On the 29th of October 2009 I began taking oxymatrine tablets. My preferred brand of oxymatrine was Equilibrant which also contains various immune modulators. Doctor Chia began producing the Equilibrant form of oxymatrine after becoming concerned with the purity of some of the other brands. I was unable to acquire the Equilibrant brand hence I ordered the White Tiger brand.
Dosing
The White Tiger brand contains 200mg of oxymatrine per tablet. My dosing structure is flexible based on any reaction to the oxymatrine however at the moment stands at:
100mg each day for 2 weeks. The tablet is to be taken with water before or with meals.
100mg 2x a day for 2 weeks.
200mg at am and 100mg at pm for 2 weeks.
200mg at am and 200mg at pm for the remaining 6 weeks.
Note that for the White Tiger brand, it is necessary to break to tablet in half in order to obtain a 100mg dose of oxymatrine.
The above dosing schedule is preliminary as over half of those taking oxymatrine experience some sort of side effect. This may include headache, fatigue or an increase in severity of some of your current symptoms. If I don’t experience any side effects I will follow the above dosing structure. If I do experience side effects I will adjust the dosing structure accordingly based on the severity of side effects and what dose of oxymatrine the side effects occur at.
I will complete the oxymatrine course after 3 months if I experience no improvement of my current symptoms however if I experience improvement I will extend the dose accordingly.
I must stress that it is imperative to slowly increase the dose. I have so far taken oxymatrine for 5 days and on day 2 I became very dizzy. This lasted for around 4 hours starting about 10minutes after taking a 100mg dose of oxymatrine.
Facts about Oxymatrine
Oxymatrine is derived from the Sophora plants. It has been shown to have some degree of antiviral properties. It is often used in treating Hepatits B due to its suggested ability to reduce liver damage and reduce viral load. It has also been suggested that oxymatrine can increase blood flow and in China it is sometimes used as an anti-cancer drug.
Study
Doctor Chia is the main advocate of oxymatrine and has done a study on its usefulness. The results of the study are one of the main reasons that I decided to try taking it. The results of Dr Chia’s oxymatrine studies:
52% of those taking it showed some sort of improvement.
2% of those using placebo showed some sort of improvement
52% of those taking oxymatrine showed some improvement in the second trial.
Dr Chia has given to herb to over 350 patients and says that 52% of patients experience some degree of improvement.
Enterovirus
The use of oxymatrine is intended for those CFS patients who test positive to enterovirus. It can be quite expensive to determine if you have enterovirus. Some of the blood tests for enterovirus are not considered sensitive enough. Dr Chia often gets stomach biopsies performed to determine the virus in patients.
Positive results on coxsackie b or echovirus antibody tests can also justify trying oxymatrine. I have decided to take oxymatrine without having any of these tests done. I figure that I can spend thousands of dollars getting these tests done and then try oxymatrine or try oxymatrine without getting the tests done. If I am negative for enterovirus, coxsackie b and echovirus, then oxymatrine still may be of use for its antiviral affects.
Dr Chia is very interested in the patient’s onset of CFS. Mine seemed to be a gradual onset with coughing up mucus an isolated symptom for 3 months until fatigue began to set in. This coughing up mucus has continued from the onset to the present and increased in severity to the point of me currently coughing up mucus 700 times plus a day. A common onset of enterovirus is upper respiratory symptoms hence I am interested in taking oxymatrine. I do suspect that the upper respiratory symptoms of enterovirus last only a few weeks based on case studies I have read. The 4 years of my upper respiratory symptoms seems to indicate that maybe my onset isn’t consistent with enterovirus however I am still willing to take oxymatrine.
Warnings
Oxymatrine should not be used in those with autoimmune tendencies or known seizure disorders. There is also a risk or neurological toxicities in those taking oxymatrine. I must stress that if you intend to take oxymatrine, I recommend doing it under medical guidance. It is also very important to increase the dose slowly.
I will continue to update this blog with any affects oxymatrine has on me.
A good source of discussion between those who have already taken oxymatrine can be found at the HHV 6 foundation forums at http://hhv6foundation.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=antiviral&action=display&thread=200&page=1
You need to sign up for the forums in order to view topics such as this one.
The Phoenix Rising page also has a good amount of information on oxymatrine including an interview with Dr Chia http://aboutmecfs.org/Int/IntChia1.aspx
And some general information about oxymatrine http://aboutmecfs.org/Trt/TrtOxymatrine.aspx
Hi cfssufferer,
I have CFS since 1994 and like many I have been searching for antivirals and immunomodulators that could be helpful.
To start this new year with something new I decided to try oxymatrine.
