is herxing from bartonella possible?

Wow! I've not read his books, but I sure didn't expect to see that Buhner said something like that!

My experience was very different from that - I had started Lyme treatment 3 months earlier and had herxed, but not too badly. When I started Houttuynia for my Bartonella treatment, I herxed quite badly and for three weeks! It was all of my Bart symptoms - extreme leg/foot pains (couldn't stand without collapsing for more than 7 - 10 minutes), anxiety through the roof (poor hubby!)
chills, and Bart rashes, hugely swollen lymph nodes in my neck, around my collar bone, armpits, groin and in my thighs that I could feel (and they were painful!).

Around 2 1/2 weeks into the herx, I began to wonder if I had just bitten off more than I could handle, but with continued detoxing every day and lots of it, the herx settled down and I was able to complete my treatments with no further complications. That was back in 2011 when I finished Lyme and Bartonella treatments and I've been symptom free since.

I've also watched as others have posted on here over the years of their Bartonella herxes, so I'm not sure why Buhner would write something like that. It seems fairly common.

Generally we don't herx from bartonella like we do for Lyme.  With Lyme die-off we get worse before we get better.  But some LLDs even say there is no bartonella Herx! 

In my experience treating my own bartonella I started off with minocycline and rifampin treatment.  At first nothing, no herx at all.  Eventually it just reduced my symptoms down! 

I also remember when I first got my Nutramedix Houttuynia in the mail.  The first thing I did was take 3 full dropper fulls.  I wanted to know if I had bartonella by taking the Houttuynia and feeling the reaction that happens in my body.  All it did was make my shins kind of burning in pain. 

For me there wasn't much of a bartonella herx.  Treatment for me just kind of suppressed the symptoms.  I don't even know if my bartonella is done!!! LoL.  I have no more anxiety, no more insomnia, and no more of those shooting pains, and I have stopped treating it.  Hopefully it's finished. 

But in my experience and what I know, bartonella doesn't herx like Lyme.  Generally treatment for bartonella is pretty quick in reducing the symptoms and treatment seemed to suppress the symptoms within a few weeks.  For me within 2 weeks of initiating treatment my bartonella symptoms were pretty much all resolved.   BUT when you stop treatment for bart and it is not fully treated, it tends to come back really fast.  If you stop treatment and can go a few months without it relapsing, it is probably safe to say it is gone for good.   For most people bartonella treatment takes 4-6 months, but longer in some.  Fluroquinolones can treat bart in 1-3 months. 

Yeah I remember reading this and wondering about it.

One explanation is that many of us who are treating bartonella are actually treating a BLO or "bartonella-like organism." One example would be the FL1953 protomyxzoa (however you spell it). That organism is like bartonella in some ways and gives us some bartonella symtoms, but is actually something like a protozoan or worm parasite thing.

Just one explanation. Another is: if bartonella is being treated alongside other organisms, the herx could be different or worse. Kind of like Buhner is saying, maybe it is really a herx of something else. OR maybe when other organisms are involved, that could be more "synergistic" and produce an actual bartonella herx when it wouldn't happen otherwise.

Or Buhner could simply be wrong here. I mean, it's possible.

I have Bartonella and Lyme too - but I can't be quite sure which herx was due to which!

Lymepickle - the only way you will know if your Bartonella treatment is finished is if the symptoms don't return. You are still on meds which can target Bart, so until you stop taking antibiotics, you can't be sure. I have read several articles, and even my LLMD said - Bartonella comes right back if you didnt' treat it long enough - so when the time comes, you will know, believe me!

I've heard this also. My llmd said it as well. However Houttuynia. o.m.g. - if that wasn't a herx, I don't know what is!

It is possible that since bart is the notorious immune inhibitor that if you are taking something that hits it hard..it is possible your immune system just got the ammunition it needed to go get the lyme and other infections. Don't know if it can happen that fast but your wbc can amp up in hours.