Tag Archives: guduchi

IC and 5 Herbs That Strengthen and Energize the MindBody

bladder pain, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Spices at the MarketI think it’s pretty much consensus that pharmaceuticals are not the panacea for IC and bladder pain.  At least that was my experience with the IC patients who I worked with.  Herbs offer an alternative to pharmaceuticals and we have discussed a number of them for use such as CCF tea, the use of turmeric in cooking, as well as aloe vera gel.

Herbs fall into 3 categories when looking at their functional effects.  Unlike pharmaceucals one herb category enhances digestive strength in all its various aspects of function, for example turmeric. A second category is composed of therapeutic herbs that solve very specific problems, such as aloe vera gel. Taken alone they are not as effective, but done with nutritional work they can be highly effiective. Aloe vera when combined with a Pitta-reducing nutritional format can have an almost immediate (one to two weeks) impact on flares.

The third category is a special group of herbs that are rejuvenative. These herbs restore youthful vigor and vitality and are the topic of this post.

Herbs can offer immediate relief in some situations and support the nutrition and metabolic lifestyle behaviors in the long term. But herbs, unlike pharmaceuticals, are not primary but secondary in management. This is a clear departure from current thinking about disease management, but is tantamount to success in dealing with chronic disease. Having said that herbs can help jumpstart a system that is under stress as in cases of patients who have long standing IC and are debilitated.

Rejuvenative Science

Herbs that are rejuvenative in nature are useful because they have the capability of strengthening the fatigued low energy body that has been under the stress of chronic disease such as IC,  while at the same time dealing with the imbalance that is going on.

The interesting thing about rejuvenative herbs is that they have an impact on mind. This can be very helpful for those who are depressed and feeling helpless. It is this particular aspect of rejuvenative therapy that can be quite helpful in creating more space for lifestyle changes.

So the special place that rejuvenatives have is that they impact or shift our DNA which in turn affect our choices in selection of various alternatives presented to us so that you make better choices with respect to the management of IC.  They also help to modify our lifestyle behavioral choices so that old habits that are not supportive of healing IC are easier to get out of.

5 Rejuvenative Herbs

 Aloe vera      I have mentioned this herb numerous times in the past because not only does it offer cooling to the hot urinary tract system but on top of this it is a rejuvenative.  That is, it has the capability of helping you morph lifestyle changes in choice of all kinds.  So for example when making choices about foods that may be not such good choices and choice about foods that are better choices, eg coffee habits. Also choice around lifestyle behaviors that are not conducive to healing and those that are.

Gokshura   Also known as Caltrops this herb targets the water or urinary tract channel and is effective in reducing inflammation but is also good at reducing the incidence of stone formation. It is this latter effect that suggests that gokshura is an important herb in facilitating glycosoaminoglycan (GAG) layer formation. Its best use is in formula, but it could be used in basti (below) due to the GAG-formation enhancement.

Purnarnava    Translated as “that which renews us” this herb also like gokshura has affinity to the urinary channel.  It strengthens the kidneys and in doing so aids in our overall health and vitality.  Its action is more tonifying to the kidney than to the urinary bladder and therefore would be a second line herb in dealing with straightforward IC.

Guduchi   An important rejuvenative for Pitta and nutritive herb to take during recovery periods.  It is a potent detoxifier, buring ama without aggravating Pitta.  It is a great tonic for the immune system .  Taken with ghee it reduces Vata, with sugar reduces Pitta, and with honey it reduces Kapha.

Shatavari  This is one of the more important herbs in reducing Pitta and used for women’s Pitta imbalances around menstruation but in the IC condition is unique in its application, particularly around tea decoctions for bladder therapy below.  It is a rejuvenative as well.  It is useful in treating dry and inflamed mucous membranes.  In addition to its Pitta pacifying use, it also soothes calms Vata.

The basis of selection of which herb to use is based on the individual not on the disease.  So the evaluation of the individual to use targeted therapy is based on who needs it.

