Q: A customer of ours has Lyme Disease and is interested in taking Boluoke®. However, she is a Lewis ABH Non-secretor so her immune system is not functioning very well and she is very ill as a result of her body not being able to ward off infections such as viruses. My question is, would it be safe for her to take Boluoke® if it liberates the infection by breaking down the fibrin protecting the microorganism if her immune system is very poor. Zora J, ND (Auckland, New Zealand)
A: There are two opinions on how to approach a situation like this:
1. Some doctors prefer to take it slow, and start with a low dose of Boluoke®, so there is only limited microbial release and limited Herxheimer’s 2. Other doctors prefer to hit it hard with high doses so the infectious agents are exposed, and at the same time they’ll be using strong antibiotics or antimicrobials to kill the infectious agents.
Accordingly, how you approach the problem represents the doctor’sa clinical judgement.
Q: Can Boluoke® be taken with blood thinners like Xarelto? Is it safe to use with other blood thinning medications as well?
Caleb B. (Chicago, IL)A: Boluoke® should be fine to take with conventional blood thinners like heparin or warfarin based on clinical experiences and on studies that showed Boluoke® does not significantly affect PT (INT) or aPTT. If the patient is taking warfarin, just make sure they’ve reached a stable dose before introducing Boluoke®. As for newer anticoagulants like Xarelto, Eliquis, or Dabigatran, there is not enough data yet to show it is safe to combine them. But theoretically (based on the mechanisms) Boluoke® is still compatible with them. Some doctors have also done so without any issue. There are two things to remember: 1. As long as the patients are on pharmaceutical anticoagulants, the inherent risk of bleeding is still present regardless if they take Boluoke® or not. 2. When patients are taking anti-coagulants, they should only need 1-2 capsules of Boluoke® per day, unless otherwise indicated by testing or the doctor’s discretion.