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Posted 10/10/2016 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
I just finished up my 2nd week of treatment and I am so depressed and can't stop crying. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to make the tears stop? How long does this usually last? I am trying to work full-time. I work in a university and need to be upbeat and positive. Ugh!

I am on cefdinir every three days. I am waiting for the IgeneX co-infection report.

I need encouragement!
Posted 10/10/2016 11:08 PM (GMT 0)
Sissy - I'm so sorry you're having a rough time. I remember those days of crying...I cried every single day for months.

Just know that it does get better.

It is not uncommon to have depression when we have lyme and co's. It is a symptom, and can worsen when we herx.

Are you doing enough to detox? Your body is most likely overloaded with the die-off of bacteria.

Here's a link to a site:

www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

You will want to start with a few methods...and build on that...adding another one every few days.

Also, are you taking probiotics daily?
and something to support your liver?
Posted 10/10/2016 11:10 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Sissy63,

What you are going through is completely normal. Many of us including myself have gone through various periods of depression throughout the treatment. A week ago I was so depressed that I just wanted to end everything. I posted about it here and got an overwhelming amount of support from the people on this forum. Today I am feeling much better. Its always a roller coaster ride with this illness. I encourage you as others have to me to vent out here as much as you can. We are all listening to you as depression is no stranger to us. What I have learned here through various people is the power of detox. There are so much toxins in our bodies from the bacteria to the antibiotics to the dying bacteria that it causes chaos inside of us. Are you drinking enough water? Try drinking 64 ounces of lemon water, dry brushing, using binders like alka seltzer gold. Are you taking enough probiotics? All things make a difference. If nothing else vent to us, we will listen and it will help.
Posted 10/10/2016 11:15 PM (GMT 0)
I take milk thistle and curcumin. I ran out of Epsom Salt or I would take a bath. Other than drinking a lot of water and taking fiber.

It seems like the depression is worse the day after I take the antibiotic. Would that make sense?
Posted 10/10/2016 11:17 PM (GMT 0)
I am slowly increasing the probiotics. I am at 20 billion CFUs right now.
Posted 10/10/2016 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
This is a very lonely disease! I look perfectly healthy so people don't understand why I feel so badly and can't stop crying. Something has literally taken over my brain.
Posted 10/10/2016 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Sissy63 some abx do provoke emotional responses. It could be your reaction to the abx or a herx reaction. Hopefully others that take abx will be along to share their experiences.

Hang in there, it will get better. This is such a rollercoaster ride at times.
Posted 10/10/2016 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hang in there! We are all with you! I have been in the crying stage, and it does go away!!! Cyber hugs to you!!
Posted 10/10/2016 11:45 PM (GMT 0)

3HumpedCamel said...
Hang in there! We are all with you! I have been in the crying stage, and it does go away!!! Cyber hugs to you!!

Thanks! I have never been much of a crier before.
Posted 10/11/2016 12:12 AM (GMT 0)
Lyme disease has made me an Oympic caliber crier. In fact, I seem to have both a Gold Medal and a Pulitzer prize in crying. I went to a new support group the other day and everyone talked about the tears that flowed with treatment as well as being submerged by the accompanying depression that can happen. (I am thinking that at times, that the crying could almost be used therapeutically, like a diuretic .Now I am surprised that my insurance company hasn't thought of that to save money! Perhaps I could help those drought ridden areas of the country with a collection and desalination system for my tears!)

It doesn't make it easy but I hear it over and over again. It is not just weakness or even a decision or lack of positive attitude but in my mind it is just a physiologic reaction to inflammation in the brain. (And I may be whacky here but I liken it to spraining my ankle. The ankle swells and it doesn't work like it is supposed to..)..Until the healing starts and the swelling goes down, the ankle will not perform optimally. Brain does not perform optimally on lyme or lyme treatment.

WHATEVER IT IS : It is still the hardest thing to go through...and it sucks that this has to be one more symptom.....The people here have all been through a ton of stuff and are very helpful.....! Hang in.