Equilibrant or White Tiger oxymatrine are not available in my country, but I found a supplier who imports Sophora flavescens root (ku shen) from China.
I started on the 8th of january. At the moment I’m on a daily intake of 20g Sophora root which must be about 400mg oxymatrine. I also take licorice root (gan cao) and reishi mushroom caps. a Herbal formula that is currently being used to treat asthma has the same ingredients. Google for ASHMI and you will find it.
Equilibrant also contains licorice extract , but it is not in the White Tiger brand that you are taking.
This herb may be a good addition to your oxymatrine tablets. It can be very helpful to restore cortisol levels, but if you have high blood pressure you should not take it.
best wishes,
Vincent
I
Blake and I just started to use Wild Meditteranean Oregano Oil (3 drops per day) to help reduce EBV titers in addittion to the Valcyte as we believe it is not the Valcyte alone that will cure us of these viruses (HHV-6A, EBV and CMV) but nutritional supplemnents, clean living and western meds in combination will have a shot. We order the pure oil directly from IHFO (International Health Food Organization) in Oregon #503-328-9220. We will let you know how well it works. After being on Valcyte for 20 months, we started the oil, so future blood tests will reveal any noticeable drops in viral titers historically not seen with the Valcyte alone.
Hi – I greatly appreciate your excellent documentation of your n=1 treatment trials.
But you have no info on results here – I was wondering if you benefited from the oxymatrine and whether you had subsequently been able to access the Chia version?
I’m about to try the Chia product which I am alarmed to discover doesn’t contain any information on the amount of oxymatrine or Sophora root contained within.
Thanks
Julian
@Julian: Thanks for the comment. I wrote a blog entry here discussing the effects that Oxymatrine had on me: https://livingwithchronicfatiguesyndrome.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/the-results-oxymatrine/
Despite my lack of symptomatic relief as a consequence of taking Oxymatrine, I still believe that it is one of the most effective treatments for ME/CFS and hence I included it in this list I compiled covering potentially effective ME/CFS treatments:https://livingwithchronicfatiguesyndrome.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/10-of-the-most-effective-treatments-for-cfs/
I am yet to take Dr. Chia’s Equilibrant although I may trial this treatment in the future. You make a very valid point regarding the unknown dosage of shrubby sophora root extract within the Equilibrant product. It may be worth contacting Equilibrant Health (http://www.equilibranthealth.com/contact.php) and posing that question.
Of course I’m sorry you got no result. It is just possible that Chia’s suspicions are correct, and that the White Tiger brand is not full of goodness. I’m not saying this is true, and I certainly don’t owe Chia anything, in fact I’m suspicious of his product since he won’t quote ingredient quantities. But maybe it IS worth trying another brand.
I’ve emailed Equilibrant but so far only response was “The herbal blend is proprietary”. Not good enough.
I tried LDN years ago and it helped significantly with my cell counts and susceptibility to colds and and other viruses, but in the end seemed to taper off. Currently trying Hepasunate. Good luck with the Nexavir I hope it comes good for you.
my daughter and i have me/cfs since 1990 the thing i fiind most helpful is olive leaf extract it has lowered my viral levels of hhv6 &ebv and given me energy butmakes me very hungry and i am trying desperately to lose weight as i am developing other health problems such as high blood pressure i am goingtotry oxymatrine available at a website for hep c sufferers maybe olive leaf could help people w ithout blood sugar issues mydaughter has seenimprovement in fatigue and activity level from the equilibrant. keep on keeping on everyone
Though I have never been tested, I believe I might have a type of Coxsackie B virus. I began taking the White tiger Oxymatrine alone to test its effectiveness. I didnt feel any significant changes in my health so I read up on Oxymatrine. Articles indicated that Oxymatrine is most effective in the injection form or capsules because by the time the tablets dissolve, potency of the root is lost. I couldn’t find any company that sold the Oxymatrine injections or capsules, so I crush my tablets to a powder and make my own capsules. After taking it this way, I feel some improvement in my health and symptoms caused by the virus. But be aware that taking it this way, makes me feel dizzy, so I started taking one crush table before bedtime. I recommend anyone taking Oxytrine to try it this way to see if they experience better results. Also, it doesn’t taste good, so drop it in your mouth close to the back of your throat and wash it down with juice or soda.
I found this in capsule form by googling.
http://www.betterlife.com/product/oxymatrine-300-mg/lloyd-wright/34465
Please will you tell us if Equilibrant has worked for you? Do you feel better from it, by chance? Thank you for sharing!!
@Regi
Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately I didn’t notice any effects from the Equilibrant. More information can be found here: https://livingwithchronicfatiguesyndrome.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/my-me-treatments-a-january-2014-update/
All the best.