I just returned on Wednesday from Dr. C. Yeaaaa! What a long trip. My protocol is as follows:
Started on doxy... 100 mg twice per day. Working my way up to 200 mg twice per day.
The brochure reads to take on an empty stomach. Makes my tummy hurt. Does anyone take with food? If so, what foods are OK? Oatmeal perhaps? I know nothing with iron or protein...
Seems my fatigue has increased signficantly over the last couple of weeks. - Even more so since taking the doxy.
What has helped you with fatigue? Dr. C gave me three phoschol pills for energy but have yet to try them. Have these worked for anyone?
The B-12 shots do not seem to do much for me.
Is it common to experience fatigue when starting a med? How do I fight the fatigue?
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
Yes, fatigue is very common the Abx. I am experiencing it greatly. Now, getting better is something I don't seem to experience much.
I have tried D-Ribose, B-12, Creatine Monohydrate, and many other supposed energy enhancers. For me...useless. Others have reported success with some or a combination of these.
Sometimes there is no way to fight it. Detoxing may help if it's as real as others state here. I tried charcoal and other stuff, but no great successes. I'll keep at it.
By the way, if you don't mind sharing, can you let me know what your next three months of treatment with Dr. C are? I see the same LLMD. I'm curious if you have a different Abx protocol than me. I just have to know.
Good luck with treatment and I wish you the best. You can't be tired when you need to read the thousand pages of handouts. lol.
Posted by ichelp73 (Member # 19559) on :
Don't mind sharing at all! After Doxy - will start claforon shots... then zithromax... then flagyl. Did he prescribe you the same protocol? Where are you in your treatment?
So does the fatigue mean the abx are working? I did not feel like this before....
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
Mine's a bit different...Doxy (had to discontinue due to head pressure), Clindamycin/Quinine and Biaxin/Plaquenil rotated 10 days each, then Flagyl, then Rifampin. Should be interesting. I'm only in month 1 w/this LLMD, but I was treating with a local MI LLMD for 5.5 months. I wasn't getting far and the doc abandoned my treatment so I had to move on.
Yes, the fatigue may very well mean it is working, but the severity / length of fatigue is hard to predict. I have yet to hit a hurdle where I feel major improvement daily. Others here say it's a long road. Supposedly, there's few that beat this w/o suffering dealy on the path to freedom.
No LLMD has ever Rxed me any shots. Strange. I hate shots so it isn't bad IF I can improve w/o them.
Posted by lundeliz (Member # 10806) on :
ichelp73,
No iron or protein with Doxy? I didn't know that! I always take it with a meal. I thought just no dairy. Is that what your brochure said or your llmd said? I'll have to read mine better and see what it says.
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
No dairy or mineral/iron supplements at the time of Doxy/mino, etc. Take these about 2 to 3 hours away from the meds.
Also be VERY careful of sun exposure with all the tetracyclines--Doxy is apparently the worst, but I would still be cautious on any of them.
Regarding fatigue: I've heard that CoQ10 helps a lot. I'm about to try it with my daughter.
She's had extreme fatigue since the start and most definitely gets even more fatigued when starting new meds--she felt like she was coated in lead when she was on Mepron, felt very heavy and walking through mud.
Not really sure if this means she is herxing or if it just means that her body is trying to adjust to drugs being filtered through her system--who knows?
Good luck with your fatigue and treatment!
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
Oh, I also wanted to add that I always give the meds with food because of sensitive stomach.
This was cleared with my daughter's LLMD, and he actually recommends it, at least for children--not sure with adults.
The absorption might be lessened somewhat, but at least she can take it this way versus not due to stomach pains, and sometimes lessened absorption isn't necessarily a bad thing--less herxing--in my mind.
The meds are still working. This is just how we are doing it and just a suggestion, so check with your LLMD obviously though.
Posted by Judy G. (Member # 18498) on :
I could not take doxy without food -- extreme nausea and stomach pain on an empty stomach. So I take it after a small meal -- no dairy or calcium, magnesium, like anti-acids. So I do the morning dose after a breakfast of fried egg (in margarine) & toast with margarine and jam. Maybe a little OJ. I think protein is OK - just no cheese.
the second dose I wait until two hours after lunch and take it with maybe a peanut butter sandwich -- or crackers.
It was a challenge to plan. Also the warning about sun and doxy is very real. I got a bad burn that took weeks to go away, not a usual sunburn.
Posted by psano2 (Member # 11711) on :
fatigue is a herx. At lower doses I was ok w/taking doxy on an empty stomach, but now at higher doses, if I do that I start throwing up. Not fun. Taking doxy w/some food helps a lot. But take it with something that will be absorbed/digested easily. Once I took it with a green salad and threw up. Too much fiber.
Posted by kim812 (Member # 17644) on :
Doxy made my fatigue much worse..I tried building up to my dose of 400mg per day but everytime I got there the fatigue would become debilitating.
That is my worse symptom anyway so I just had to discontinue it. It did give me really bad nausea also no matter what I ate with it..
Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
Hi,
My LLMD told me to take my doxy, zithromax and plaquenil in the middle of a meal.
If I don't eat a large enough meal I get nauseated.
For fatigue my LLMD recommended 3 scoops Corvalen brand D-ribose + 2 scoops creatine mixed with 1/2 c grape juice + water.
He also recommends alpha lipoeic acid and L-carnitine for fatigue.
I had increased fatigue after starting my abx but after 5 weeks I was back to my normal level of fatigue.
All the best to you in your treatment!
Posted by electrolite (Member # 16404) on :
Yes, I just started Doxycycline yesterday (100 mg two times/day). I'm working my way up to a higher dose also.
And I have definitely noticed that my fatigue is much more pronounced! I literally could not stop yawning at work this afternoon.
For me that's better than severe headaches. I just started Flagyl yesterday also, and I think it caused the super severe headache I had last night.
Posted by ichelp73 (Member # 19559) on :
Thanks everyone for your posts. Such wonderful information!
I continued to have major fatigue for several days. My doc's nurse said the fatigue, muscle ache, caugh / shortness of breath definetly sounds like a herx.
She advised that I temporarily get off the meds for 2-3 days because of the herx... then begin with maybe one pill a day. I am now taking 50 mg twice a day of doxy. I am barely 100 lbs. so 200 mg a day was quite a big dose.
Feel much better now that I've scaled back. I get so confused between herxing - means the meds are working. But stop... if you are herxing? Such a fine line.
Does everyone just stop when they feel a herx coming on or scale back? My doc was very clear not to push myself but it's hard not to just stop if you know the meds are working,
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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You can only go as fast as your liver will take you. If the herx is too much, it's sign your liver can't take too much more and you have to slow down.
Liver support will help, of course, but still, the liver can process out only so much toxic waste and pushes just makes it more stressed.
Are you also on milk thistle?
Be sure to drink lots of water and get lots of rest with some gentle stretching or other gentle activity to get circulation moving around a bit.
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Posted by ichelp73 (Member # 19559) on :
Thanks Keebler. I have not heard of milk thistle? What is that and why do you take it?
I felt much better after detoxing last weekend with a colon cleanse and coffee enema. I know that sounds gross... but I was told it would help with the toxin overload. Have you tried these techiques?
My doc also suggested detox max plus. Haven't tried it yet. Wasn't sure if I needed to???
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