I am about to start to retreat and I will be posting the SOS soon too.
Posted 10/11/2016 12:40 AM (GMT 0)

AK said...
Lyme disease has made me an Oympic caliber crier. In fact, I seem to have both a Gold Medal and a Pulitzer prize in crying. I went to a new support group the other day and everyone talked about the tears that flowed with treatment as well as being submerged by the accompanying depression that can happen. (I am thinking that at times, that the crying could almost be used therapeutically, like a diuretic .Now I am surprised that my insurance company hasn't thought of that to save money! Perhaps I could help those drought ridden areas of the country with a collection and desalination system for my tears!)

It doesn't make it easy but I hear it over and over again. It is not just weakness or even a decision or lack of positive attitude but in my mind it is just a physiologic reaction to inflammation in the brain. (And I may be whacky here but I liken it to spraining my ankle. The ankle swells and it doesn't work like it is supposed to..)..Until the healing starts and the swelling goes down, the ankle will not perform optimally. Brain does not perform optimally on lyme or lyme treatment.

WHATEVER IT IS : It is still the hardest thing to go through...and it sucks that this has to be one more symptom.....The people here have all been through a ton of stuff and are very helpful.....! Hang in.

I am about to start to retreat and I will be posting the SOS soon too.

It sounds like I am not alone in this. I can just be doing my normal daily routine, like sitting at my desk working, and the tears will just flow. I can be taking a shower and be bawling my head off. It is the strangest thing. Sometimes as quick as it starts it also ends! Usually my crying is accompanied with jaw pain. So frustrating!
Posted 10/11/2016 12:42 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, I'd love to encourage you as best that I know how. I understand your pain and your depression as it relates to Lyme. I myself am 31, have had a life of happiness and adventure and warmth and love, and then Lyme hits, and it has weathered me and challenged me to the greatest depths I could ever have imagined. I feel as if it reaches my core but then it goes deeper.

Remember that crying has the same effect on our bodies and minds as laughing. It is a relief and release, even those big horrible choking sobs. I encourage you to just cry, let yourself cry it out. You will not cry forever. I remember wailing, I barely sounded human, I just let myself make....noises of despair, is what it was.

Every dark moment you experience is a moment that will ultimately allow you to connect with others, connect in a real and meaningful way, once you are on the mend. It's like the world cracking open and you can reach people where they are, as they are. You'll be able to help others and be a comfort and encouragement, they will have a profound trust in your because of this despair you're feeling now.

So many words, I know. I'm not trying to talk you out of this pain. What I'm trying to say is that I see you, I hear you, and I understand. Oh, I'd be willing to bet everyone on this board has been there, I certainly have. It gets better with treatment! It improves with every salt bath, every nourishing meal, every sip of bone broth. Recovery is not linear but it's not meant to be. It gets better, incredimentally, on levels that may not make themselves visible for a long time. Keep checking back here and writing to/with us, we'll be here for you.
Posted 10/11/2016 12:47 AM (GMT 0)

Raincity said...
Hi, I'd love to encourage you as best that I know how. I understand your pain and your depression as it relates to Lyme. I myself am 31, have had a life of happiness and adventure and warmth and love, and then Lyme hits, and it has weathered me and challenged me to the greatest depths I could ever have imagined. I feel as if it reaches my core but then it goes deeper.

Remember that crying has the same effect on our bodies and minds as laughing. It is a relief and release, even those big horrible choking sobs. I encourage you to just cry, let yourself cry it out. You will not cry forever. I remember wailing, I barely sounded human, I just let myself make....noises of despair, is what it was.

Every dark moment you experience is a moment that will ultimately allow you to connect with others, connect in a real and meaningful way, once you are on the mend. It's like the world cracking open and you can reach people where they are, as they are. You'll be able to help others and be a comfort and encouragement, they will have a profound trust in your because of this despair you're feeling now.

So many words, I know. I'm not trying to talk you out of this pain. What I'm trying to say is that I see you, I hear you, and I understand. Oh, I'd be willing to bet everyone on this board has been there, I certainly have. It gets better with treatment! It improves with every salt bath, every nourishing meal, every sip of bone broth. Recovery is not linear but it's not meant to be. It gets better, incredimentally, on levels that may not make themselves visible for a long time. Keep checking back here and writing to/with us, we'll be here for you.