Sir William Osler, said to be the father of Modern Medicine wrote, “A good physician treats the disease, the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”

Until next week                       To Health as a Skill   Love DrBil

PS  The forum is UP!!!  Go to ic-solutions.tv and be the first to enter a post or begin a new thread   The effort is to help get your questions answered and share your energy science experiences  

PPS  Please leave a comment about your thoughts about this topic  and like our FB page in the box to the right  

7 Herbs for Targeted Intravesical Use in Interstitial Cystitis

bladder, bladder pain, CPPS, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, vulvodynia, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s estimated that 50 to as high as 70% of people experiencing IC have spontaneous resolution of bladder pain symptoms or after a period of time go away entirely or move to a more manageable symptom complex.  This is typified in the accompanying bell curve graph which shows to the left of the line those that have resolved completely or have manageable symptoms and those to the right who have repeated flares for an extended period of time.

This latter debilitated group of patients(CPPS) suffer not only unrelenting flares but lose marriages, relationships, and jobs leaving them on disability, helpless and with little positive outlook.  I believe the urologist is equally frustrated with these tormented souls as the pharma tools that they have are often inadequate for the job.  This is primarily because the origin of disease by the matter science is not understood and hence the pharma used is not targeted therapy.

Matter and Energy Science Urology:  Use of Bladder Instillation Therapy

Anyone with chronic interstitial cystitis(IC) with numerous trips to the urologist has experienced cystoscopy and catheterizations necessary to instill medicinal agents such as DMSO or medications such as heparin and steroid.   Some patients who have severe frequency and urgency are taught to by some urologists to do self administered intermittent catheterization thinking that decreasing residuals might help these lower tract irritative symptoms.

The energy science of Ayurveda has used catheterization for 1000’s of years and it is called basti.   There are many different forms of basti dependent on what locale of the body’s anatomy the healer wishes to treat.  Basti is used for various disease states from eye disorders to low back pain to constipation.

Basti helps to target the specific imbalanced organ in this case the bladder but can also be used for vulvodynia or vaginal pain which I blogged about in the past using topically administered herbs placed by hand or tampon.

Energy Science Targeted Therapy

Recently in the past 12 years there has been growing interest in the cancer literature on “targeted therapy” which has been used to describe cancer treating molecules that specifically “target” specific cancer cell processes that arrest cancer growth.  This avoids the broad chemotherapy effects that can be hard on treated patients.

I have described in previous posts that the origin of disease is understood from an energy science perspective to be an imbalance in qualities.  When herbs are used they specifically “target” the imbalance in the organs that are symptomatic, in this case the bladder or vagina.

What herbs target the bladder lining and can be used safely for topical intravesical use?  Let’s list them.

Aloe vera gel   This time honored herb reduces the hot of  inflammation and so is excellent when the Pitta energy pattern is causing the burning in the pelvic cavity as well as on urination or vaginal burning.

Cumin Coriander Fennel   These three herbs are medicinal to the urinary tract since all are cooling to the bladder mucosa.  Taken orally as a tea or making a decoction to deliver other herbs to the bladder mucosa can be therapeutically effective.

Goksura(aka Caltrops)   This herb is an antiinflammatory and targets the urinary tract and can be effective in reducing stone formation hence suggesting that it is important in GAG layer function.  It is also a nervine and shows the broad effects that happen to be characteristic of herbs in general.  It is one of the roots in dashamula below.

Guduchi  This is a commonly used herb for high Pitta conditions because it’s a rejuvenative for Pitta but has the unique quality of heating hence useful in toxic conditions which is often the case when there is longstanding IC.

Dashamula   This is a combination of 1o roots all with specific properties hence the name which means 10 roots.  Whenever there is Pitta in the tissue the tissue there is Vata as well and this herb is helpful in clearing the Vata energy pattern from the bladder wall.

Shatavari   This herb is tissue building and great for high Pitta conditions.  As I have said earlier it should not be used if there is a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Neem   This is a commonly used antiinflammatory and great for high Vata conditions and debility.

Applications of Energy Science Targeted Therapies

If you know how to self cath then this type of therapy under guidance as to which herbs to use is fairly easy.

If you can’t cath then accessing your friendly urologist to help with the instillation of the tea can be done.  The instillation schedule varies according to the clearance of symptoms but usually would be daily for at least 8 days while doing other therapies.

I have found basti as targeted therapy to be immensely rewarding for chronic IC over the years.  Try it, you’ll like it!

To Health as a Skill         DB