Kirky98 said...
I was told by my doc that herxing will create a more friendly environment for the infection to flourish. So you may be killing when herxing and figure the count should be lowering, but perhaps you are not gaining any ground because your body becomes a better breading ground for the infection to inhabit due to the increased inflammation etc...
This is why treatment for these infection must include rebuilding the immune function and supporting any body system that's not functioning well. Otherwise it's only creating a void that will be filled with whatever is nearby and prolific enough.
Herxing by definition:
Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction
[jä′ris herks′hīmər]
Etymology: Adolph Jarisch, Austrian dermatologist, 1850-1902; Karl Herxheimer, German dermatologist, 1861-1944
a transient, short-term immunological reaction commonly seen after antibiotic treatment of early and later stages of syphilis and less often in other diseases, such as borreliosis, brucellosis, typhoid fever, and trichinosis. It is seen in 50% of patients with primary syphilis and 90% of those with secondary syphilis. Manifestations include fever, chills, headache, myalgias, and exacerbation of cutaneous lesions. The reaction has been attributed to liberation of endotoxin-like substances or antigens from the killed or dying microorganisms, but its exact pathogenesis is unclear.
It has been established that this is due to endotoxins. For those that aren't quite sure what an endotoxin is:
endotoxin [en´do-tok″sin]
a heat-stable toxin associated with the outer membranes of certain gram-negative bacteria, including Brucella, Neisseria, and Vibrio species. Endotoxins are not secreted but are released only when the cells are disrupted; they are less potent and less specific than the exotoxins; and they do not form toxoids. In large quantities they produce hemorrhagic shock and severe diarrhea; smaller amounts cause fever, altered resistance to bacterial infection, leuk
openia followed by leukocytosis, and numerous other biologic effects.