posted
Staring meds this week. Met with my LLMD last week and I have; Lyme, babesia,& cat scratch fever. Anything I need to know about the meds. Doctor didn't really give me any warnings.
Does this sound right to everyone??? I hate taking a Tylenol if I need to so this is going to be a challenge for me.
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Keebler
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- If liver support is in place days BEFORE starting Rx, Tylenol should not be needed (and it can be really bad for your liver & damage ears - and then make pain much worse, in the end. AND there are so many better ways to approach pain, anyway).
How to work around that so that so that you can be as comfortable as possible:
LIVER & KIDNEY SUPPORT & and several HERXHEIMER support links, too. Also important to help protect hearing / balance during treatment. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
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- It's necessary to stay out of sun with doxycycline. Be sure to check on what that requires - any sun on skin can cause burning. Be careful.
Best of luck to you. Remember to plan to rest, gentle movement every day - even if just for 5 minutes (no aerobic exercise), good food, good water or green tea, etc. You will need to rest a lot during the first couple of weeks, so plan on that, frequently. Take care. -
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posted
Rest??? Really?? I discussed this a little with Doc. I have been working our daily for years and I believe its why I'm doing ok with all of this. It is the only thing that gets me through the day. I do cardio followed by weight lifting every day for the last 20 years. Isn't working out and sweating good for detoxing during this process??? Why no aerobic exercise????
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Keebler
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- Aerobic exercise with an infection can be very hard on the liver & the heart, and the adrenals. Weights, however, should be fine but you may need to cut back a bit if you experience any herxheimer reaction.
A herxheimer reaction can take any action hero to their knees. Be very clear about that so you are well prepared. Some are more affected than others, of course,
and there have been some who never herxed at all, just felt better & better.
So, if you have the supports in place first you have a better chance of being one of the lucky ones.
There will be added liver stress with the Rx, so aerobic exercise can be more harmful. That's just one reason not to put the liver through the spin cycle on a washing machine, so to speak, though with aerobics.
The article in the Cardiac Thread details the liver & exercise stuff, which, can of course have two sides. But knowing just where that happy medium is can be very tricky to determine.
However, if your body is used to this, you might just slow it way down at first and see how it goes. Do the weights, but then go through the same motions you would otherwise, but at slow speed until you settle into how the first stages of Rx affect you.
Likely, you will be able to be very active during treatment considering. Just do not push it. Consistency is better than speed.
IMMUNE FUNCTION can be enhanced with non-aerobic exercise (as a person can manage) yet with aerobic exercise, even in a healthy person, the immune system can take a vacation for a while, so to speak. It can take hours (or longer) for the immune function to return to normal after hard exercise.
With lyme, the immune system can be "flipped" so that it does not act as we might expect. Still much to learn, of course.
Scroll down here for detail on adrenal support - and how the liver is affected by aerobic exercise when the liver is stressed. Very important so that proper support or even simple changes in approach can help.
The Nightingale Foundation offers detail on the brain and aerobics if hypoperfusion is in the picture (as is often with lyme) . . . and also how the heart can be damaged when aerobics are done during an infection.
Still, as your body is in good shape, just be mindful of all this as you proceed. You will likely be able to maintain a good level of activity, even if some aspects (like speed) are shifted.
A few folks, here & there have been able to be more active than others. Bicycle riding or swimming seem to be the activities that have worked for some of the "few" - whereas something like running would be much more of a risk.
It's impossible to know how your body will respond to treatment and what kind of stresses your organs will be facing.
It's absolutely fantastic that you've been able to keep up so well while dealing with infection - so there may be some things about your body that are just "wired" differently. Or maybe you are getting diagnosed and treated far earlier than most.
Whatever, though, it's hard to know so just don't go too gung-ho. Everyday may be different, every hour, even.
One thing many of us learned the hard way was not to head out on a long walk and just feel so good that we kept going . . . and then . . . wham! "Now, then, oh, great body . . . just how are we going to get back home, now?" sort of thing.
For many of us, we had to learn that our internal "warning system" was just kaput and would drop us like a rock just all of the sudden.
I do not want to discourage you, rather, just have you not be caught aware if you body's control system goes awry. It can all be rather fluid.
SUNLIGHT, though . . . just remember to avoid.
As lyme / TBD affects everyone a bit differently, you may be one of the lucky ones. Just proceed cautiously.
It is important to move, of course. And, still, rest will matter greatly as part of this plan so your body can do what it needs to do for repair work. -
[ 04-07-2015, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Thanks for the reply's. Quick history I've had Lyme for about 5 years. I have exercised the hole time that I have had this. It was very rough at first and I was winded very easily. I just found out it was Lyme last week and start with meds this week. Like I said I do alot of cardio and lifting...almost every day. It has saved me I think. I just don't want to do damage now that I'm staring treatment. Should I stick to just lifting now or will I be Ok? Or do I just play it by ear? I just don't want to hurt my liver by doing cardio on the meds.
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Keebler
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- Yes, stick with weights now. Light weights to light-medium, though. If really heavy, they could put too much stress on your tendons, etc.
Refer to BURRASCANO's PT page, linked above.
