Instead of Antibiotics ...

There are good reasons to use antibiotic drugs. That said, itis agreed that they are often overused. If the infection is not life threatening, you may wish to try herbs instead of, or in addition to, regular antibiotics.

Of the most-often used herbal anti-infectives - calendula, chaparral, echinacea, goldenseal, myrrh, poke, usnea, and yarrow - it is the lovely purple coneflower that I most often turn to.

I find echinacea as effective as antibiotics (dare I say sometimes better than!) if E. angustifolia/augustifolia, not E. purperea, is used; tincture, not capsules or teas is used; the root, and only the root, is used; and very large doses are taken very frequently.

To figure your dose of echinacea, divide your body weight (in pounds) by 2; take that many drops per dose. There are about 25 drops in a dropperful; round up to full droppers. If you weigh 180 pounds, take 90 drops/4 dropperfuls. There is no known overdose of echinacea tincture.

With acute infection I take a full dose every 2-3 hours. When chronic, a full dose every 4-6 hours.

excerpt from 'Down There: Sexual and Reproductive Health the Wise Woman Way'
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