Class Notes from Lesson 12 Constitutional

 Lesson 12

This is the last lesson in Constitutional. MM just discusses how to use the patient intake forms. https://www.swsbm.com/school/files/cc/Lesson%2012%20Patient%20Intake%20Set.pdf

1) Find out their primary complaint. 2) Take an organ system evaluation and formulate a tonic to strengthen deficiencies.

Primary complaint is usually an excess caused by organ system deficiency. Don't start by treating the complaint. Start by strengthening deficiency. Make a tonic that excludes the primary complaint. Only after that, consider treating the primary complaint - proper treatment could be herbs, meditation, emotional, surgery, whatever is appropriate. You still have to do a tonic to strengthen and enable the person to heal.

Teas work well if the person can't use alcohol, and if alcohol may cause a candida infection.

If the tonic herbs cause distress, they are wrong. Watch for adverse reactions. Either reduce amount of tonic taken or change the herbs.

Any tonic that creates new symptoms is wrong.

Look for imbalances that are obvious and don't fret about those that are not.

Don't try to use a single herb for everything, look for herbs that have multiple functions.

On the intake forms, there are blanks to the left and blanks to the right beside each question. Left is Excess, Right is Deficiency.

Beyond that... people are odd, quirky individuals.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 11-5 Constitutional

 Lesson 11-5: Resource Guide, etc.

Links to herb growers and herb websites https://herbcraft.org/links.html

He goes through a list of sellers of various products and equipment. I haven't found these in the documents yet. I will post if I do. But really, especially post-COVID... who knows how many of these companies are still in business?

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 11-4 Constitutional

 Lesson 11-4: Patient 7

Patient gets recurrent rash right armpit and breast. MM says this would be due to lymph.

 

Patient 7       Lesson #11

Constitution Intake Notes

Bacterial Vaginosis is stable, some itching but not a lot.  Stress on the cervix is different than that of candida.

Burdock tincture- skin eruptions and irritability, hot blood, raised skin things are indications for use.

Monarda, topically, as tea when the rash comes out in the small lymph nodes on right side armpit.

Comfrey, to help cartilage.

Hyssop tincture- diminishes bruises and heals bruises.  Add supplements of flavonoids, purple berries.

Centella, to strengthen the capillaries.

Astragalus tincture, long term immune stimulant, could use Baptisia  as well.

Yerba Santa, juniper leaves or berries, for vaginosis.

Malvaceae or demulcents will sooth and help maintain membranes, Althea to help UTI from irritation.

Nettles to calm down the skin as a tea.  Quiet the heat.  Not a great anti-inflammatory, but simple and everyday green drink.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 11-3 Constitutional

 Lesson 11-3: Patient 6

This one has not had her period for 91 days, but is not pregnant. MM finds lots of deficiencies, but nothing specific to reproductive.... could be elevated prolactin. So, he starts with a tonic. He didn't include his recommendations in the docs, and it is kind of hard to hear with all the chatter... but, I think he said:

Upper and lower GI and kidneys: Licorice, Mahonia and rumex, fouqueria, ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA, dong quai,

Pipsissewa or SOLANUM DULCAMARA for lymph and allergies, fresh cleavers would be good.

Lobelia too broad spectrum for adrenaline stress. Recommends Withania

 

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 11-2 Constitutional

 Lesson 11-2: Patient 5B

MM discusses his recommendations for the patient. And, he also almost pulls of a B-52s pun.. "Rock Lobster"... LOVE that band! It is good that on this one, he consults the herb chart in Herbal Energetics. That helped me understand how he made his formulas. He is also adamant that one should use dried iris, not fresh, because it is caustic.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 11-1 Constitutional

 Lesson 11-1: Patient 5A

Patient's main concerns are fibromyalgia, lack of energy and some upper GI issues.

MM thinks it may be a herpes virus, that the fibromyalgia is viral based because she also gets cold sores.

Stress reaction is shutting down esophagus and gut.

Many years on prozac and proton pump inhibitor. Panic attacks.

This lady is very defensive. She's become comfortable in her disfunction, even though she is wearing out.

