posted
Sorry dont mean to be ignorant but what is herx or herxing. I suppose it has something to do with a reaction by lyme to abx? thanks
-------------------- Help I am being forced against my will to learn medicine!!! Posts: 164 | From WASHINGTON | Registered: Jun 2011
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TF
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posted
Here is an explanation by Dr. Burrascano, lyme disease pioneer and world-renown expert:
"Several days after the onset of appropriate antibiotic therapy, symptoms often flare due to lysis of the spirochetes with release of increased amount of antigenic material and possibly bacterial toxins. This is referred to as a Jarisch Herxheimer-like reaction. Because it takes 48 to 72 hours of therapy to initiate bacterial killing, the Herxheimer reaction is therefore delayed." (page 17)
So, a herx is a Jarsch Herxheimer reaction, named after the guy who discovered it. It takes 2-3 days to have this terrible reaction to lyme treatment. You feel sick due to the killing of so many lyme bacteria. Or, it may even be that the dead bacteria are releasing toxins (poisons) into your body. Whatever they are doing, they make us sick when we take meds that kill them!
Who would ever think that medical treatment would make you feel sick in 2-3 days, but in the case of lyme disease, it does happen.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Does everyone get it and how long does it last thanks rob
-------------------- Help I am being forced against my will to learn medicine!!! Posts: 164 | From WASHINGTON | Registered: Jun 2011
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
If your doc uses low doses of antibiotics, you likely won't herx.
But, if he is agressive and gives you the high doses that are generally required to get rid of this disease in the least amount of time, you can expect to herx.
Everyone is different when it comes to the length of their herx. If you can detoxify easily (meaning, get rid of the poisons and dead lyme out of your body), then your herx will be short. I herxed for about 1 week when I switched to an agressive lyme doc. When I went to a doc who gave me one med at a time, I never herxed, and I never got rid of lyme either!
People who can't detoxify can herx for weeks, or months, etc. The doc has to give these people products that assist in taking the poisons out of the body--called binders.
I just used lemons squeezed into water as my detox. My doc wanted me to eat 4 lemons per day and drink lots of water. The water flushes out the body and the lemons are a natural cleanser of the body he said.
So, once you start agressive treatment at the Burrascano doses, you will find out how well you can detoxify based on your herxes.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
How long doest it take to eleminate these things? Are they ever gone. If you have herxed twice why werent they gone the first time? Is herxing worse than the symptoms of lyme? Already feel terrible! thanks so much im new to this
-------------------- Help I am being forced against my will to learn medicine!!! Posts: 164 | From WASHINGTON | Registered: Jun 2011
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TF
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posted
There is no standard ABC treatment that eliminates lyme in X amount of time. Rather, it is more like trial and error. A good lyme doc knows the best meds for lyme and tries you out on them. Then, depending on how you happen to react, he may try you out on a different med.
Many people get setbacks in their treatment such as allergies to certain meds (get hives, etc.), have terrible side effects to certain meds (like depression or suicidal thoughts, too much anxiety, total loss of appetite, liver enzymes go sky high, you name it), can't detoxify and have to stop meds, etc. So, the doc has to work around all that.
There are many meds to treat lyme and other meds to treat the coinfections babesiosis, bartonella, ehrlichia, etc. You may have 3 dieases, or 5, or 6 diseases. So, nobody can tell you how long it will take you to eliminate YOUR case of lyme disease (which is actually multiple diseases).
If you go to a mediocre lyme doc, you may treat your diseases for years and year. If you go to one of the best, it is generally a minimum of 1 year of treatment (if sick for at least a year).
Just like chicken pox is never gone from your body (it can return when your immune system gets weak in the form of shingles), it may be that lyme is never gone. We don't know.
I got rid of it 6 years ago and it is now a thing of my past. So, it is gone for all intents and purposes.
A herx is the body's reaction to the poisons the dead lyme germs put out or the dead lyme germs themselves. When you take meds, they can only kill lyme in its growth phase. This is common in medicine. Many medicines can only kill germs when it tries to multiply--its growth phase. Lyme grows slowly. They think it has a 28 day growth cycle and that is why people herx on their meds every 28 days.
You don't kill every single germ during the growth phase, but if the dose is high enough, you kill a lot. You have to keep treating until you notice no more herxes and no more symptoms.
Some people have a high germ load and others not so high. So, all that factors in to how long it will take to get you well.
What also factors in is how obedient the patient is--to diet, no drinking, no smoking, etc.
Another important factor is if you ever took steroids prior to the lyme diagnosis in an effort to get rid of your symptoms. For example, some doctors may prescribe them for your pain, thinking they are treating arthritis pain, not realizing it is lyme disease. Taking steroids when you have lyme gives the lyme a field day in your body. It then can become so entrenched that it can be much more difficult to get rid of.
You really need to read the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines to get an education on this disease. That document describes this and much, much more.
Herxing is often the same symptoms you always have but much worse. It can also be lots of new symptoms plus the normal symptoms. It can be worse fatigue than normal, worse pain than normal, mental symptoms in addition to your normal lyme symptoms, etc.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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