Epi-Still

[Frink]

This site
lists these ingredients. (this site will not let me post the link)


What are the Ingredients?

EpiStill contains the following herbal and homeopathic ingredients:

Passiflora (Passionflower) is an herb used widely for anxiety and stress and is also useful for calming an overstimulated nervous system. Passiflora is effective in both the prevention and treatment of seizures, especially when stress is a precipitating factor.

Scuttelaria laterifolia (Skullcap) is a well-known calmative and antispasmodic herb and will help to reduce over-stimulation that can lead to seizure occurrence. It is also helpful in lowering fever and regulating blood pressure.

Cuprum metallicum (30C) is a homeopathic ingredient that is recommended for the control of seizures and also addresses post-ictal drowsiness, mental dullness and vomiting.

Cicuta virosa (30C) is another homeopathic remedy that has proven results in treating seizures, especially those characterized by rigidity and/or jerking movements. This remedy is also often prescribed to relieve breathing difficulties and hypersalivation and to address the decreased level of consciousness associated with seizures

[Endless]

Thanks for the list of ingredients. You must have done some major detective work to find them!

Based on the ingredients I don't think I'd take it. Look at this website for more details:
University of Washington Epilepsy Center Integrative Medicine

Passionflower: Reports of vasculitis (related to brand Relaxim) and another reports of cardiac toxicity (prolonged QT and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia). Related plants contain known cardiac, hepatic and pancreatic toxins

Passionflower, another herbal sedative, is similarly thought to have effects on the GABA pathway (20). There are reports of rare life threatening toxicity from this herbal remedy as well, including cases of vasculitis (21) and cardiac abnormalities (22).

Table 3: Herbal Remedies with Rare But Life Threatening Toxicity BAIKAL SKULLCAP Few reports of liver toxicity and bone marrow dysfunction (decreased white blood cell count)

I can see why they hid the last two under the less commonly known names:

Cuprum metallicum is copper. Ingestion of copper has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_toxicity

Cicuta virosa is Hemlock. Read up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicuta

Hemlock A known poison causing paralysis due to neurotoxicity at neuromuscle junctions.

[http://pcs.hmc.washington.edu/Epilepsy/EpiInfo/CAM.html

[hootie]

The last two ingredients are prepared via homeopathic dilution. One drop of substance (copper, hemlock) is mixed with 99 drops of diluent (water, alcohol) and succussed...then one drop of this mixture is taken and mixed with 99 drops of diluent and succussed. This is done (diluted) 30 times (that is why 30C is listed after the copper and hemlock ingredients). Basically, there is no original substance left that can be detected with testing. This is energy medicine!!!


I have used homeopathy for many acute situations for my children (to help with pain after broken bones, dental surgery, gum grafts...no painkiller drugs needed; for cramps, asthma attacks, etc.). This is effective but gentle stuff!!!

As far as the herbs you mention in the mixture...probably less people experience the side effects listed than our beloved anti-epileptic drugs.

[ColmanMac]

Just reading these posts is scaring me off this stuff!

[Endless]

I agree, Col. I didn't go so far as to look up the studies cited on the website. They would probably give the rate of side effects. BUT, because homeopathic remedies can have such a wide range of potency (as compared to what's on the label), I'm inclined to stay away from ones that could be dangerous.

[dragonlady1978]

Actually the ingredients are listed right on the page the product is, you just have to click the tab that says "ingredients" right underneath it.

I have studied herbal remedies on and off for a few years, and passionflower and skullcap aren't statistically dangerous at all.
Passionflower has been approved by the FDA for food use. It has been used successfully for a wide variety of ailments for a very long time and is relatively safe. Skullcap is presently listed as "undefined" safety. Both passionflower and skullcap have to be consumed in very large quantities to produce any toxic effects.

Neither of them should be taken without checking with a doctor of pharmacist though for interactions. Passionflower has an interaction with certain stimulants and anti-depressants.
Frankly, there are plenty of over the counter drugs like Tylenol that are statistically much more dangerous. There isn't much out there that we consume that won't have a harmful effect if you swallow enough of it

However, the hemlock is not personally something I would want to ingest.

Endless is correct in that hemlock is poisonous, there are two strains but both are almost equally dangerous. It looks alot like an edible plant so there have historically been quite a few cases of death from people or animals accidentally eating it. If I remember correctly, it has even been concentrated and used to execute people in early Greece.

I don't have a whole lot of personal knowledge or experience with vitamins and minerals as opposed to herbs, but I don't think copper is wholly bad either. It's a trace mineral and not having enough can cause health problems. You will find it in most multivitamins. I just checked mine, and it's in there-2 mg per pill lists as what is FDA approved as 100% of recommended daily allowance.
I've read studies that say that getting the correct balance of copper has been shown to help with epilepsy, autism, and lots of other disorders associated with the brain. The thing is, this Epistill stuff doesn't list how much copper is in it, and copper IS something that can build up in the liver and brain and cause a multitude of problems, and (again like Endless says) getting too much has been linked to increased risk of Alzheimers. Since this stuff is a liquid I would think that the concentration of any one of it's ingredients can't really be counted upon in any one drop, so I'd be leary of that part of it as well.

[hootie]

At least for the copper and hemlock--they are in homeopathic dilutions so there is no substance left. If you tested the bottle for copper or hemlock, you would not find it in there. It is energy medicine.