I had my first chance to use Ephedra sinensisjust two days ago. For five days, I stubbornly treated a "cold" I was developing; but all to no avail. I was up to 12-15 cloves of raw garlic a day, drinking what seemed like gallons of Elderberry syrup and Larrea tea... but I wasn't getting better. Two ladies close to me, my wife and a fellow herbalist, suspected allergies from the start. I, however, staunchly defended my position, as I don't have allergies. Period.

Five days later, reeking of garlic and starting to like the flavor of Larrea again, I finally gave into what was so obvious to those around me: I didn't have a cold. Instead, my symptom profile pointed clearly to allergies. Plugged ears, post-nasal drip, constant sneezing, watery eyes... "Herbalist, heal thyself" rang muffled in my clogged ears. OK, OK. I get the picture. Now it's time to do something about it.

I'm not one to advocate symptom suppression. I'd rather get to the heart of the matter and do some real healing rather than just brush it all under the table temporarily. But after five days of living with a pressure cooker attached to my head and thousands of tiny and constantly moving feathers in my nostrils, I had had enough and just wanted relief! Besides, truly "fixing" the allergic condition (which I'm planning on doing) can take months. I needed an herbal answer to Claritin and I needed it now!

Enter Ephedra sinensis, that maligned Chinese botanical made infamous by the less-than scrupulous Metabolife corporation and a few others. Yes. I'm aware of the studies and the controversy surrounding the poor souls who suffered strokes, heart attacks, and other life threatening (and sometimes life ending) incidents all supposedly caused by this herb. The bottom line is that Ma Huang (Ephedra) is not an innocuous herb. It's very powerful medicine, and should be treated with all the respect deserved to a very powerful medicine. It possesses stimulant properties which can, if abused as a stimulant, do all the horrible and nasty things that any stimulant can do to the human body. Using a stimulant as an appetite suppressant is a poor regiment of weight management in my opinion. Perhaps there are cases where it is warranted, but not in general.

But I wasn't wanting to get high, I wanted to get better. (For those of you who know me personally: can you imagine me on stimulants? I'm a ball of spastic energy as it is!) Unfortunately, I don't keep Ma Huang in my apothecary, so I was stuck with the choice of placing an order with a supplier or heading to the local herb shop. I took the latter, and found Ma Huang's reputation preceding itself. No one had "just" Ma Huang. One store (who shall remain nameless to save them the embarrassment) even tried to convince me that Ephedra had been outlawed in the state of Arizona. Please.

Not having any luck locating the plant as a simple, I was left with the choice of a formulation. Trouble is, I prefer to do my own formulation, as most are made for "everyone", and I like to tailor-make mine for the person in question. However, this wasn't an option. Like I said, I was looking for fast acting relief. Browsing my selection in the store, I recalled a lecture I attended given by Danial Gagnon of Herbs, Etc. Sure enough, his company had a formulation called Decongestonic(tm) which listed Ephedra as the main ingredient. I also like the companion herbs of Mormon Tea (another species of Ephedra, a more mild decongestant without the stimulant issues), Mullein - Verbascum thapsus (good for clearing the lungs of mucous), Coltsfoot - Tussilago farfara (another good lung soother), Yerba Santa - Eriodictyon californica (clears mucous in the sinuses), Eyebright - Euphrasia officinalis (like the name implies, great for itchy eyes and other allergic reactions), and an herb I was unfamiliar with, Cubeb berry - Piper cubeb (good for bronchitis with thick mucous). Barring the last one (and it was pretty close,) everything in this bottle was exactly what I needed.

On Tuesday afternoon, I began dosing myself at about twice the amount listed on the bottle and at double the frequency. That's the beauty of most herbal remedies-- if you know what you're doing you can increase the dosage to effect a faster change in the body. Notice I said most herbal remedies. Don't try this on your own, and you probably shouldn't try it with an herb as powerful as Ma Huang, as I did. But hey, I'm the trained professional and was willing to take the risk, carefully monitoring myself for any of the classic side-effects of too much of a stimulant. Nope, didn't notice anything. Except I got better. Fast.

That night, I slept sound as usual for the first time in five days. The next day, I scaled the dosage back down to the maximum indicated on the bottle. I felt great all day and had another well rested night. Today, I'm about 85% symptom free, so I'll stay the course for another day.

This weekend, I start a six month treatment for allergies that concentrates on strengthening my immune system and detoxifying and nourishing the liver, as well as a systemic stabilization of mast cells. You know, for those allergies I don't have?