How to Treat Bartonella Naturally - A Guide to the Herbal Options

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Introduction

Treatment for bartonella has a wide range of different options, with varying associated risks. In all but more acute cases, my experience has been that while different therapy options have different risk profiles, the likelihood of benefit is not necessarily correlated with the risk.

In other words, more risky interventions such as drug antibiotics do not necessarily have more likelihood of benefit than less risky interventions such as herbal antibiotics, immune system supportive treatments. At least this applies in chronic cases: in a situation of new infection, or if there is evidence of more aggressive infection, such as overtly abnormal inflammatory markers, possible tissue damage from inflammation (eg an endocarditis) then there is a clear benefit to the more potent drug antibiotics.

In cases when symptoms have been longstanding, then even if there is evidence of ongoing infection then treatment of post-infectious changes is paramount. This might include again immune system balancing treatments as well as neuropsychiatric approaches.

There is not as much information about natural bartonella treatment compared to natural lyme treatment. This article hopefully can raise some discussion points for options for patients to discuss with their practitioner.

Common symptoms of bartonella (especially chronic cases)

If a bartonella infection is not acute, the symptoms can be very vague as they are often related to low-level inflammation. The symptoms can cross multiple systems.

Non-specific symptoms that are common, but not unique to bartonella:

  • fatigue
  • cognitive impairment
  • pain, including arthritic pain, muscular pain
  • POTS, dizziness

Keynote symptoms that seem to be more unique to patients who have evidence of bartonella (but are not diagnostic of bartonella!)

  • internal vibration sense, sensation of being plugged into electrical current
  • linear striae or rashes, that come and go, can look like stretch marks without causative weight changes
  • patches of numbness and tingling that do not fit neuroanatomical patterns
  • unusual light and sound hypersensitivity
  • tender nodules under the skin
  • foot pain in AM (different from plantar fasciitis)

Importantly, acute symptoms of bartonella can vary, but in my practice I consider drug antibiotics typically if:

1) severity of neurological dysfunction is high 2) there is any evidence of acute inflammation of specific tissues (eg swollen joints with high inflammatory markers, cardiac signs, meningeal signs) 3) fever 4) recent onset, without previous treatment with antibiotics

Common Herbal Antimicrobials I use

Houttuynia

Houttuynia tincture has been one of the more common agents that I use in practice. It has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-viral](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36061012/)) effects as well as antibacterial properties.

Oregano oil

Carvacrol seems to be one of the important active components in this herb. A variety of suppliers provide this herb, and it is widely available at health food stores.

Garlic

Garlic is a common antimicrobial which has strong anti-inflammatory and moderate anti-clotting properties as well.

  • allicin, an active component of garlic, is well-known within the Zhang protocol for treating bartonella and lyme
  • my own experience has been that when used as a single ingredient, it does not have much of an effect
  • it's broad activity range](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10594976/) is described in a review:
    'Allicin, one of the active principles of freshly crushed garlic homogenates, has a variety of antimicrobial activities. Allicin in its pure form was found to exhibit i) antibacterial activity against a wide range of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including multidrug-resistant enterotoxicogenic strains of Escherichia coli; ii) antifungal activity, particularly against Candida albicans; iii) antiparasitic activity, including some major human intestinal protozoan parasites such as Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia; and iv) antiviral activity'

Tincture of Japanese Knotweed and Cryptolepsis

This combination has been one of the foundations of what I use as an herbal option against lyme.

  • the same study above for oregano oil showed activity of this combination against the stationary phase of bartonella as well
  • coverage for coinfection with both lyme and bartonella likely means good broad coverage
    • despite this broader coverage there does not seem to be large effects on the gut flora

Berberine

Berberine, often used in other conditions such as hyperglycemia as well as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

  • more common to see adverse effects, including gastrointestinal upset, or allergy
  • also active against the stationary form of bartonella

Proprietary formulation from Beyond Balance: MCBAR1 and MCBAR2

These are agents that are frequently used as well. They concentration and ratio of the components are proprietary, and the relative dosage compared to the individual tinctures often seems quite low. However, they do seem to be very potent overall.

Common discussion points to have with your practitioner

The herbal options are orders of magnitude safer than the drug options, but bartonella patients do need to discuss the common risks of allergy, GI upset with their practitioners. Particularly, if there is a new infection, especially one where antibiotic drugs have not yet been given, then a round of treatment with these prescriptions should be discussed as well.

Conclusions

Herbal options can be a good tool for natural treatment of bartonella. They do not replace drug options in new infections, and especially in those where there are more acute inflammatory signs or tissue involvement.

In general, the more aggressive a bartonella infection seems, the more likely that I have found that drug options are effective. If the symptoms seem to be more related to inflammatory changes and adaptation, then the more gentle herbal options should generally be discussed first, especially if a treatment trial with the prescriptions has already been done.