Artemisia + Cistus Tea Protocol for Kids

About this protocol

The author created this for their own two children, who were diagnosed with Lyme and co-infections at 18 months and 3 years old. It's based on the adult Artemisinin + Cistus Protocol, and the dosing draws on Maison Artemisia's guidance on Artemisia tea.

Please read first. This is one parent's protocol, not something that has been tested in children, and the strength of Artemisia tea varies between batches. Talk to your child's doctor before starting. Stop and call them if your child vomits repeatedly, becomes unusually drowsy, or seems unwell.

What you need

• A large tea steeper and a pint (16 oz) mason jar
• Artemisia annua loose leaf (the author bought 8 oz). It must be annua; other Artemisia species are different plants.
• Cistus incanus loose-leaf tea
• A gram scale, zip-top bags and a tablespoon measure
• Milk and sweetener to make it palatable

Prepare a week of bags

For each day, put that day's Artemisia and 2 Tbsp (about 6 g) of Cistus into a bag. Label the bags "Day 1" to "Day 7".

How much Artemisia annua (the author's guide; adjust for size):

• Age 5 and under: about 2.5 g. The author used 2.5 g for a 2½-year-old weighing 35 lb.
• Over 5: up to 5 g, scaled by size. The author used 3.5 g for a 5-year-old (45 lb) and suggests about 4 g for a 7–10 year old (65 lb).
• Pre-teens and older: 5 g, the adult tea dose.

Each day

1. Pour boiling water over one day's bag in the steeper, in the pint jar. Steep for 15–20 minutes, then remove the herbs. Straining through a coffee filter improves the taste.
2. Pour about a third of the jar into a cup and add milk and sweetener. The tea tastes more menthol-like the longer it sits, so be generous.
3. Give a third of the jar 3 times a day, for example at 8am, 12pm and 4pm. Artemisia only stays active for a few hours, so the doses need to be spread out.
4. Keep the rest of the tea covered on the counter. Don't refrigerate and microwave it; the author says reheating destroys the active compounds. Heat the milk instead to warm each cup.

Repeat the 7-day course once a month until symptoms subside.

Avoid vitamin C during the week

The author advises avoiding vitamin C during treatment: no orange juice, citrus or vitamin C supplements, and give multivitamins well away from doses. They believe it blunts artemisinin.

Adults using tea instead of capsules

Adults can use the same method with 5 g of Artemisia annua and 3–4 Tbsp (10–14 g) of Cistus in a quart jar. In the US, artemisinin capsules are usually cheaper; see the adult protocol.