With the popularity of functional medicine, antimicrobial herbs have replaced antibiotics with the aim to rebalance the biome and reduce the overgrowth of pathogens.
While these herbs can be effective, sometimes they are not well tolerated. Intense die off symptoms and reactions can prevent people from using them. These symptoms range from flu-like to worsening of existing symptoms, or other inflammatory reactions such as joint pain, brain fog, mood swings, rashes, fatigue and nausea.
There are ways to calm these reactions by properly supporting the body as it “goes to war” against a pathogen, overgrowth or infection.
It is crucial to support the body’s detox and drainage pathways, bolster the immune system in the gut, minimize the amount of toxic die off and to break down biofilms that may be protecting the pathogen.
And of course, if the bowels get sluggish we must support elimination, because taking out the trash is so important during any antimicrobial protocol.
Supplements to support each function above will help ease die off symptoms and make killing protocols much more sustainable.
In other words, there is hope for you if you are reactive or sensitive to most antimicrobial herbs.
Below I will cover the supplements I use with my clients, particularly for hard to treat infections like h. pylori and parasites protocols, that make all the difference in terms of tolerance and efficacy.
Binders
I first learned about the importance of binders from a supplement company called Cellcore. You can use this code: HvdcBkCj to open an account with Cellcore.
I use Cellcore’s parasite killing protocol with clients and used it successfully for my own parasite killing protocol.
Not only are Cellcore herbs strong and effective against parasites, they will also address yeast and bacterial overgrowth.
What makes this protocol stand out among other parasite protocols is that it comes with support to help clean up the endotoxic die off produced by the killing herbs. It’s their biotoxin binder.
Their biotoxin binder is special, because it can be taken with food. It will not bind to the minerals and vitamins in your food or to other supplements.
The use of humid and fulvic acid is what makes this binders special.
Other types of binders include activated charcoal (I like this one), bentonite clay and zeolite. These binders are frequently used to detox mold mycotoxins and heavy metals.
They can be constipating for some people, so I suggest using the bowel mover suggested below.
While the Cellcore binder can be taken with food and other supplements, the other binders should be taken 90 to 120 minutes away from food and other supplements because they bind to everything.
Binders can make a big difference in absorbing toxic die off from the gut so it doesn’t get reabsorbed and make you feel awful.
Detox support (for opening drainage pathways)
Making sure that the kidneys and liver are supported during a killing protocol is very important.
Toxic die off will actually stress and clog the liver even more. If the liver and kidneys are not functioning optimally in the first place, this is a top reason why intense die off symptoms can occur.
Cellcore has two products that support detox and drainage of the liver and kidneys. Their KL support and their bile moving TUDCA supplement. Both provide powerful liver detox.
Again, using liver support, along with a binder will prevent the reabsorption of toxins.
Other liver support supplements I like are NAC, glutathione and milk thistle.
Biofilm busters
Biofilm busters are also very important for increasing protocol efficacy. Biofilms are protective shields that pathogenic colonies form around themselves to avoid detection and eradication by the immune system.
Yeast and H. pylori bacteria are particularly prone to using biofilms as their primary defense. In both cases, I suggest a biofilm busting supplement to make the protocol even more successful.
My favorite biofilm busters are NAC, boswellia and biocidin.
There is some NAC in the Cellcore KL (liver) support supplement that also acts as a biofilm buster. This is probably what make this line of supplements so effective at battling the toughest pathogens like klebsiella bacteria or the blastocystis hominis parasite.
Immune support
Lastly, supporting your immune system during a killing protocol will improve results, particularly if your immune system is struggling.
In this case, immune support is like sending in reinforcements, food and resources to soldiers fighting on the front line.
Secretory IGA or SigA is the marker for immune function. The GI Map tests for it. If your sig A is below 500 you need immune support.
If your SIG A is below 150 you need to do immune support for several week (4 weeks is recommended) before starting any killing protocol. Sometimes killing protocols can fail simply because the immune system has no more fight left in it. The best approach is to support it before starting to fight.
My favorite immune support supplements are Saccharomyces boullardii (Sac B) and Mega IGG 2000, both of which can be purchased at Fullscript. I like the Pure encapsulations brand of Sac B but any brand will work. MegaIGG 200 is made by Microbiome Labs.
Keep those bowels moving
If you already suffer from constipation it is especially important to keep those bowels moving.
Sometimes taking a powerful bile mover like TUDCA from Cellcore can do the trick. Especially if you add a magnesium citrate supplement at night.
Magnesium oxide is the heavy duty version of magnesium. It works well for constipation but should be taking cautiously to avoid diarrhea.
Other supplements that help with constipation are aloe vera juice, triphala, vitamin c and partially hydrolyzed guar gum (SUN FIBER).
Even people who don’t suffer from constipation can have bouts of it when doing a killing protocol as the liver gets overwhelmed with die off toxins. And sometimes binders with charcoal can cause constipation.
Go slow
That may seem like a lot of things to add to your protocol, but if it makes the difference between suffering and quit it and finishing up successfully, it’s worth a try.
You don’t need to add these all at once. Go slow. Add in one supplement at a time and see how it goes.
The Cellcore products all have dosage instructions on the website. Though it is important to be supervised by a practitioner while you are doing any gut protocol that involves antimicrobial herbs.
I hope you understand more about how and why to support your body to make any herbal protocol more effective.
Detox, extra clean up, biofilm busting, immune support and bowel moving could have been the missing piece that has held you back from moving forward.
If you feel like you need deeper support, I am currently taking clients. You can get more information here.
Or perhaps you can discuss additional support with your current practitioner. Supplements are support and adding the right support to our healing regimen is going to help.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease, but a cry for help from a gut out of balance. When the body AND mind are complaining, it’s an opportunity to examine what’s not working and change it. After solving her own IBS mystery almost two decades ago, Angela became as a health coach to help others. Angela uses root cause medicine protocols personalized to the individual to solve each IBS mystery. Her tools are lab testing, dietary changes, supplementation, subconscious mind work and nervous system rebalancing . Learn more here.