Evil herx

I believe I am coming out of a herx from starting my treatment. I was doing pretty well and then went up to 400 mg of Doxy and within 6 days it hit. And my symptoms were changing sometimes every hour. It feels like a horrible debilating flu. I tried to detox, rest and eat the best I could. I also took activated characol. So for the last 5 days I have hardley been able to function. Did some laundry and made it to the dentist. Yesterday was by far the worst, I was totally bedridden and couldn't stand up long at all. Very weak and no stamina. I cried most of the day, because this is just so hard. Especially with a toddler to take care of, play with and enjoy. I keep telling myself that a herx is a good thing because the meds are working.

My LLMD says to start my next med when I feel more stabalized - gosh to think how my body will handle all 4 meds at once!??! I am taking it slow as I have been so ill for 8 months now.

Lyme is not an easy road. Sometimes I wonder how I am going to keep sane from the extreme ups and downs. And the road to recovery is slow, but I have to keep holding onto the fact that there is light at the end of this tunnel....

 

Oh dear, I've been there. When I first started abx., I had a week of such severe herxing that I literally thought I wasn't going to survive it. My LLMD at the time (I now have a new Dr.) started me at very high doses of 3 abx. all within 1 week. It was WAY too much for my body to handle. I could barely walk to the bathroom, couldn't eat, could barely drink, and then started vomiting. My Dr. then had me cut all dosages in 1/2 and it was more tolerable.

Herxing is a good sign that the med. is working to kill the bacteria, but if it lasts much longer or gets worse, than you should call your Dr. and see if he's okay w/ you cutting the doxy dosage. There's no way the body can fight the infection if you're herxing too bad. You may need to start at 200mg Doxy and slowly work up to 400mg.

As far as taking care of your child, is there anyone that can come help you? We've chatted a bit about it before...I have a toddler also and there have been many days when it's been impossible to take care of her. Also, go easy on yourself. There are going to be days during treatment when you can just barely do the basics-feeding, changing, putting down for nap. That's okay!!!! Don't expect to be "on" and happy every day w/ your child right now. And it's okay to cry all day from time to time. I occasionally have a day like that or a morning like that (I'm always sickest in the mornings) and sometimes you just have to get it out. I compare it to a sick child-I just don't know what else to do but cry.

You're soooo right, the ups and downs of this disease is so very hard, but there IS light at the end of the tunnel. It's a long journey, but we'll heal and be here for our babies.

Hang in there. Make sure to drink TONS of water and call you Dr. if the severe herxing continues or gets worse.