Interesing read about herxing

cherrycola - That was an interesting read. I had not come across a lot of those to help with herx. Thanks for posting. May try a few when needed to see reaction. And I hope the rest of your weekend is a good one.

Girlie said...
I don’t recommend the hormone progesterone unless you need it - ie your levels are low.

Why do you not recommend it, Girlie? Can it interfere with the healing process? It's in the contraceptive pill that I took, a low dose gestagen pill.

I'm sure that for some individuals progesterone and SSRIs are helpful, but in many patients they can be harmful. These are a good example of things to talk with an LLMD about and research extensively before deciding whether they are right for an individual. With so many other options to help with herxing, they seem like risky suggestions.

I think maybe what Girlie means is that progesterone has complex effects throughout your body and systems, and should not be taken by someone solely to help with herxing. There's nothing wrong with taking progesterone if you're actually not producing enough, but taking progesterone when your body is producing enough can throw lots of delicate systems out of balance and cause a lot of havoc that's hard to correct. The HPA axis is tough to fix once it's dysregulated.

SSRIs as well can cause extensive side effects that can be hard to reverse. There are many other ways to reduce neurological inflammation and affect neurotransmitters that carry fewer risks. While I don't dispute that an SSRI might be helpful to some people, it would not be in my top ten (or top 100) ways to help with herxing for the general population. I learned this the hard way, and I believe that trying an SSRI early in my illness made my trajectory much, much worse.

I was found to have low progesterone through extensive testing with a functional medicine gynecologist. She prescribed a low dose of topical progesterone cream, which helped for two cycles and then had no effect. A few months later, I tried it again, and the same thing happened - helpful for two cycles, then nothing. So I looked into HPA axis dysfunction and addressed the low progesterone from a more holistic angle. (This was to help with overall symptoms and inflammation, not specifically herxing.) I mention it because it's similar to what cherrycola described.

Other suggestions here are great, though. My experience has been excellent with bromelain and quercetin (bioflavonoids), curcumin (though I do not use it in liposomal form), green tea, and cannabis products.