REST DAYS are important, too. I know you say you've been doing this daily yet the days off to let the muscles / tissue rest matters. Yet, on those days, you can do something else of interest that gets you moving in a different way - but still allow a kind of rest.
MASSAGE would be excellent, too, in so many ways.
As for the cardio, as you've been doing it all along . . . I would hate to see you cut back if you are feeling well enough. However, it's the speed that is of greatest concern.
I know it can be hard to just say, well, walk, don't run. Whatever "cardio" you've been doing may not lend itself to just turning down the speed.
But maybe you could find some other kinds of movement that would interest you and help. PILATES is one, Tai Chi or Qi Gong - or exploring different walking paths, slow bike or relaxing swims.
You and your LLMD are best to figure out. The first couple weeks (well, really the whole time) on treatment:
1. take care of yourself
2. keep up as much of a normal existence as possible (and even explore new interests) and enjoy what movement options your body might graciously allow.
sometimes, though, #1 trumps #2. The "fun" is figuring out the balance - and its many shifts. Hopefully, it will all go just swimmingly.
Your LLMD will be a better resource, though, as they see you in person.
Good luck. -
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Keebler
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- As you've asked if there is anything you should know, inside of the Liver Support thread is a mention of PROBIOTICS. Just wanting to bring that to the forefront.
If your doctor is an ILADS educated LLMD, most likely they have stressed the absolute importance of PROBIOTICS. You should be already started on them before Rx start, if possible.
I have to stop but others might fill in this part or anything that comes to mind, too. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
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- One more thing, hearing protection. Ears can be more easily damaged by sounds when taking certain Rx.
Be careful around sounds, even like a hairdryer, blender, vacuum, lawn equipment, etc. Ear plugs & decibel rated ear muffs are vital.
Avoid in-the-ear pods and be careful with headphones. Any hard bass driven beat vibes can also be challenging to your ears & heart rhythm. Music is fabulous. Just be mindful of the intensity during this time when your ears can be more tender.
Inside the Liver Support thread may be link to Tinnitus. That set explains more. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Jeez!! I'm glad I'm on this site. I didn't know I had to watch my ears as well. While working out I jam music hard!!! I did not know that while on my meds I could damage my hearing????!!! Starting to question my LLMD a little. She never warned me about exercising or my ears. Told me about Probiotics and that's about it.
Posts: 44 | From Owatonna | Registered: Feb 2015
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Keebler
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- About exercising, your LLMD has the advantage of seeing you in person. So, of course, what they say can certainly be much more on target for you whereas, here, generalities try to cover all the bases because it's hard to know where you "are" so to speak.
If you are doing so well at this time, it may very well be your LLMD thinks you can continue as you've been doing - &/or that your body will tell you when changes need to be made.
Likely, your LLMD sees patients who are much more ill that, often, the question of exercise is just so different from your situation.
The more active a person can be is usually a nice guideline, within reason & "active" need not be full force & top speed.
No LLMD can tell any patient all they need to know. Lyme / TBD requires a lot of any person affected. Not just in terms of how one can be clobbered but also in how much the patient must then learn / study and just explore unchartered territory.
As you will see as you get into this, there will be some changes in your body and I'm sure your LLMD expects that and expects you to bring questions as time moves along.
Most LLMDs will not specifically warn about the ears - but they DO cover it in a way, with liver support, suggesting taking care of yourself in general.
Although, even there, as many MDs are so criticized by mainstream medical bodies, etc. they may hesitate in this category and encourage patients to read up as much as they can.
If a LLMD is familiar with BURRASCANO (as every one should be) they are familiar with liver support but may not feel as free to "prescribe" it). There are also several excellent books by LLMD that most with lyme come to embrace.
You will see those books inside the "LL ND" thread - inside of the "Liver Support" thread.
Lyme, itself can cause lots of trouble with ears so the focus is on addressing the infections.
I hope that LLMDs will start warning patients to keep the sound down and protect more and more - and we may see that time to come. But don't be too hard on your LLMD as most just can't cover everything.
Taking care of our ears is just part of taking care of ourselves and we pick up that information from many sources.
As long as those who make a fortune destroying ears with equipment that can deliver sounds at volumes unsafe for any ears - well, as long as they can continue to rake in the money, you will not see an education campaign about keeping the sound low.
A few musicians have taken this upon themselves, though, after suffering damage from sound.
It may be that you need the music loud and intense due to some degree of hearing loss(?) so it might be good to get a good audiologist exam now to see where your ears are with all that.
[Neutral tone of voice here - totally neutral]
As you "jam music hard!!!" while exercising hard can bring likelihood of damage - in anyone. Wearing ear buds or head phones while exercising hard - for anyone - can be more damaging to the ear nerves (see book: The Mozart Effect, as this is explained there).
Your ears may be a bit more susceptible to tinnitus, etc. so it's important now to get a handle on how to curtail that.
Tinnitus is very common effect of many Rx, though - and OTC products, too (i.e. acetaminophen). So learning how to prevent that is vital. Detail here. BAUMAN's work is tops: Start at the end with his newest works.
Fluoroquinolones (Levaquin, Cipro, etc.) - LINKS set
For a more detailed look into this topic, it's alarming that so many have experienced devastating effects. It's not unusual at all. -
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