posted
Question: I'm presently on Doxy and Rifmapin for Lyme/Bartonella. I also just started taking Flagyl. The dr. told me to take it one day a week the first week (twice a day) and then to take it two days a week as long as I was okay with the one day.
The first week I took the two doses and the following day for half the day I was flat on my back because of fatigue. Then it left and I was fine.
This week I took the first dose Wed. PM, the second dose Thurs. AM, third Thurs. PM, and final dose Friday AM. (two days worth) Thursday I felt fine. Friday I began getting a gassy stomach ache and today on Saturday, I just want to sleep and my stomach is queasy. I feel horrible. (got to go pick up hubby from the airport soon with the kids and go to dinner.)
Do you think the delayed stomach ache is from the Flagyl?
I tried using Minocycline instead of Doxy and a simliar thing happened. I would be fine the first two or three days on it, but then the 3rd or 4th day I'd be sick as hell, fatigue, nausea, felt horrible.
I went off the Minocycline and back on Doxy and was fine. (even combined with the Rifampin) But now I'm sick again a day after stopping Flagyl. Arggggg! So frustrating!
What would you do?
Posts: 41 | From Somewhere over the rainbow | Registered: Apr 2011
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
You are herxing on flagyl, which is to be expected.
When you take flagyl (which kills the cyst form of lyme) along with doxy or mino, the lyme has no way to escape the antibiotics, so it is being killed like mad. That causes the sick feeling (herx). It takes 2-3 days for the killing to excalate to a point where it makes you feel sick. So, everything that is happening is normal.
When you just take doxy, the lyme can go into the cyst form and evade the doxy. That's why you have to hit it with flagyl once per week. Otherwise, if all you took was doxy, all of your lyme would eventually turn into the cyst form and the doxy would be doing you no good.
Then, as soon as you stopped the doxy, the lyme would come out of cyst form and you would experience lyme disease again.
So, good for your doctor for adding in the flagyl. That is good lyme treatment.
Stomach ache could be a herx symptom for you. If it is, then you will experience it 2-3 days after starting flagyl each week. Fatigue is the most common herx symptom, plus sleeping and feeling just lousy. The nausea and stomach ache could be bartonella symptoms coming out also.
But, any time you add a new med, you can expect that in 2-3 days you will notice a reaction--meaning that you will feel sick. That is the proof that that med is killing germs for you. You have to go through it.
When you no longer herx, then it is time to change meds. When you change meds, you can expect to herx again.
Each med has a different killing profile, so each new med is capable of causing a herx reaction. Stay the course.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
When I was getting sick day two and day three after starting Minocycline, my dr. said that the stomach ache isn't a herx but a bad reaction to the medication. But now I'm wondering because I wasn't nauseous instantly after taking the medication, both with the Minocycline and the Flagyl. It was on the third day both times and I felt exactly the same....miserable...exhausted, nauseous, and with more nerve pain (feels like I'm getting poked with needles). So, I guess she could be wrong. In all the reading I've done I've not really seen nausea addressed as a herxing symptom either.
It would be nice if I could eventually go back on Minocycline instead of Doxy because I can't go in the sun at all.
Thanks for your input. Anyone else get a stomach ache as part of a herx?
Posts: 41 | From Somewhere over the rainbow | Registered: Apr 2011
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posted
Oh, and another question...do you know if some people start with one day a week on Flagyl instead of two for a while so that the herx isn't so bad? This just about kills me.
Posts: 41 | From Somewhere over the rainbow | Registered: Apr 2011
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TF
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Member # 14183
posted
If you can't stand taking flagyl the 2 days, you can call and ask your doc to cut back to 1 day for a few more weeks.
My lyme doc put me on flagyl after I had treated lyme for a long time. I took it daily for 60 days along with my other lyme med. I had a 1 week herx and that was it.
But, to lessen the herx, he told me to drink plenty of water and eat 4 lemons per day. I got up to 2 lemons per day. Squeezed them into the water. He said that lemons are God's natural cleanser of the body, and water flushes everything out of the body. So, try that.
I also had to go on the Body Ecology Diet to lessen the chances of yeast infection. When taking flagyl daily like I did, yeast is tough to avoid.
But, a good diet can also help you through the herxes.
So, drink lots of water daily and eat lemons daily. Make lemon water your only drink. It helps a lot. I did this throughout my lyme treatment (1 year).
In April, it was 6 years since I completed my lyme treatment, and I am still symptom free, enjoying my life.
Hang in there. You can get through this.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
I take it everyday, 3 times a day. It makes me feel very strange and uncomfortable, sometimes nauseous, as a side effect of the med. I have been herxing since I started a month ago. Everyday. I have had about a week where I was flattened, but now I just feel crappy pretty much all the time. I started taking it once a day, then twice a day, then up to 3 times a day, but it took about 3 weeks to get there.
