LymeNet Flash: PLEASE HELP! Does anyone who has had a herx know?

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Posted by SAK (Member # 7387) on :

I tried posting in med questions, but I guess noone knows and I desperately need help please.

I'm so worried about re-starting abx when I'm not through feeling so awful from the flagyl (1500mg/day) that I took for 5 days. I stopped it 10 days ago but I still feel awful.

I'm just sooo worried about starting amox too soon when I haven't recovered from this flagyl herx.

The dr that I saw that gave me the amox doesn't know to tell me-- you know that duck. Do you all think that it would be alright/safe to start amox or would it possibly make me worse??

Thanks for any thoughts. I appreciate.

Posted by GEDEN13 (Member # 4151) on :

sak , i have not taken all of your abx. i have been here for 2 year's though.

i do know that some people DO take a break between abx med's... give your body a break.

i am telling you this because no one has come by yet.

don't beat yourself up.if i turn out wrong,still no harm will come to you.

in the meantime,hope you start feeling better. write me if you need....gary

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i forgot to tell you,i have herxed on iv ceftriaxone and doxy. i know what you feel....gary

[This message has been edited by GEDEN13 (edited 02 July 2005).]

Posted by trails (Member # 1620) on :

This is a very hard question and really no one knows the answer yet thru research. It means you have to play doctor to yourself (yet again.) When I had this question and was herxing bad bad bad on mepron/zith-no LLMD could tell me how long to break for. Nobody knew! So I had to take a leap of faith and try to listen to what my BODY needed and not what the keets wanted...hard to figure THAT one out eh?

ANyhow, probably the best advise aomeone gave me was to stop the meds and just relax about it. Don't keep stressing about on or off or this one or that one. Just take an ABX vacation and try to enjoy it! What a concept eh?

I am not a medical doctor, but two LLMDs then backed up my choice to stay off meds until I felt much better (which took 2-3 weeks to happen.) I would have restarted then, but am moving and cant deal with not being able to function, so I am ABX free for the summer and loving it! Off ABX I have annoying sx and fatigue, ON ABX I am completely incapapctitated---Look at that word would you! Hahahaha

So, MY humble non-MD advice would be to try to listen to your body and whichever path you chose, try to stick with it and not stress about whether it is the "right" thing to do. It seems no one (not even LLMDS) know what the "right" thing to do for us is in many cases!

Hope you feel okay soon,
Trails

Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :

Yes....Listen to your body!

I herxed so badly once that I had to stop abx for 2 months. I was that sick! So if you still feel horrible, I'd wait! Just my humble opinion!

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Do not take anything I say as medical advice. I am not a doctor, but I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express!
oops!
Lymetutu

Posted by SAK (Member # 7387) on :

Thanks so much for this useful feedback.

I feel that I need to recover somewhat... hopefully this isn't permanent damage!! It's always a nagging fear especially since I still haven't recovered from hyperbaric oxygen therapy a few months ago.

I guess I'm just worried that by taking a break these germs will start to play and multiply, and do more damage to me. I wasn't sure that it was allowed to take a breather for so long.

Posted by CA quest (Member # 6827) on :

I herxed with almost every type of abx...(usually starting around the 3-4th day of rx) but my worst herx was after the first flagyl/zith combo...at which point I thought my spinal cord was going to explode and likewise my nasal sinuses. (unbelievably this super herx was after one year of other oral antibiotics and herxing off & on almost the whole time!) I was scared and thought maybe it was fungus....so switched to Olive Leaf Extract (9-15 capsules/day) & Colloidal Silver (homemade) for two months. Then went back on abx again. Subsequent herxes were not that seere even with the flagyl & zith. My thought is that different abx get to them in different places and/or different forms so any one drug doesn't get them all. Think of it as WAR; you against the chetes...hit them from a variety of directions...take a break if you can't bear the herx...and then slam them again from other directions.

Herxes do abate...but it took me two years of herxing off & on to get to the point where the herxes were lessening enough to notice and go back to work. But I had 3-4 yrs of undiagnosed sx prior to diagnosis & treatment.

Hang in there...give yourself permission to take a break if you can't stand it, but then get back into the battle. They don't go away on their own.

Quest

Posted by map1131 (Member # 2022) on :

SAK, it took me days to get over a herx from flagyl and all I took was slivers at one time. I can't even image 1500 mg. I cringe just thinking about it.

Herxing can be serious. You can put yourself further in the lyme pit by allowing herxes that are too severe. If I were you, I'd take a break and do some major detoxing to give your organs a break.

Drink distilled water-gallon a day for couple weeks and when your body feels better start the amoxy.

Take care, Pam

Posted by trails (Member # 1620) on :

Oh yeah-detox! Detoxing was the key to me getting better in the short (haha) time frame of 2 weeks. Epsom slats baths with the hydrogen peroxide. lots of water. lots of probioitcs and daily psylium. Do it, it will make you feel much better sooner!

Trails