taking breaks from herbal supplements

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lucymay9701

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Hi everyone, I just wondered what peoples thoughts were on this? I remember reading an article a while back that suggested that if your horse was on herbal supplements you should take a break from them every now and then. The article suggested either one day a week or one week in five. I can't remember the reasons for this! My horse has borderline cushings and is on chasteberry for this and arthritis which she is on pegasus nature bute (bosswellia) for. It seems strange to take a break from something that helps her but I would be interested to see what other people do and to find out more reasons behind why this was recommended in the article I read as I can no longer find it! Thanks Lucy x
 
I think this may be that its believed the effectiveness of a herbal supplement may lessen over time, so i'm guessing that some poeple give their horses breaks from them so as to give the body time without the remedy so that it doesn't build up a resistance? I personally don't think that this will be an issue in your case. Presumably if the supplement stops being helpful it'd be time to switch onto medication from the vet, there are many herbal rememdies on the market to try for cushings. Theres mixed reviews on here about herbal remedies for cushings as it can be a serious condition and needs to be controlled with medication early on to stop some of the nasty effects that can take a hold. If its helping your horse for the moment i wouldn't worry about taking breaks, at the point that it doesn't seem to be helping and your horse goes over the borderline i'd say it would be time to give the vets medication a go. Good luck :)
 
Thank you for your reply. Yes that would make alot of sense - I wish I'd remembered where I read the original article so I could read it again! My horse is doing really well on the chasteberry and her last blood test was normal but if that changes she can have the medication for cushings. However in the case of the boswellia (which seems to also work well!) I would be keener for that to work long term so she didn't need bute so I'm wondering whether taking short breaks from that would be helpful. Having said that there is a 'loading dose' with the boswellia so I'm thinking stopping that would reduce the amount in my horse to a lower level and so it wouldn't be as beneficial then - so maybe I'll just keep her on that all the time aswell! Does anyone else take breaks from herbal supplements or do you feed them all the time? Thanks Lucy
 
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