I had a crushing headache with nausea and the bull's eye rash at the beginning and now have developed (within only three months) both neuro-lyme and arthritic lyme. The worst pain is in my hands and feet and joints and I have balance and cognitive problems. But I never had the flu/chills thing at the beginning. Since being on anti-biotics for a week my symptoms ARE indeed worse but no major classic definition herx symptoms. My temperature is slightly elevated for me as I am hypothyroid and rarely even get a temp past 37.5 even when I am sick. DOES ANYONE KNOW if I still have to have to have the MEGA herx symptoms to get better?? I feel like no-one has or ever gets better on this forum but if anyone has any idea about this I'd much appreciate it! Thanks VAL3
Posted by elle (Member # 7721) on :
My LLMD (who sees hundreds of patients a month) said that she had never seen anyone ever improve as much as I had within the first 30 days of treatment. I am now in month 3 of treatment and continue to improve.
Before I saw the LLMD I was put on 3 weeks of doxy 100mg 2x a day. For the first 2 weeks I was one big herx. Since, I have days of mild herx symptoms and some emotional upset but not the kind of "crawl in bed and not get out for a week" herx reactions that some of my freinds are experiencing.
When I added mepron and zith/ketek I expected to have a rough time but it hasn't happened to the extreme that I thought it would. More of an emotional herx than a physical reaction.
Posted by ShadowHawk (Member # 6263) on :
Hi Val3,
I don't know for sure what everyone else goes through, but my herx vary a lot. Sometimes it's just mild flu-type sypmtoms and other times I'm laid out flat in bed for days at a time. I've been on Doxy/benicar for about 7 mos. now. I'm feeling much better and only on occasion, like when I pop some Flagyl, do I get a real herx. Even then, it's just a little sore and tired...like a mild case of the flu.
Posted by mlkeen (Member # 1260) on :
Morning Val-
No, major herxing isn't required. I don't herx strongly, mostly more tired, sore and exhausted. For a long time I didn't think I was herxing at all, thought it was just the lyme and co symptoms. Now that my brain is functioning better I understand that these could have been herxs.
The long and short of it is that after 2.5 years of good treatment I'm much better. You should see a gradully improvement over months.
Now I'm on diflucan for two months. Again I didn't think I was herxing, but I have the lower back soreness and stiffness going on after months of being pain free, so the diflucan seems to be doing something.
Some people handle the toxins better and have less pain. My llmd said that since my job requires me to move about all day long and I drink lots of water, my body is more efficient in removing toxins and preventing the build up that cause pain.
My son herxed very strongly, he was trying to stay in school and sat 6 hours a day.
Mel
Posted by hopeful123 (Member # 3244) on :
i am not a big herxer - tired, achy, and a little more zoned than usual. once in a while a little stronger one comes along. never had to retreat to bed for days. eeek!!