Posts: 427 | From Pacific Northwest | Registered: Oct 2010
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posted
I take Flagyl every day and when I herx on it I feel just like I have the flu and can't even stay out of bed for long, I get an increase in my present symptoms and sometimes new aches and pains where I never had them before.
Seems this is a powerful weapon against lyme.
I did not respond at all to Flagyl pulsed two days a week.
Posts: 448 | From minnesota | Registered: Feb 2010
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posted
Thank you everyone. I'll hang in there. I'll talk to my dd about staying at one day a week on the flagyl for a few weeks and see how I do. I'm a little bit better this morning, but not great.
I appreciate reading everyone else's experiences with it. I'll try to stick it out. I didn't know when I started Lyme treatment that I would feel THIS horrible. Posts: 41 | From Somewhere over the rainbow | Registered: Apr 2011
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posted
I was on 500mg of Flagyl twice daily for one week along with 100 mg of doxy twice daily.
I found that when I took both at the same time, I'd feel queasy, so I started taking the Flagyl first and then following up with the doxy a few hours later. doxy is hard on your stomach by itself, so I always take it with food - but there could be something about adding Flagyl to it that makes it worse.
Try taking the Flagyl first and then take the doxy and your other antibiotic a few hours later and see if that helps any. It did for me!
Posts: 156 | From Virginia | Registered: May 2011
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posted
I didn't even feel sick until after I stopped taking it. :/ I took it for two days and was fine while I was on it but then felt horrible for the next few days. Hoping its just a herx and not that I can't take the medicine. I'll try one day next week and see what happens. Thanks!
Posts: 41 | From Somewhere over the rainbow | Registered: Apr 2011
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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The herx does not happen right away. It takes 2 to 3 days after you start the new med for the herx to start.
Once it starts, it can last for 1-2 weeks or even longer if the person continues on the med.
By contrast, since you are only taking the flagyl for a short time, your herx is short. If you took the flagyl for a week, the herx would begin while you were still on the med.
It is only because of how you are taking it that the herx starts after you stop the med.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
What will happen if i just take flagyl once a day is that not enough? Its very hard on the stomach everytime i take it. Its so uncomfortable do i just ignore the stomach upset??
-------------------- Posts: 215 | From California | Registered: Sep 2011
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Razzle
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Member # 30398
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Make sure you take flagyl with food - doesn't have to be anything huge, even just a handful of nuts or something like that should be enough to buffer the stomach irritation.
I've been started on Flagyl too and I started at 1/4 tablet. Herxing started 1-2 days after starting it, and continued for a few days. I increased by 1/4 tablet no more often than once a week until I was at 1 tablet/day. I've also been slowly ramping up on Andrographis - and getting the same herxing pattern (herx starts 1-2 days after increasing the dose and lasts about 3-4 days).
I'm not on any other abx, just the flagyl & andrographis, and I'm not pulsing - I'm taking both every day. I'm going to work the flagyl up to 2/day eventually after I get the andrographis up to 3 capsules/day (per my doctor's orders).
But I have to say I think this combination is the most effective I've experienced yet in 2 1/2 years of treatment. I'm starting to see some minor improvements for once, which gives me hope that this thing really can be conquered.
-------------------- -Razzle Lyme IgM IGeneX Pos. 18+++, 23-25+, 30++, 31+, 34++, 39 IND, 83-93 IND; IgG IGeneX Neg. 30+, 39 IND; Mayo/CDC Pos. IgM 23+, 39+; IgG Mayo/CDC Neg. band 41+; Bart. (clinical dx; Fry Labs neg. for all coinfections), sx >30 yrs. Posts: 4167 | From WA | Registered: Feb 2011
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posted
I am solely on Flagyl too. I started a week ago on 1/16th of a pill.
LLMD says to start on 1/4 pill daily and increase by 1/4 pill daily, however that is a SAMPLE protocol. The "fine" print says, turtles win the race and a sliver of a pill may be the dose for you or even pulsing.
I just started with 1/4 twice daily yesterday. Feeling a little woozy in the head this morning after morning dose. Have my typical head pain/numbness and overall "ugh" feeling.
With that said...I was in bed all last week herxing and have made it to work twice this week and hopefully again today. I have hope for this abx.
I like Razzle recommendation about increase 1/4 per week. I may try that. I know herxing is inevitable and that it is good...but functional herxing would be nice.
-------------------- Tick Bite: March 2011 ABX Treatment: August 2011 Diagnosed: September 2011 Posts: 137 | From God's Got This! | Registered: Aug 2011
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