Thank you Raincity. You are wise beyond your years...maybe that is one positive out of this horrific disease.

I was bawling before the diagnosis and not that I have started treating....oh my! Tomorrow I might be laughing, who knows! I feel like I have a different personality every day.
Posted 10/11/2016 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Sissy,

What antibiotics are you taking? I felt the worst physically and mentally when I took Doxycycline for 2 months this past summer. I am sure it hit something in my body for me to feel that way. I also know for myself personally I cried a lot because I missed the person I was before all this happened to me. I constantly was wishing to go back in time. I had seen others go through with diseases like Lyme before but you never know the pain unless you go through it yourself.
Posted 10/11/2016 2:24 AM (GMT 0)
Not to be mean, or say that it's necessarily a good thing, but you get used to it. Of course, do all you can to heal up, get better, so you don't have to feel these ways, but.. you do start to adapt and develop better coping skills.

I got so depressed earlier today, and found myself thinking.. man, I should just give up.

Then, I squinted my eyes... looked around.. you know.. like when you're suspicious of something.. and I was like, screw that.

Plus, I have an interview to BOMB tomorrow. There's no way I'm missing that wild ride. :D
Posted 10/11/2016 10:30 AM (GMT 0)

sam12 said...
Hi Sissy,

What antibiotics are you taking? I felt the worst physically and mentally when I took Doxycycline for 2 months this past summer. I am sure it hit something in my body for me to feel that way. I also know for myself personally I cried a lot because I missed the person I was before all this happened to me. I constantly was wishing to go back in time. I had seen others go through with diseases like Lyme before but you never know the pain unless you go through it yourself.

I am currently Cefdinir.
Posted 2/19/2017 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
This is where I am right now. The depression is probably my worst symptom, along with horrible headaches and nausea. I know they are all connected. I would be fine for weeks, then was an absolute mess when I flared. Now that I've started abx, it's causing all the symptoms to come back with a vengeance, the depression being the worst. I only made it through 4 days of abx before I had to stop. I am contacting my LLMD tomorrow to see how to proceed. I am detoxing like crazy, but nothing seems to help. I may ask him about LDN, as I know it can help inflammation. I want to take the abx and just kill these things, but it's just too much. It doesn't help that all of this is happening on a weekend, so my kids are home. I absolutely do NOT want them to see me break down; it will just scare them. I did go outside this morning before everyone was awake and just wailed.
Posted 2/19/2017 2:35 PM (GMT 0)
I'm so sorry, MM! there are some of us that just can't seem to deal with the abx treatment. I know for me, it was too much all at once.

I'm glad to hear that you are contacting your doctor to see what they suggest now. Have you tried/are you open to using anti-depressants for a short time to get you through this part?

Hang in there, and read Raincity's post again - it's filled with truth and good words.
Posted 2/19/2017 3:09 PM (GMT 0)

Traveler said...
I'm so sorry, MM! there are some of us that just can't seem to deal with the abx treatment. I know for me, it was too much all at once.

I'm glad to hear that you are contacting your doctor to see what they suggest now. Have you tried/are you open to using anti-depressants for a short time to get you through this part?

Hang in there, and read Raincity's post again - it's filled with truth and good words.

I tried anti depressants in September, before I was diagnosed. We were trying to treat generalized anxiety while my doc(s) and I tried to figure out what was causing it. I made it 6 days before ending up in the ER with serotonin syndrome. I immediately stopped taking it but would end up in the ER twice more before it all came out of my system. So, I'm not going near another antidepressant ever again. I think this was the stress that caused my Lyme to REALLY come out and play. Obviously I was having symptoms before (hence, the treatment for generalized anxiety), but they were mild. I know the depression, headaches, and nausea are all being caused by inflammation in my brain, which explains why it's worse during a flare or Herx. When I'm not flaring or Herxing, I'm not depressed at all.
Posted 2/19/2017 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
WOW! I don't blame you!! I'm so sorry to hear this.

I hope that you and your doc find ways to reduce your inflammation quickly for you. Hang in there, and let us know if we can be of help!!
Posted 2/19/2017 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
Check for mthfr mutation. The depression may be really bad right now too because you have a high bacterial load and are having crazy levels of die off
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