I'm starting treatment for Ehrlichia and lyme today.
Wondering and a little scared what to expect?
How was the beginning of your treatment? First 3-4 weeks?
Ken
Posted by Peedie (Member # 15355) on :
Hi Ken Mostly I think the beginning treatment is tame. I think every doctor has their favorite routine and certainly each is reconfigured to treat the co-infection as well. Have no fear. When I started treatment I was on 400mg Doxy a day. I read about Herxing here but when it happened to me I wasn't sure it was a Herx. I had a terrible headache (almost migraine) for 3-4 days non stop. It was awful but not so much that I could not continue to work. Then I was okay for about a week. Then I got the most awful back ache in the small of my back. I don't usually get them there but ache in the shoulders and between the shoulder blades instead. This went on for nearly a week. I suspected it was a Herx. Then I had a few days of feeling good again, then the back pain returned off and on over the next couple weeks. Everyone reacts differently. Some people never Herx. Some people land in bed completely ill from it. But I think that is usually later in treatment. Make a mental note of your ten most bothersome symptoms to share with your doctor. Ask what is the best way to contact him/her if you need to between appointments ie: phone or fax. Go to the "newbie" section and scroll through the topics and learn as much as you can. Good Luck! -p
Posted by DaveNJ (Member # 17362) on :
Ken,
Some of the herxes are very subtle so do yourselfa favor and log your symptoms each day. My doctor was very happy i did this. If you looked at my 10 week treatment you would see my firts herx on day 17 and then windows were i felt better that would last between 11-14 days.
In 10 weeks i had one sewver herx which wsa followed by a perdiod where i felt so mcuh better. Then 14 day adn another herx.
Everyone is differnt my earmark for my herx is a shaking sensation(more muscular than nervers) followed by increased fatigue, decrease congnitive abilty, maybe a flare up of vertigo.
I really suggest to you to keep that log. It keeps you sane when you are herxing. you will have bad days but you will have good days. The log will remind of where you've come from.
Case in point i am herxing today. If somoene felt like me today they might call in sick. But A) i know what it is because of my chart and B) relatively speaking i'm better than 2 months ago so it keeps me positive(the chart says so)
Dude don't be afraid of anything other than getting better.
Dave
Posted by aklnwlf (Member # 5960) on :
Hey Kpoindexter,
Not having the same co-infections it's hard to say if you'd experience the same reactions as I did to orals and or IV's.
For me, it was pretty rough. I lost about 15 pounds the first month and was hit hard with herxing.
Like Dave, I journaled everything I went through and now 4 years later I'm amazed when I read what I went through back then.
What helped me most was remembering that I was getting the 'bug' load down and giving myself a chance to get better.
Hope you have some support to get you through the tough times ahead.
I didn't have hardly any help and I got through the beginning of treatment.