I have just started taking my Lyme treatment. I'm on Ceftin (2 times per day) and Azithromycin (2 per day). Since I started taking them (only last night) I have had a near constant headache and neck pain. Obviously too early for herx but made me wonder when you read all the side effects of these drugs in regular doses, isn't it possible that all herx reactions are just the effects of the drug in high doses overloading our already sick bodies. I'm sure you experienced people know the answer. I mean when you read the drug side effects and it says things like "call your doctor if you experience - and then it goes on to list pretty much every lyme symptom in the book". Very confusing.
Posted by nenet (Member # 13174) on :
It isn't too early for a herx. Ceftin has a very quick half life (peaks very quickly), so I have experienced herxing even 45 minutes to an hour after taking it.
Also, I started out at a 1/4 pill, which is a tiny dose, and still herxed. Many people herx on tiny doses of antibiotics, pharmaceutical and herbal.
Herxing is a long-proven medical phenomenon in spirochetal illnesses. Yes, it has to do with toxins, which may be why you are seeing similarities - and yes, Lyme patients have an overabundance of toxins built up in their bodies, which makes them more sensitive to additional toxin loads.
So the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have a flood of endotoxins and antigens released during major die-off of the Lyme bacteria, along with an overload of chemicals that are processing too slowly out of the system. One does not negate the other.
This is why so many Lyme patients take supportive measures for their toxin-processing organs. Things like sarsaparilla, milk thistle, lemon water, activated charcoal, saunas (if they can handle them), exercise (ditto), etc.
Very recent research has also gone into good detail as to what is actually occurring during a Herxheimer reaction.
If I can find the research paper again I'll try and post it here for you.
Posted by kmj (Member # 18400) on :
My LLMD did not mention any of those things - sasparila, milk thistle, activated charcoal. Where does one even buy those things? I lemon water just water with lemon juice? He has me taking coQ10, buffered vit C, vit D, dhea, and something called merivia. Do you think i should add those things you mention. Its so many pills as it is.
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
I think you should listen to your LLMD. Ask him about those things at your next visit if you feel you want to try them. I'm not one to think you should just keep adding and adding in things without your docs advice on it.
And yes, I think you can feel awful from the meds. They do have side effects and sometimes it is hard to distinquish a side effect from a herx.
There are many different opinions on here, which can be good; but in the end you have to trust you doctor and ask him when it comes to serious issues like side effects.
I know I felt awful on all my meds for the first year of treatment. I never felt a true herx until just a few months ago after treating for a little over a year.
Posted by trigal2 (Member # 20578) on :
I agree - it can be hard to tell the difference. I think, for me anyway, after a herx I tend to feel better then I did prior to the herx..Then I repeat the cycle. Kinda like peeling away layers of an onion. Everyone is different.
I agree - there are over laps with herx vs. side effect and our bodies are already at their limit and then we add the meds and BOOM....a Civil War has begun.
I tend to herx very very early on. Sometimes within hours or a day or two.
I just began Biaxin yesterday and this morning I was feeling that all to familiar herx feeling. After a while you will begin to know your reactions well enough to tell what is what.
Every Lyme abx I go on I get "sick" but when I have to go on a abx that is not a lyme abx I never feel "sick"...
Anyway, I agree...always good to check with your LLMD just to be safe.
I like Sasparillia. Olive Leaf Extract, Oil of Oregano and a good run when I am feeling up to it for detoxing. TG
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Lemon water is made by squeezing fresh lemons into water. Don't use bottled lemon juice.
My lyme doc told me to eat 4 lemons per day. (I never achieved that.) He said they are a natural cleanser of the body. I squeezed them into water and drank that all day long.
I rarely had a herx and the few times I did, they weren't bad. It may have been thanks to the lemon water.