Feeling Stuck & Confused / Augmentin Induced Flare???

I was treating Lyme, bart, and babs with Buhner's protocols (emphasis on bart with herbs included for Lyme and babs) and had just had 2 weeks improvement of joint/tendon/foot stiffness when I got sick with a cold/bacterial infection. I was in my 7th month of using herbs. I took Augmentin for 7 days.

Those symptoms flared a little just before starting Augmentin and continued while taking it. Then in the weeks that followed, all kinds of old symptoms started coming back - skin issues, intestinal inflammation, foot pain, pelvic pressure, burning sensations, muscle weakness, and more body pain than I'd had since a year before after taking minocycline for 7 days.

I dropped back a drop or two on the most potent herbs and it helped some, but I still have not gotten back to where I was before this herx or flare started and now it's the end of February. One thing I did notice was that for 2-3 weeks, my brain and head symptoms were better than ever while, at the same time, my body was worse than ever. Then all last week, I noticed the brain symptoms were slowly but increasingly returning. Body is not hurting as much now as it was, but hasn't gotten that much better either. I had a one day exception this past Wednesday, when I felt better all over than I had in a really long time.

I've wondered if the Augmentin (which I believe crosses the BBB) killed stuff in my brain and dumped the refuse into my body and that's why my brain was so much better while my body was so much worse.

Is that possible? Has this happened to anyone else?

I feel like I'm stuck. I'm not quite sure what to make of all this. I don't know if it's normal to have such a significant herx or flare many months into treatment that lasts so long, or if this is a red flag indicating something isn't working here.

If anyone has an idea of what may be going on here, I'd like to hear from you. Thank you.

I have had similar experiences.

Traveler advised me to reduce my dosages of herbals, but to continue taking the lower dosages so I still had coverage until it all calmed down.

It took me many,many weeks last July to get out out the herx/flare and to a more stable place.

I also would highly suggest using binders and lots of detoxing.


This also happened again to me in October when I used up the Malarone I had hanging around.

Severe Bart flareup/herx that gain took like 4 weeks to get back to stable again .

All I know is that if the changes I made caused this much herxing or a flare up then that means I had a high Bacteria load still.

I am now going slower only making small changes when needed. I still have herxs but at a lower
intensity.

Some of this was caused by killing off a lot of bacteria and I just think my brain and body couldn't clear it out.

When I did what Traveler said and also added the Zeobind binder 3 times a week it helped.

Unfortunately for some of us treatment can be a roller coaster ride.

Thank you so much for your responses. It helps to know others have had similar experiences. I'm still struggling. Last Wednesday, I felt so much better, but it didn't last. I've been getting a lot more tired lately, too, and need to go to bed earlier. I'm not able to do as much physically and that's depressing. I just want to at least get back to where I was before I got sick and took the Augmentin.

I've had more old symptoms return, too. A little over a week ago, the bartonella cough came back. I had started on Bidens before I was on Augmentin, and have focused more on increasing it while keeping the other herbs at a slightly reduced dosage. I had Buhner's bart book out yesterday and noticed he has Bidens in the extended protocol for Bart specifically for the unexplained cough. I have a feeling Bidens is going to be a key herb for me and is hitting multiple microbes.

I know I'm still getting significant die-off from something, but what I don't know. A little over a week ago for about 3-4 days in a row after taking my glutathione in the morning, I started burning like hellfire and darnation. I've had increased urine output some days, and at times my poop burns. I feel like that's all indications of increased toxins coming out. I do take binders daily.

I'm just having a hard time dealing with the reduced stamina and increased pain. I know in some ways I'm better than I was a year and a half ago, but I still have so many symptoms that's it's hard to see any progress. Also, my symptoms have always come and gone randomly over the years. Even when they leave, they always come back. It's hard for me to believe any symptoms are leaving for good.