HELP!!! Possible med reactions with red itchy rash

Yikes.

It's sad that an ER hospital doesn't know what a multiple tick born infection is and why you would be on those ABX...

IANAD so I don't know how to relieve that rash, maybe see an LLMD trained dermatologist (if they exist).

Also I'll say I've been given the same dismissive condescending treatment at my local ER, and by the local ID docs to where they all but smirked and laughed me out of there as some kind of hypochondriac mental patient.

I'll take a wild guess at some remedies: Calamine Lotion, Oatmeal Bath, Epsom Salt Bath, Hydroxizine Pamoate 50 mg orally (relieves itching, also antihistamine anti anxiety), and try Claritin (Loratidine 10mg) as a last resort. But I would caution a guess as these may or may not work.

Maybe someone else can chime in with more knowledge of a Herx/ABX/autoimmune reaction related itchy rash and what to do about it...

Post Edited (borrelioburgdorferii) : 2/26/2019 8:08:55 PM (GMT-7)

Avoid soaking in hot water. Seems like I remember heat can make it worse.

I would stop the meds and reassess in a couple days.

And - don’t restart until you talk to your LLMD.

Bactrim gave me some isolated round “lesions” - and it wasn’t a typical rash so I stopped it and called my LLMD . I sent them a photo of it.
They were quite sure it wasn’t SJS but I couldn’t “unsee “ those pictures online and the clinic was fine with me stopping.

I got brave and tried it again a while later (I think it was a couple weeks later) and it happened again.

Haven’t taken it again.
It was most likely harmless - but I was too worried about it to continue taking it.

amelie_casey,

Can you please give us an update? I’m concerned about you.

The ignorance in the ER (during both your visits) is appalling and yet not surprising. I'm so sorry that there's not better care available to us. ER staff has to tell you that "natural supplements" could make things worse for liability reasons. They just have no training about them and have to caution you so that they aren't responsible if something harms you.

Bactrim (or any meds, for that matter) can cause severe reactions, but my guess is that you are having a monster herx. That would make sense given the timing and that you started three antibiotics at once. Your poor liver and kidneys could be very overloaded, and no one at the ER would have any idea about how that works or how to test for it or help you through it. A herx could cause all the symptoms you describe. The liver detox from the more holistic doctor is the right idea in the case of a herx, but it could temporarily speed the process along, i.e. make the symptoms worse. The more we need to detox, the worse it feels! I'm glad you stopped the pharmaceutical meds for now. Definitely talk to your prescriber ASAP about herxing and possible allergic reaction to the antibiotics.

Lots of people prefer herbal therapy, which is easy to start at a dose of only one drop and work up to higher doses, to avoid strong reactions and strong herxes. Some people start slowly with herbs to get infections under better control and then try a pharmaceutical or two once they feel more stable. Some people's systems can handle several antibiotics at once, and others cannot. Some people do not take them due to allergies, gut imbalance, system sensitivity, or a fundamental disagreement about the way to heal from Lyme - and still can get better. This forum skews toward people who center their treatment around pharmaceutical antibiotics, but keep in mind that many patients and practitioners go other routes with good results. If you are not able to use antibiotics, or can't do so right now, then don't feel discouraged about finding good treatment!

For now, drink tons of water when you can, try Alka-Seltzer Gold and lemon water, Epsom salt baths, and add as little to your system as possible except for simple "clean" foods. Your system has held up a big stop sign! When you are ready for supplements again, I'd go with small doses of liquid forms, and focus on detox and inflammation for a while before introducing anything anti-inflammatory. (This is coming from someone who herxes from vitamin C!)

Finally, I'm so so sorry you are going through this. Sometimes the treatment process is so brutal! And it's so much worse when emergency medical care is ignorant, shaming, and even damaging. Wishing you smoother days and better care!

Did the rash involve spots that would appear and then disappear and reappear somewhere else? I would go to an allergist if there's still something to see or if you have photos. If that was an allergic reaction, you don't want to mess around with it.

interesting....I could be wrong - there could be more pro-abx on here.

I think many members do a combination of herbals and antibiotics.


Perhaps there are just more people doing the antibiotic route - and the forum reflects that?

IDK - What I do know is the people in my location - the majority have done the antibiotic route...but there also were more who 'caught' it earlier....than later. (ie within the first year)

After checking the lab results they took i've discovered that my white blood cell counts are pretty high. Definitely much higher than normal. And the ER doc told me all the blood work was "good". Yeesh.
Any thoughts? If there is high WBC counts my guess would be some kind of an infection, not just a detox issue...

amelie-casey, you okay? Hope you are feeling at least somewhat better today.

I'm so sorry. I hope that school isn't something that this illness takes from you, but if you do need a break from school to focus on your health, then remember that it's temporary. Glad to hear that your doc is taking this seriously, and I hope you find a good path through this very soon.