelain caused me easy bleeding issues. It will thin your blood - some have issues with pineapple - as it can cause a release in histamine. I also think that Vit. C is helpful.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POTLUCK Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Carnitine (Carnitor 3gm in 30 ml solution), Coenzyme Q10 ( only the Ubiquinol form ) 200mg BID, B1, B2, Vitamin C- high dose- he said 4000mg a day but could not get a straight e-mail reply on literature that says this is too high so I take 1000mg BID.I take all of it per doctor who diagnosed me with mitochondrial disorder and not sure it does anything, but doctor who diagnosed me with simple partial seizures also recommended supplemental Ubiquinol and Carntine. Also took N-Acetyl Cysteine which seemed to help a little in past, and may go back to.Mostly exercise helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looneymom Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Issie, Which supplements do you take, when you are having a really bad day with pain? I would like to try some with my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
issie Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 The combination of ginger and turmeric seems to help my pain the most. I also use Astaxanthin with it. Some people don't do well on turmeric with their POTS though and for others it works wonderfully. I just get the organic spice in the health store and you can make a tea from the ginger and turmeric or fill your own capsules. There are some receipes on the net on how to make these into a tea. Go slow and see what the response is. Then you can always cook with the spices if he doesn't tolerate them in larger quantities.Issie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted March 22, 2013 Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 Rhodiola rosea - adaptogen - mechanism unclear. butchers broom - combined alpha 1 & 2 vasoconstrictor euccomia bark - mild beta blocking action luteolin - reputed antioxidant and potent activator of notepinephrine transporter Horse chestnut - selective venous constrictor via prostaglandin d2 - POTENT! licorice - adaptogen, mild maoi, blocks ang II, increase Bp, sodium retention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted March 22, 2013 Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 as far as licorice goes, i read that it increases fertility. so what kind of licorice doesn't do that? I can't have another little one at this point, on clozenapam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted March 22, 2013 Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 ha. No idea it did that. I guess all of it would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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