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Herxing: over and over??

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Posted 10/6/2010 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
I have experienced many physical symptom free days (NOT the mental parts) and then I'll be very sick for a couple of days -- with throbbing, aching, inflamed feelings all over, esp my mouth and jaw(on the inside of mouth), back, and now starting in my head. I do not have regular headaches, per se, but my head feels compressed and achey and inflamed, if that makes any sense.

This has happened several times since I started augmentin. If I was herxing, would that happen over and over? I do my best at detox, but it's hard and even the detox feels like herxing sometimes.

Or do you think my abx is not working?  Or does the Lyme just keep flaring up, even while on abx?

btw, I just got a script for LDN filled. Holding out a lot of hope with that.

 

Post Edited (+Lyme) : 10/6/2010 5:38:36 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/6/2010 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
My experience was that the symptoms just kept coming and coming in waves. Totally overwhelming at times. And then one day the medicines took hold, and I could literally feel myself turning the corner. Hope you get there soon.
Posted 10/7/2010 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
Achieving, did you experience relief and then return of symptoms, and then relief and then return of symptoms like that?

When our symptoms kept coming in 'waves' is that just the way of this disease, or are we herxing repeatedly?
Posted 10/7/2010 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Well,+, when I was feeling as bad as you are it went like this.... I would have all sorts of physical and mental symptoms and they would gradually get worse. Symptoms came and went, made worse by overwork, stress and especially any kind of travel (you know, I think even the change in weather would set me off sometimes). Then I would go to my llmd appointment and there would be some change in my medicine (new one, or increase in dosage, or addition of an herb, for example). I would start to feel better within three days with improvement everyday until after a week or so I would feel beyond awful -- symptoms would come back harder and some new ones would crop up (scary neurological stuff, especially). I would hold on for dear life and then day by day I would get to feeling better and even have some fabulous days where my mind was clear and nothing hurt. And then the gradual downturn until the next tweak in the meds.

I think the symptoms coming in waves is your body alternately coping with all the toxins and then becoming overwhelmed, as well you gaining ground against the bacteria and then falling back again.

I hope you are seeing some sort of improvement overall. As I said, I noticed I really turned the corner at one point. I believe it was when I finally beat the Babesia. After that, getting rid of the Lyme was smooth sailing.
Posted 10/7/2010 2:13 AM (GMT 0)
I agree with achievinggrace, I think it is waves of toxins as we peel the layers of toxins away, and waxes and wanes with the bacteria regaining hold...it feels so unpredictable, it is confusing. I did a detox method one day and felt fine, then I did it again Saturday-- and this time, instead of helping sxs, it triggered a horrible herx reaction. I feel I must have just happened to hit the toxin jackpot somewhere--the detoxing maybe worked on a new pocket of cells with years worth of toxins inside.....

I too have a feeling of my head throbbing and brain pressure--I am not sure if this is even perhaps a light encephalitis? My ears are ringing loud, my hands and legs go numb, I am weak and I feel like I have an unbelievable hangover. My mind is so foggy I feel almost drunk at the wheel--I worry the police will pull me over and charge me for being toxic and driving....my neck crackles when I turn, just like someone said on a recent post. I have days when I look back and can't believe how terrible I felt a week ago. And I have days I look back and think how just 24 hours ago I felt ok relatively.

Achievinggrace, how long was it until you felt yourself turning that first corner? I too, have babesia on top of everything.....
Posted 10/7/2010 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
As I said, I noticed I really turned the corner at one point. I believe it was when I finally beat the Babesia. After that, getting rid of the Lyme was smooth sailing.

___________________________

Achievinggrace:
Do you consider yourself healed then? Did you beat Babs and Lyme? How long did it take you and how long where you on meds? Do you know when you got bit?
Posted 10/7/2010 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
I too have a feeling of my head throbbing and brain pressure--I am not sure if this is even perhaps a light encephalitis? My ears are ringing loud, my hands and legs go numb, I am weak and I feel like I have an unbelievable hangover. My mind is so foggy I feel almost drunk at the wheel--I worry the police will pull me over and charge me for being toxic and driving....my neck crackles when I turn, just like someone said on a recent post. I have days when I look back and can't believe how terrible I felt a week ago. And I have days I look back and think how just 24 hours ago I felt ok relatively.
---------------------------------------------------
That is me except I don't trust myself to drive, so no worry about the police, here! On the bright side, my neck does not crack, but all other joints do! I have good days, when I wonder if I am really sick or if I was sick and not cured. Then the bad days come as a reminder...
Posted 10/7/2010 5:59 AM (GMT 0)
Lyme is known to be cyclical. How long have you been taking Augmentin? I think some people start taking antibiotics and it's easy to think it's either not working, or it's stopped working too quickly because they may initially have a period when they feel better and then worse again.

I took Augmentin for over a year - it was the ONLY antibiotic that I could tolerate (and made it through the Herxing). I never felt "well," but overall, during the year I took it, I made drastic improvement.

Do you keep a calendar of symptoms? This may help you, as it's so easy to minimize progress we've made when we're still feeling terrible... I just use a regular calendar template in Microsoft Word and type in how I felt overall during each day...any change in medications and anything else that may have contributed to how the day went...
Posted 10/7/2010 12:51 PM (GMT 0)
Seeking balance, Simela,
I had lyme for more than 20 years -- untreated. Then got bitten again picking up Ehrlichia and Babesia as well. It was over a year after that before I got treatment. I was on antibiotics for 20 months before I turned the corner and was treated for a further four months, rounding out the full year. Then I got another bite within weeks of stopping abx and three months later was back on and am now practically back to full health. I consider myself exceedingly fortunate and have come to recognize my husband as some kind of saint!
Posted 10/9/2010 3:15 AM (GMT 0)
Questions on the abx:

At the end of last summer I took two 875 mg of Amox 2 times per day. That's a lotta abx! I cracked up a lot while on that, but experienced much improvement after that.

Current LLMD has me on 875 mg of augmentin, twice per day. I understand that augmentin is Amox w/ something else added --- specifically and supposedly to make the Amox more potent, esp against resistent bacteria.

Question: So, is my current dose as strong as was 875 mg 2 X day?
Posted 10/10/2010 12:37 PM (GMT 0)
+Lyme -

For some reason this last message wasn't sent to me so I just stumbled over it! There are many web sites where you can compare different medications (of the same class) to find out which dosage of one is comparable to another. I would assume that because Augmentin is Ammoxicillin with a "booster," so my doctor calls it, that it would be the same milligram-to-milligram dose, but maybe I'm totally wrong. I'm not sure I understand your question completely - it sounds like you're taking the same dose of Augmentin as you were of Ammoxicillin anyway...

If I remember correctly, I think I took 500 mg. twice daily of Augmentin...and like I've said so many times, it was the ONLY treatment I made it through the Herx and stayed on for over a year until it just wasn't doing too much anymore...and symptoms were progressing again. My doctor is also BIG on starting low and working your way up to a higher dose to avoid bad Herx and find your level of tolerability.
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