unbearable pain

Kathleen,

I can't help with the question about herxing; I'm incredibly new to all of this....today was Day 2 of doxy! I haven't been sick from the doxy (I'm at 400 mg/day), but am dreading the herx. My understanding though is that when you're having a herx, your symptoms caused by Lyme (whatever they are, this is very individual) will get worse. They can get a little worse or a LOT worse....it depends on the person.

Most of my really bothersome symptoms are either back pain or neurological symptoms.

Can you contact your doctor for some pain medication? The people in the Chronic Pain forum were just reminding me that it's not good to "tough it out"....you need to find a way to deal with the pain, because when you ignore the pain, it leads to more pain. It's a vicious cycle and you have to break it.

I just wanted to tell you that you are in my thoughts and prayers.....I wish I could help in some way!

(((hugs)))
JoAnn

my psychiatrist always told me...you have to treat the pain.
it makes so much sense. i have been back and forth with this every day of my life. constantly trying to tuff it out and it's maddening. i wouldn't even think of going into this treatment with to having a handle on my depression and pain. this is what made me stopped the doxcy. and now am back to square one. I have to have my depression and pain management under control begore i can go back on trearment. i always feel like i am giving up control by taking the pills but i really realized i am actually taking control by taking the hekp and not white knuckling it. this is not a quick thing. its a long term deal.
pain zapps all your energy. there is ll kinds of things you can do and I do and pain meds is one of them. dont let this derail you from your treatment like i did by day 8 of only 10mg a day. if you are not a pain med kind of person the mustard bath and epson is great too.

go for it


bucci

kathleen,
i have the same problem, the right knee pain, and stiffness all around. the stiffness seem to have some what subsided with doxy(daily 200mg), i was able to fold/bend the knee in both directions. but inflammation is still there.. been 2 months now i think.
just not going away, for last week i've reduced my intake of wheat/starch food that are high in inflammation. next week i see an llmd - let's see what he says. but i remember when i started on doxy my knee hurt bad.

right now my other symptoms - post doxy is, daily sleep disorder. sweat during night. mild (scale of 1-2) pain in fingers, toes, ankles, lots of twitching everywhere. and occassionally fast racing heart with chills for no reason. even when i am wearing sweater and in 70F, still chill. i wish the doc can find out how long i've had this disease. whats a normal wbc count? i had 650. i wonder if lyme is gonna bring this down.

pepphell, so you finished your docy treatment? what are you taking noww? how long did you take it?

bucci

I was told it is osteoarthritis and that a replacement is needed but will not happen at my age. Ortho doc said the lyme might be tearing tendon. I have a torn rotator cuff as a result.

I take tramadol or percocet for pain but it dosen't seem to work. I wonder if I should stop antibiotics or ask ortho to clean out joint.

Momtomonsters

Post Edited (momtomonsters) : 1/23/2010 9:13:30 PM (GMT-7)

i showed two rhuey, both said, very rarely lyme will damage the joint to an extent where you'll need replacement surgery or something. However replacement surgery also depends on how old you are, and how worn and torn your bones are.

bucci:
I am still on daily doxy 200mg. the knee pain goes away some days, some day it is back. i don't know what is going on. negotiating steps is the hardest part for me. i go one step at a time holding rails. also i noticed that pain has moved from one bone to another in the same knee.


I am going to see a llmd for lyme treatment. 3 wks of doxy may not be enough for me. I remember when I first got attacked on the right knee, i thought i'd need another knee (my pain was so bad, 10/10, it'd hurt to press lightly), but as that pain went away, i have 0 pain in that area now, and its a miracle that nothing was needed to make it go away. however the last 2 months pain that i am having in different area of knee is not going away.. and one rhuemy said it was the cartilage so he was worried so got my xrays done.. haven't got the result. but i pray everything is alright with knee and lyme is the only culprit here.


Start intake of :GLUCASOMINE for joint and cartilage health. (dont buy a product that has chroditin in it).

Although I had lyme (undiagnosed for 4 years) I had no major joint pain or problems other than stiffness and occasional sharp alternate shooting pains until I started treatment.  My left knee didn't bother me at all until finally diagnosed and dr. coupled the amoxicillin with probenecid.  Now it is my elbow aching terribly and dr. says tendonitis.  So I totally believe it is the toxins which can cause the joint pain and inflammation while undergoing treatment.  It is just a battle of how to get rid of the toxins before the joint problems get too bad. 

I have been taking teasel root tincture for close to 4 months now. I herxed terribly on it at first (pain was very bad). The source I got it from said to build up to 9 drops total a day (3 drops, 3 times a day), but to cut back if your body doesn't like that much. My body did NOT like that much, so I went down to 2 drops 2 times a day and doing OK on that much, although I wish the pain would just go away completely - it just remains about the same. Can I ask where you get yours? The source I got mine from is Lady Barbara's Garden (you can google it), but she says due to high demand, only one bottle per customer and I'm nearly out!

Just a thought...
I have discovered for me, a lot of times when I have the more intense joint pain, a detox bath helps a lot! I know that a part of the relief comes from simply having the area that is in pain in the warm water, but I don't care - I just want relief! I will also use a heating pad & ice packs to through the 'bout' of pain.

I am only in my late 40's & have NO desire to be on very strong pain meds, but from time to time I do have to ask my doc for something. The pain we Lymies can suffer can be equal to what post-op patients experience, although it's not easyj to get those pain meds that work on that kind of pain.

Thanks for all of your responses. My ortho is on vacation this week. I am in with a PA on Wed but would rather wait in pain until next week to see my own doctor.

I am going through epsom salts like crazy.

Kathleen

I don't have Lyme but I do have arthritis. If it will help any of you I had knee surgery to repair a torn maniscus and torn cartildige,
and chrondo himma himma (crunching of joints). I also have arthritis and bakers cysts in both knees. The one they "fixed" was
so messed up by the time they got done that my kneecap was an inch out of place. I used Super Cissus RX to repair the muscles
tendons and ligaments....Bio-Sil to rebuild cartilidge and Malic Acid to detox. The three of them together are a God send to me
as I had a hard time doing my job. I work in the dishroom of a 200 bed nursing home and it's a very physical job. This has got it
so I can sleep at night and the joints are doing better. I've been on it for a year now and the kneecap is where it belongs and I've
gotten off most painkillers (the super cissus has a built in painkiller). I've had the arthritis for 48 years now and fibro for at least 10.
I hope this can help as I no longer need knee replacement.

Nana Monster