Since I started studying natural healing, I've heard many rumors about the dangers of herbs. (As well as ones about how they don't work. See Who Says Herbs Don't Work???)

Dr. Schulze once said that (put link, make separate article about him, fix link in other article) he has never seen any of this occur even after years of clinical practice using large doses of herbs. My advice is: Always check the source of such rumors. Are they based on clinical evidence? There is a lot of information and mis-information floating around in the natural healing world today, and it is up to us to determine for ourselves what is true and what isn't. Specifically for echinacea, Dr. Schulze has never seen anyone burn-out their immune systems, even on large doses of echinacea. He does agree with the recommendation to take echinacea (and other herbs as well) for three weeks and then take a week off before taking them again. He says this will increase their effectiveness.