 

 

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Yeatman's Bitters Cocktail Recipe Book, "Drinks And How To Make Them" (1879)

 This delightful booklet was published as a promotional for a British Bitters company, known as Yeatman's.  It is fun book of cocktail recipes, anecdotes, bits of verse and testimonials to the medicinal benefits of Yeatman's Calisayine Bitters.  This was from an era when bartenders and pharmacists had much in common!

Here are a few excerpts:

I have no idea what "Calisayine" means... but a wineglass full of whiskey with a few dashes of bitters and lemon would be a nice "pick me up"... more than one would be a "lay me down" to sleep it off!

Read the full booklet here: https://archive.org/details/b30479885/mode/2up

Class Notes from Lesson 10-9 Constitutional

 Lesson 10-9: Patient 4-B

This is a discussion of MM's recommendations for patient 4.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 10-8 Constitutional

 Lesson 10-8: Patient 4 (?)

This one is untitled. Yeah, the intake form mentions MERSA. Kind of ironic that it was just a couple of years after this, where MM praises the VA as "the best medical care in America", the truth came out... it was a nightmare of malpractice, neglect and abuse... bureaucrats covered up the criminal "care" of our veterans for decades, falsifying info and making the most cruel butchers and sadists look like care givers. .... but, back to this guy. He lists decreased sexual desire and being highly emotional... his wife says he is very highly emotional... and she seems to answer most of his questions and do his talking for him.... "chronic fatigue"... frankly, I think MM missed some BIG signs there. Something has lowered his testosterone and "zest for life".... that something could be a domineering wife.... could be dietary - sounds like he doesn't eat a lot of animal fat and protein. Could be a shift into retirement. Either way, sexual depression is intertwined with the depression of other functions. He mentions a little about flaccidity, but I think he is missing a lot.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 10-7 Constitutional

 Lesson 10-7: Patient 3 Interview and Therapeutics

 

 

 

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 10-6 Constitutional, continued

 10-6, continued

So, this sheet is kind of confusing. But, basically, you would list your herbs in the numbered spaces for a formula. In the dose range, you put how many drops of each should be used in a dose, then you work out the total volume of the tincture... you'll need to watch the lesson, starting at about 43 minutes in.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/

Class Notes from Lesson 10-6 Constitutional

 Lesson 10-6: Formulating Echinacea MPS Extract

MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDE-AMPLIFIED TINCTURE OF ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA

Since this is a special plant, with active constituents that have differing solvents, here is an Echinacea-only method of making the most impeccable extract possible.

Percolate as if for a 1:3 tincture, using 80% alcohol, and macerate in the percolator for 48 hours, instead of the usual 12-24 hours. Draw the 1:3 strong tincture and put it aside; this is Extract #1. Remove the marc, add 5 parts of hot water to it in the top of a double boiler, steep over boiling water for two hours, remove from heat, cool down, and squeeze the fluid from the marc, which is then discarded; this is Extract #2. Evaporate this second extract over the boiling water until 2 parts in volume. Combine both extracts to form a 1:5 tincture in which both the aromatics and the mucopolysaccharides are in maximum solvency.

Hypothetical Example. You have 5 ounces of dried root and seedheads; you break it apart, grind it down, press the powder into a measuring cup, and find that it takes up 10 ounces of volume. It will therefore hold 10 ounces of menstruum in the percolator and, as you need to draw 15 ounces of finished strong tincture (1:3) and will lose 10 ounces to the herb in the percolator, you need to make 25 ounces of menstruum. At 80%, that means mixing 20 ounces of pure alcohol with 5 ounces of water. You moisten the powder, wait an hour, pack it carefully in the percolator, set it (covered) aside for two whole days, pour the remainder over the column, and draw 15 ounces of over-strength tincture. Then you remove the marc from the cone (which is passively holding 10 oz. menstruum), add the 25 ounces of hot water (5 parts), and mix them in the top of the double boiler. Boil the water in the lower section, steep the muddy grey gmel for two hours over the steam bath, remove, cool, and squeeze through a cloth. You throw away the tired old herb. You now have in front of you one bottle holding 15 ounces of evil-looking reddish brown Echinacea tincture (1:3), and another volume of approximately 2 1/2 cups of grey, milky, slightly alcoholic soup. Put the soup back over the double boiler and evaporate it over the steam for several hours until the 2 1/2 cups is reduced to 10 ounces in volume (2 parts). Combine the 10 ounces and the 15 ounces, and you now have a mucopolysaccharide-amplified tincture (1:5) of Echinacea angustifolia. The five ounces of dried herb is now digested into 25 ounces of really wicked-looking tincture. This all may seem complicated (and it is), but the good Echinacea you gathered is so damned useful that it warrants this labor and respect. (from Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West)

