This post is about an herb that has helped my MG symptoms somewhat. It is no cure for MG or anything else that I know of. It is an extremely nutritious herb that has no known toxic chemicals and is considered a food tea of sorts. Drinking the tea is considered similar to eating green leafy foods and other green vegetables.

It is Red Raspberry Leaf tea. I've been buying it in bulk from iherb.com. It is also sold in individual tea packets.
(thanks Annie, great website for herbs and vitamins)

Most of the effects of Red Raspberry tea are slow to notice with one exception.

The exception is for women (men, you can skip this paragraph if you would like). This tea does amazing things for menstrual issues. It is like magic. I was surprised to find that I have no pain associated with my period when drinking this tea. It also make me very regular. It makes my period last less days and a lot less flow. I wish I had been drinking this tea since I was 13! This herb is highly recommended for women. I understand that it also helps during menopause and is supposed to support the adrenal glands and the immune system as well.

I noticed that while drinking this tea regularly, I didn't have any really bad days, none of the days where I slept most of the day or felt so weak that I had to lay in bed. I also noticed that I needed much less sleep, close to 8 hours which has been wonderful. MG has had me sleeping 10 to 14 hours until I started drinking this herb (I want to note here that vitamin B-12 helps with this as well).

While drinking raspberry leaf tea I also noticed that my mind felt more alert and I felt more like me, if that makes sense. I absolutely hate the stupid mind fog I've had since I got MG, I feel so stupid most of the time. This tea seems to help.

Now that I think about it...oh, I just realized this! Since I've been drinking this tea I've been staying up later. My evenings are better than my mornings. This switch has happened so slowely that I didn't even realize it until I sat here to describe my experiences. This is a big change! I remember when I used to feel so weak in the evenings, now my evenings are my best times, my mornings are the same as they were before. I wonder if this is just one of those unexplainable things about MG. I don't think so, since I went back to "normal" while not drinking the tea and was exhausted in the evenings. I'm going to pay more attention to this in the future.

I also feel generally more healthy, mostly unrelated to MG though. I think this tea makes my body function better, but I can't really explain how very well, other than I feel better. My digestive system is happier for one (I have been avoiding gluten so it might be because of that). I also noticed my gums in my mouth look healthier.

When I was experimenting with this tea, I started out drinking one cup of tea brewed for 30 minutes once a week. I did this for a while until I noticed I felt better on the days when I drank this tea. I kept doubling the amount until I was drinking it nearly every day. I did this for a while (three months? I didn't keep track very well) and then stopped drinking it for about two weeks. At the end of this two week period without red raspberry leaf tea I started to feel heavier, noticed I was tripping on things again, and felt myself going downhill. I needed more sleep and I felt that mind fog coming back.

Last week I started drinking red raspberry leaf tea again after the two week break from it, knowing now that it definitely helping me. This time I'm drinking it as an infusion. For an infusion I take a quart jar, put a handful of leaves in the jar, fill it with boiling water then put a lid on it. I let the jar sit on my counter for 4 to 10 hours (usually overnight), strain the leaves, and drink the tea throughout the day. I rewarm it gently on the stove because I like hot drinks. I feel better already. It is not a huge difference as far as MG symptoms go, but it is enough to keep me drinking it.

One more thing. While drinking this tea daily I was able to stop taking mestinon after a while, slowly reducing it as I kept drinking this tea. I still take Mestinon as needed, but I don't take it every day. I'm so happy about this because the Mestinon gives me awful side effects, the worst one is nervousness and a pounding heart. I feel so much better mentally when I don't take Mestinon. I posted previously about these effects, and it was definitely the Mestinon, it makes me panic and feel crazy, but sometimes is still necessary.

Please know that this is no cure, I don't want to give anyone false hope. I still have MG symptoms and get weak a lot, have to rest more than I'd like to. I am saying only that it does help and has other good effects on my health. I recommend trying it.

Is anyone interested in these kinds of things? It takes a long time to write it out, this took me over an hour to type. I'm happy to share but am not sure if anyone is interested in drinking herbal teas. I have four more food-like herbal teas to try but it will take me a year to test them all since I need at least three months for each and I am still working on red raspberry leaves. I am willing to share my results and/or information about other herbs if anyone wants to give them a try. These herbs are nutritional herbs and not considered medicinal herbs so they can be drank regularly by most people. I do think good nutrition can make a difference.

I have searched the internet and can't find anywhere to discuss herbs as treatments or as helpful for MG...does anyone know a forum like this where people discuss alternative treatments?

A note. I am seeing a therapist and he is supportive of my experimentation with herbs , he thinks it might be helpful and as a worst case, it will do nothing, which is what my thoughts are as well. I talked to my neurologist and he doesn't think any herb will help but he said it is fine for me to do this. I'm disappointed that he doesn't seem to care or want to be involved in my experiment. I guess I need a new neuro but don't want to put the energy into finding one.

I hope everyone is doing well.