Does anyone get severe anxiety when they are going through herxing. I have had severe anxiety for 7 years, and it still continues. It is even worse when herxing. Sometimes, I dont know if the lyme is getting worse, or the anxiety is a symptom of herxing?? Anyone have any thoughts??
If so, how do you cope with the severe anxiety besides using ativan or xanax?
Posted by little_olive (Member # 28063) on :
Yes anxiety can be caused by Lyme, especially chronic Lyme--I don't know one person who has chronic Lyme without some type of psychiatric component! And yes herxing can worsen it.
That's usually how you know what herxing is, from what I've learned. Your present symptoms get worse--it's the ones that pop up, that you didn't have before, that startle me the most, lol!
Zoloft is often one of the first (and best) drugs for anxiety disorders, and a good place to start if you want long-term control. Xanax is more for severe days (like maybe the days when you're herxing worse).
Also, bartonella can cause a lot of mental disturbance, from depression to anxiety to paranoia to anger. If you have a flare up/severe emotional outbursts every five or six days, this could point to bart.
Either way, sounds like you're killing something so keep at it!
[ 09-10-2010, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: little_olive ]
Posted by Jane2904 (Member # 15917) on :
Our daughter has the same problem. So far either anxiety meds do not work or cannot tolerate.
Has Lyme and Bart. Anxiety is a horrible symptom.
Hope you feel better soon, Rifampin did help our daughter at one point.
Good luck
Posted by NJLymie (Member # 27717) on :
Thank you. Yes it is far one of my worst symptoms ...I dont really want to go on an antidepessant, cause I have been on many and have gained so much weight on them, and eventually make me think weird thoughts. Thoughts I would never think of. Lexapro I gained 25lbs in a year, zoloft gave me severe headaches, and effexor XR worked best for anxiety, but killer to get off of.
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
Yes, it's a detox problem for me.
Specifically, a methylation problem. If I don't take my pro-methylation supplements before/during a herx the anxiety is unbelievable, and the overwhelming nature of it has brought me to the hospital.
Good luck. Feel better.
I still need Ativan/Xanax, etc, during a herx sometimes, but need much, much less of as long as my body is methylating and therefore detoxing.
This could also be related to kryptopyrroluria (KPU/HPU), and fixing KPU indirectly corrects methylation issues.
There are a few labs that can run methylation panels, but the panels are expensive. I never ran a panel. Just figured out it was an issue by experimenting. The KPU test is pretty cheap at $55.
I can't take antidepressants. I might as well take cocaine (that's how they feel when I take them).
Posted by NJLymie (Member # 27717) on :
kday, what is methylation supplements, and do you have to be tested to take these?? Do they really help alot. Do you have anxiety all the time??? How and where do I find these tests?
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
I have anxiety all the time.
They help me a lot though. You don't need to be tested to take them, but you should be under a doctors care as some can react with weird side effects (especially at the beginning). It's a somewhat popular CFS protocol.
These may just look like simple vitamins, but if it's what you need, they can be very powerful with noticeable and obvious pharmacological effects.
I like very high doses of intramuscular B12 (10-25 mg), but many people with CFS can only tolerate 2 mg sublingual or so.
Sublinguals B12 doesn't work for me. Only injections do. It's probably best to start low dose sublingual and see how you respond. We are all different.
I get all my supplements from Vitamin Shoppe. I simply DON'T DETOX properly without this stuff.
Personally, I use all Solgar supplements. They have everything I need. Solgar has folate (not many companies have it since Merck has a licensing fee).
I am getting tested for KPU. If I am positive, it may be a better solution than using a methylation protocol. However, KPU treatment requires close doctor supervision and chelation when you go heavy metal toxic.
The methylation protocol can detox metals as well, but there is no need for chelation as it's more of a "natural" detox.
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