r/herbs

Is there any evidence showing beneficial link to combining herbal remedies with marijuana and smoking them?

TW: abortion

I need advice on what is the most natural / least harmful / least toxic abortion option esp. as I am still breast-feeding a 1.5 year old (who also eats solids but has breastmilk every 2-4 hours and overnight to comfort back to sleep). I don’t want to be talked out of this. I am already devastated that I need to do this, I cannot take more guilt, judgment, preaching, criticism, etc. I’m hard enough on myself about it.

I only now need to decide which is the most natural / least harmful of the following two abortion options available to me:

Option 1: medical abortion at home, where you take mifepristone and 24 to 48 hours later you take misoprostol and you basically bleed out the baby.

Option 2: in office option where you have to take antibiotics, pain medications, anti-anxiety relaxants like Ativan / lorexopan, then they put lidocaine on your cervix and put a tool through through, and suction all the tissue out.

The first one felt like a more natural option because women report that it feels more like a natural miscarriage and I don’t want anyone probing through my body and I certainly don’t want to take antibiotics that in the past messed up my microbiome, and most likely led to a very serious digestive issue which I suffered from for several years.

But these two pills may be disastrous and too systemic /unsafe for my nursing baby. Is there 100% proven evidence that this will not negatively harm my 1.5 year old who I am still breast-feeding? Of course the conventional medical system never wants to commit to that. Risk is on you!

I asked what type of antibiotic is given and at what dosage but I haven’t heard back yet. I asked if I can take natural antibiotics and apparently there is no flexibility on this.

I will only be about 6 weeks pregnant during the procedure so it’s just like a tadpole at this stage but I also wonder if there’s any possibility of pain and if so, which would be less for the embryo. Some research says I believe pain starts at 9 weeks, but really, how do they know? So I would want the method where their death is more instant.

I almost wish there was some kind of natural herbs I could take at home to just do this entirely on my own, which would also bypass the required ultrasound which I hate to do, but I don’t know if I want to mess with that when it comes to something this serious.

I also read that the chance of breast cancer goes up with abortions, but that could be because there’s extra breast cells created that don’t have a job anymore, I don’t think that applies in my case since I’m breast-feeding.

My friend said she did both options and that the first option was way more painful, like as if she was in actual labor for like four hours, but she thinks that her situation might be specific, like something getting stuck maybe. In general, it seems like a foreign object being inserted into your body unnaturally (like without a natural cervix dilation process) has a much higher risk, but I don’t know, I’m just confused at this point.

Thank you very much for the guidance.

First, all practitioners should receive standardized modern medical education, obtain a medical license, and practice conventional medicine for at least five years. After that, those who are intellectually curious, highly dedicated, and genuinely motivated to deepen their clinical skills could pursue formal training in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

At that stage, they would study classical works such as the Shang Han Lun and Zhen Jiu Da Cheng, while also apprenticing under experienced clinicians for an additional two years of hands-on clinical training.

People without a licensed medical background should not be allowed to independently practice or clinically apply Chinese medicine. Raising the entry barrier for the profession would help reduce fraud, decrease the stigmatization of TCM, and better protect patients.

In my opinion, the future of Chinese medicine should be built on rigorous medical training, real clinical experience, and accountability to patient outcomes — not mysticism or marketing.

First, it’s usually better if they received formal medical education in China and have worked in large hospitals there. Traditional Chinese Medicine in China is still part of a structured medical system, with standardized training and extensive clinical exposure.

Second, check their Google reviews carefully — not just the star rating, but what kinds of conditions patients say were treated successfully. Chronic pain, tinnitus, digestive disorders, gynecological issues, insomnia, and other complex conditions often reveal more about a practitioner’s real clinical ability than simple relaxation treatments.

Third, a good practitioner should take time to properly observe, listen, ask questions, and examine the patient carefully. In my opinion, herbal prescriptions generally should not be written for an entire month at the very first visit. Usually, within about three days, you should notice at least some response or change. If not, the doctor may adjust the formula and try again, since understanding a complicated condition can take time. But if there is still no meaningful improvement after a month, it may be time to look for another practitioner.

Finally, truly good Chinese medicine doctors are generally practical and grounded. Traditional Chinese Medicine developed through long-term clinical observation and experience. Be cautious of practitioners who rely heavily on mysticism, supernatural claims, or excessive “energy healing” language instead of clear clinical reasoning and patient outcomes.