2 queries: Stale breath and use of citrus aurantium

[Guest guest]

Has anyone had any experience of their patients complaining of stale

breath after starting a course of herbal medicine?

I have recently started treating a female patient with acne. I have seen

her twice. On the second visit she said that the acne had improved but

she was experiencing stale breath ‘coming up from throat’. - at first

it lingered quite a while and repeated several times a day , but after a

few weeks it was about every other day for a few minutes. The breath was

definitely stale tasting (not bitter or metallic). This has never

happened to her before. She wondered it if it was due to the medicine.

I told her it was very unlikely that it was a direct consequence of the

medicine, but may be part of the overall cleansing/eliminating response

of the body to the actions of the herbs.

The Rx included the following herbs: Echinacea, Eleuthrococcus,

Trifolium, Berberis aqu, Zanthoxylum, Phytolacca, Arctium; also Vitex FE

separately. She had also started taking Efamol (with added marine oil)

and zinc tablets (she couldn’t remember which brand).

I was also wondering whether anyone had any experience of using citrus

aurantium a/w for acne? This patient has both acne and dry patches on

her face. She says that her face gets so oily during the day that she

needs to remove the grease several times a day, but that products aimed

at this problem can make the dry skin worse. She is currently using

Clarins products. I read in Essentially Oils newsletter that the oil

is good for acne, whilst Avicenna says the a/w can be used for dry skin.

I experimented with putting a little of the a/w on my face and found it

too astringing on its own. So I’m hoping that someone might be able to

suggest a base for the a/w which would help treat the dry skin but not

aggravate the acne?

Many thanks in anticipation!

Katharine Wale