BAD FORMULA COMBINATIONS PLANTS HIGH IN TANNINs (don't combine plants high in tannins with plants high in alkaloids)

Abies (Spruce)

Agrimonia (Agrimony)

Alnus (Alder)

Arbutus (Madrone)

Arctostaphylos (Manzanita, Uva - Ursi)

Betula (Birch)

Ceanothus Red Root)

Cinnamomum (Cinnamon)

Cola nitida (Cola Nuts)

Ephedra (Ma Huang or Mormon Tea)

Fraxinus (Ash)

Geranium (Cranesbill, Alum Root)

Granatum (Punica, Pomegranate)

Guaiacum (Lignum Vitæ)

Hamamelis (Witch Hazel)

Heuchera (American Alum Root)

Jatropha cineria (Sangre de Drago)

Juglans (Walnut, Butternut)

Krameria (Rhatany)

Ligustrum (Privet)

Myrica (Bayberry)

Orobanche (Broomrape)

Paullinia (Guarana)

Polygonum bistorta (Bistort Root)

Potentillas Prunus (Wild or Choke Cherry)

Quercus (Oak)

Rheum (Rhubarb)

Rhus (all) (Sumach)

Rosa (Rose)

Rubus (Blackberry, Raspberry)

Rumex hymenosepalus (Canaigre)

Trillium (dry)

Vaccinium (Blue,Huckle,Bil,Grouseberry)

Xanthium (Cocklebur)

PLANTS HIGH IN ALKALOIDS

Aconitum (Aconite)

Argemone (Prickly Poppy)

Berberis vulgaris (Barberry)

Cineraria (Dusty Miller)

Coptis (Goldthread)

Corydalis Datura (Jimson Weed)

Dicentra (Turkey Corn, Bleeding Heart)

Ephedra vulgaris (Ma Huang)

Eschscholtzia (California Poppy)

Garrya (Silk Tassel)

Gelsemium (Yellow Jasmine)

Hydrastis (Golde Seal)

Hyocyamus niger (Henbane)

Jeffersonia (Twin Leaf)

Lobelia (all)

Lophophora (Peyote)

Lycium (Wolf Berry)

Mahonia (Oregon Grape)

Nicotiana (Tobacco)

Nuphar (Yellow Pond Lily)

Passiflora (Passion Flower)

Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue)

Petasites (Western Coltsfoot)

Pilocarpus (Jaborandi)

Ptelea (Wafer Ash, Hop Tree)

Sanguinaria (Blood Root)

Scoparius (Cytisus, Broom Tops)

Senecio aureus (Life Root, Squaw Weed)

Solanum carolinense (Horse Nettle)

Solanum dulcamara (Bittersweet)

Tribulus (Puncture Vine)

Tussilago (Coltsfoot)

Ustilago (Corn Smut)

Vinca Major (Periwinkle)

Glyconda (Modified) (Glyconda/neutralizing tonic can be mixed with tinctured to prevent precipitation - stabilizes tinctures so the store and keep - and make really bad tasting herbs palatable. On its own it is aGI tonic.)

Rhubarb Tincture..................80 ml

Cinnamon Tincture...............64 ml

Hydrastis Tincture................40 ml

Spirit of Peppermint.............. 8 ml

Potassium carbonate..............16 grams

Glycerine...........................350 ml

Diluted alcohol (50%).........450 ml

Step 1. Dissolve 16 grams of potassium carbonate in 350 ml glycerin

Step 2. Mix the tinctures, spirit and diluted alcohol.

Step 3. Mix both liquids, stirring or blending until KCO3 is dissolved.

Step 4. Add additional diluted alcohol to the total (if necessary) to bring the total volume to 1000 ml. 

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/