17hens
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23747
posted
My last 2 remaining symptoms are brain fog and fatigue.
For the last few days, my head/eyes feel like I have a cold.
My head is so tired and foggy, my eyes just want to shut.
My eyes have not been clear since I've been sick, but now they are really red.
You know how you feel (or used to) when you had a cold? Like it was all you could do to focus and keep your eyes open but you could go to sleep at the drop of a hat?
That's what I feel like only I don't have a cold.
I've been up for 2 hours this morning and my head/eyes feel just as tired as they did before I went to bed last night.
What's the deal and what helps?
-------------------- "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalms 73:26
bit 4/09, diagnosed 1/10 Posts: 3043 | From PA | Registered: Dec 2009
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posted
Have you had iron levels/ferritin checked? (not just CBC)
Iron deficiency can cause the same. I know firsthand.
Posts: 819 | From East Coast | Registered: Apr 2009
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Tammy N.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26835
posted
Maybe your body is dealing with some sort of cold, but your immune system can't muster the strength to go at it full throttle (like a lot of us with Lyme). Just rest up and do the best you can to support your immune system.
Hope it passes quickly.
Take good care, Tammy
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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17hens
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23747
posted
Kitty, that's a good idea. Think I'll do that.
Tammy, maybe so. I know DD & DS have colds.
Amazingly enough, as quickly as the head/eye fatigue came on Friday, it lifted yesterday afternoon. Just about 48 hours. I'm very thankful.
-------------------- "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalms 73:26
bit 4/09, diagnosed 1/10 Posts: 3043 | From PA | Registered: Dec 2009
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D Bergy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9984
posted
B vitamin and Iron deficiency both cause this type of fatigue, but so does illness.
I would eliminate those two as suspects.
Dan
Posts: 2919 | From Minnesota | Registered: Aug 2006
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jackie51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14233
posted
Potassium deficiency causes heavy eyelids.
Posts: 1374 | From Crazy Town | Registered: Dec 2007
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
17 hens said: "Amazingly enough, as quickly as the head/eye fatigue came on Friday, it lifted yesterday afternoon. Just about 48 hours. I'm very thankful."
That sounds very much like a babs herx to me.
My babs herxes lasted 48 hours and "lifted" literally after that period of time. See if it happens again down the road.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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17hens
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23747
posted
Yes, a herx! That's what I was thinking!
My babesia symptoms are so very mild that sometimes I wonder if it's just my imagination.
I did have an off and on very slight headache at the base of my skull on Saturday.
I remember my heart racing for about 15 seconds a few times on Saturday too and a few times feeling out of breath from talking.
But really the fatigue was just incredible! We had gone on a day trip to see Cirque Dreams Holidaze on Saturday and I fell asleep during the show! I just couldn't keep my eyes open! (My DD was appalled!)
Thanks, guys, you are all awesome to try to help me with this! I appreciate all of you!
-------------------- "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalms 73:26
bit 4/09, diagnosed 1/10 Posts: 3043 | From PA | Registered: Dec 2009
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
My babs flares/herxes had extreme fatigue as the major symptom.
Absolutely HAD to fall asleep no matter where I was. Once, I had to stop driving the car and jump in the back seat and instantly fell asleep.
It wasn't really a herx with me because it happened every seven days like clockwork. Doc called them babs flares. He said babs has a 7 day cycle.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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17hens
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23747
posted
TF, I'm being treated for Babesia right now. Well, Babesia and a bit o' Bart too.
I'm on minimum dose of Mepron though and in the back of my mind I'm wondering how I'll know if it stops working.
If this extreme fatigue becomes a pattern, how do I know if it's a herx or if I need to raise my dose?
Glad you jumped in the back of the car for a nap, TF, rather than ran off the road. Don't know what we'd do without you here!
-------------------- "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalms 73:26
bit 4/09, diagnosed 1/10 Posts: 3043 | From PA | Registered: Dec 2009
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
If you have it about every 7 days, then it is a flare and not a herx according to my lyme doc.
If the babs treatment is adequate, the flares will diminish each week. They will become more and more mild, and finally just be perhaps a need to lie down for 1/2 hour.
Then, my flares went to every other week. Doc said that was the babs 14-day cycle.
Finally, I didn't get any more flares.
So, if your flares stay the same, I would say you need to add artemisinin on the flare days. My doc said to encompass the flare with art. That meant that I took the first art on Friday morning (because my flare started on Friday evening at about 7 p.m. every week).
I took the art twice a day through Sunday. My flares lifted at 7 p.m. every Sunday.)
It really seemed unbelievable that I could get like this like clockwork. It actually took some courage to tell this to my lyme doc because it seemed so preposterous.
But, he replied to me, "That is the babesiosis 7-day cycle. Babs also has a 14-day cycle."
The art worked like a miracle. It made the flare so mild, I couldn't believe it. Each week, the flare was milder.
If you don't see improvement in these flares, then I don't think you are making progress with the disease. If that happens, I would want to talk to the doc if I were you.
By the way, you can buy the art yourself at stores like Vitamin Shoppe. Doc had me take Allergy Research Group brand. He had me take it on an empty stomach twice per day, 100 mg per capsule.
In third world countries, they use art to treat malaria which is related to babs. Both are blood parasites as I understand it.
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