I wanted to start a specific thread and collect ideas from anyone, as to what, if anything you've done (besides cutting back on abx's) to help allieviate your herxes. I'm dying right now with one of the worst herxes since I began treatment and I've read piecemeal ideas on things others do. I just want it on one thread that I can reference. Any ideas would be helpful.

I've collected some herxing links -- I know it's not quite what you want, but I'm appending them below.

Glutathione, NAC, ginger, liver flushes, chlorella, and green tea have been strongly recommended to me by my LLMD and PCP. I haven't tried glutathione, but I'd like to. You can get it in nebulizer form (I'd prefer not to do the IV). I've tried everything else; worked fairly well over the long run (over a week or more), but the relief wasn't immediate.

Some folks have had luck changing their urinary pH (from acid to basic)

For me, herx reducers have been:

-warm or hot epsom salts baths (be warned; super hot baths can exacerbate a herx, it seems)

- green tea and detox tea

- liver flush (olive oil, lemon juice, fresh garlic and ginger blended together - about 1/4 cup). Not so great if you're already quite nauseous

- curling up with a heating pad, especially one of the microwaveable ones. Heatpads on my head and neck have really helped alleviate some of my most painful headaches

- backing off meds if the herx got too scary. I'm in the "plough through the herx and stay on abx" camp, but I have no known chemical sensitivities or allergies -- I think I'm lucky that I haven't stumbled up against a reaction to the abx rather than a herx. My husband has had several bad abx experiences, and "herxing through" them made things worse.

- sleeping, even if it required chemical assistance. Sleeping can really really really help.

- benadryl and Tylenol PM. Somewhere, Troutscout says children's sublingual benadryl works best for him.

- Esgic for severe headaches and muscle pain

- treating for yeast (felt worse at first, then better)

I've collected a list of detoxifiers folks have used -- let me know if you want it.

Herx links:
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/023699.html
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/006991.html

urinary pH http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/023305.html

Your post was very helpful. When I herx, it's basically the same symptoms that I had before treatment except more intense. My symptoms (herx or otherwise) are always:

S- Shakyness, like when your muscles are fatigued.
A- Achyness, everything hurts from head to toe.
N- Nausea, When the "shaky achys" (my kids call it)linger, I develop various levels of nausea
D- Dizzyness/light headed, Again, after the "shaky achys" linger.

Most people don't know that they are holding these toxins - and many say they are clear. Let me tell you that I have never met a single chronic patient with Lyme and other chronic ailments that was not toxic from environmental exposures. Many a patient has gone through hell thinking "it's a herx", while in reality it is just other toxins that have been mobilized via abx. Also don't forget that viruses and parasites live in the same territory -- they all like to stick together with the ones you are after with your abx - and some of those also are stirred up and cause you problems.

This is also why I have never suffered a herx when I was taking antibiotics. I was always protected with chlorella and other agents, antivirals, etc. I may not have had such a good day once in a while, but in general I just never experienced a herx, though I had Lyme and all six co-infections severely. So consider this aspect of things before you just keep blaming it on a "herx", while you are overloading your organs/kidney, etc. I think they are way overblown, because many people, including many doctors, do not take the metals into consideration.

In short, it is not easy to stay totally "clean" if you reside on this planet.

Take care.

- magnesium in fairly high doses, broken up at 200 mg doses every 2-4 hours, really seemed to help, especially with sleeping. Nothing amazing, but I felt better on it.

And....the fast melt benedryls are best.

I have also found that abx are more effecient while on Mangosteen juice...the relaxed vascular system helps the abx get in there better.