Herx, Sinus Infection and/or Lyme meningitis?

Per an LLMD, I have recently started taking Ceftin, Azythromycin, Adderal, Malarone and Difulcan to treat all of the different Lyme issues.

Now I am having severe headaches and sinus pressure in my ears, behind my eyes and around my nose. I feel like there is fluid in my sinuses, but I have not had a runny or stuffed nose. My neck is totally stiff, and I keep getting my husband to squeeze it for me bc I feel like I am not getting enough blood flow to my brain.

I've noticed I am clenching my teeth a lot now and can't tell if the headache/neck pain is causing them to clench or if the clenching is causing the pain. I am also having internal shaking, head bobbing/shaking, muscle twitches, profuse sweating, feeling hot and flushed while extremities are freezing, fatigue and other weird things.

I thought I had herxed when I was on rosephin and doxy, but I have never felt is badly before. I guess this is a REAL herx?

My question is if the sinus stuff is part of it, or if it is a separate issue I should address with a regular doctor. My husband had a cold recently, but my sinus pressure happened before that. I don't have any cold symptoms other than the pressure and feeling "sloshy" inside my head.

I'm trying not to go to the ER bc of insurance issues, but I will go if it gets any worse. I'm definitely going to call my dr. in the morning.

I just looked up Lyme meningitis online. I'm not running fever. Can you have Lyme meningitis without fever? Would you have front of face pain, too? That's the only reason I thought sinuses, but over-the-counter decongestants and ibuprofen are not helping.

I will keep you posted.

Ames,
Your symptoms are totally in line with a herxheimer reaction. Your medicines are causing die off in your Central Nervous System. It is a good sign, but you might want to increase your detoxing. If you don't see a reduction in this discomfort, you might consider reducing your medication (call your Lyme doctor to get the okay). Keeping your body in a high level of healing crises is not helpful but it is good to know you are making progress and your medicines are working.

The neck stiffness you are feeling is aseptic meningitis -- literally a swelling of the meninges (the lining of the spinal cord). It is wildly uncomfortable but is not dangerous like the infectious types of meningitis. If you really feel like you are in danger, by all means go to the ER, but they will not know what to do with a herxheimer reaction. They will submit you to a lot of invasive and expensive tests, make you feel even more uncomfortable, and probably tell you that you shouldn't be taking the treatment that you are. In short, they will be of no help.

Hope you feel better soon.

Honestly, what I have found helpful is massage, yoga, reduction in meds, detoxing, and time. Pain killers don't seem to touch it at all. At some point you will be able to get some good sleep and you will feel better.

I totally agree with achievinggrace.

I often get head pressure and sinus pain when I herx too. I try to detox more when things get too bad. Besides dry skin brushing and my epsom salt/hydrogen peroxide baths I will do oil pulling with coconut oil, put calcium betonite living clay on my face and neck, and I use a saline spray to clean out nasal passages.

I hope you find some relief soon.

Oh wow Ames, I posted an almost identical post a few weeks ago.

I thought it was my sinus infection, since I had had bronchitis and a sinus infection, but the doctor said it was gone.

I had pain in cheekbones, forehead, near the ears, on the top of my head, and the back of my neck and shoulders, plus a stiff neck.

Someone on this forum suggested I take Rifampin (which I did not), but you may want to consider that.

I took supplements instead, and stopped all my antimicrobials.

I also used warm ginger compresses, and that helped. At present I am being helped a lot by Zeolite and Bentonite Clay used internally and in baths.

I've also added Himalayan salt to the baths.

For sinus trouble, my ND said to add 2-3 drops of Goldenseal to my saline sinus rinse. It first, that made my head hurt more, but soon, it really helped my sinus troubles and my allergies.

I am restarting treatment, but EXTREMELY slowly.

Margaret

Ames777—

If you don't have any luck getting the sinus or herx symptoms resolved, please consider a fungal infection. Antifungals (strong meds—not naturals) eliminated nearly every last symptom (although it took several weeks) for me. Sometimes I had drainage, sometimes not. Can't explain why, though.

-p

Yes it is a systemic anti fungal.

I had never heard a sinus infection associated with a yeast/fungal overgrowth. But things got pretty bad for me and no doctor ever thought to check to see if it was fungal. Not to scare you—you seem to be on top of things but sinus infections can be rather dangerous if they get into your brain. After learning that I scoured the internet and found some compelling evidence that I should try some antifungals. So when I come across people who can't seem to get rid of them, like I had experienced, I suggest trying the antifungals to see if you get a positive reaction—you could probably also get some testing done but doesn't seem to be worth the hassle or expense. The Diflucan (systemic) is a short-term anti fungal and hard on the liver but the Nystatin (local) can be taken indefinitely without harm.

I took various rounds of abx for about a year (no anti yeast support, unfortunately) and developed a HUGE systemic problem, which started in the gut and reached my sinuses. Plus, I have leaky gut issues (food allergies) so I think the yeast got into my bloodstream as well and went global. Not fun. Many of the symptoms are similar to lyme symptoms so it was tough to diagnose at first. But I had very strong (positive) reactions to antifungals from the very first pill so that made the cause of the sinus issues pretty obvious.

Then I took 200mg Diflucan/Fluconazole and 15000u Nystatin (local anti fungal for gut) daily for about 3 months and the sinusitis and bronchitis got significantly better but I still had lingering symptoms so I switched to Ketoconazole and a powder (pure) form of Nystatin (which coats mouth, esophagus, stomach and intestines) and had GREAT results immediately. My yeast/fungal issue was systemic, in my head/sinuses and gut. Six months after taking all these antifungals I can still flare with any amount of sugar/simple carbs, which turn into sugar quickly but it is absolutely under control and I'd say about 95% gone from my sinuses.

I am about ready to start IV antibiotics for lyme, which will help avoid those abx in the gut but I am also starting Malarone or Mepron for Babesia, which I have to take by pill. I'm pretty nervous about how I'm going to react to that. I'm also taking a lot of enzymes and probiotics to help the good bacteria outnumber the yeast/fungus. I spoke w/ my LLMD yesterday and we are going to continue both antifungals for awhile longer and continue checking my liver levels—so far they are good as long as I take Milk thistle seed and burdock root as part of my detoxing daily.

Hope this helps!

-p

It needs to drain. Try the Goldenseal thing. If that doesn't work, you can get a GSE nasal spray. There's also one with Oil of Oregano and cloves.

I know that GSE and Oil of Oregano are both antifungal as well as antibacterial.

What kind of container are you using to deliver the saline rinse? You need something that's strong enough so that as the solution streams in one nostril, it streams out the other nostril.

Margaret