disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
Just another reason to hate being a woman -- when I get my period my lyme gets so terrible. I've been feeling so good, too.
And then I started having more night sweats a few days ago and I didn't really think much of it. Then my period starts and I feel TERRIBLE. I feel like I was run over. I feel as terrible, if not WORSE, than I felt before I was even being treated.
Does this happen to all of the women out there? I mean, I've never enjoyed having my period, but now having to deal with my lyme flaring on top of all the cramps and everything else, I just don't know how I'm going to do it. :\
I feel so sick.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
Count both me and my neighbor in for the "period herx".
That is how I know it's coming now a days.
I feel like dirt about two days before and that feeling lasts for a few more days.
Now, if I could just get my monthly Lyme herx, full moon herx, and period herx I could have a
Relatively peaceful and quiet month.
Hang in there.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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tailz
Unregistered
posted
Thinking back, I'm weird - at least initially, before my endometriosis kicked in - I actually felt lousy UNTIL my period finally started. My face would break out - extreme anxiety.
Once it started though, my face would clear up and my anxiety would lessen - but only for maybe 3 or 4 days max.
I was strange though when I was pregnant, too - my face cleared up the entire time I was pregnant!
Anybody else here have that happen? I think most women break out during pregnancy. I was the opposite.
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posted
Me tooooo. Does anyone know why? What is the medical explanation -if any- behind this problem?
Lymster in WA
Posts: 303 | From WA | Registered: Jul 2004
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merrygirl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12041
posted
Yup me too. I read something about it before but dont remember where. I also heard or read that women on Birth control pills feel worse too.
I am sorry i dont know where I read this.
Melissa
Posts: 3905 | From USA | Registered: May 2007
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1Bitten2XShy
Unregistered
posted
I have the same issue..thought maybe my age...43. So I never brought it up to my LLMD.
Then several appts. ago he asked if I was worse around my cycle. Of course I said yes, and he said that is because the bugs get very active during hormonal changes.
When I see him next week, he thought he might really "target" the week before and during my cycle and see where we go from there.
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posted
My Lyme cycles usually coincide with my menstrual cycle, or closely coincide. And, yes, my doctor(s) talk about the dip in progesterone being the reason why the buggers creating such havoc.
When I was in relapse, my menstrual cycles were horrible! I felt like I was having a baby the cramps were so bad, not to mention all the other crap - fatigue, nausea, weakness, headache, hip pain, etc.
Now that I have been on treatment again, my last cycles (menstrual and Lyme) were not so bad (livable even). It is a big clue for me as to whether I am making progress or not in my treatment.
Robin
Posts: 276 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2006
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posted
Same here! I always have flare-ups before Aunt Sally comes to visit. For the last 6 months, I will have a numb sensation in my spine, legs and neck prior to starting.
I have been having tons of acne, like I did as a teenager. You could easily fry an egg on my forehead.
I wonder if this has to do with your body temp. rising b/f your cycle and Lyme thriving in this environment.
posted
I have this too! AND....now it has started to happen when I ovulate, about 2 weeks before my period. I am seriously thinking about a hysterectomy. Anyone know if this would help? Obviously it would with the "cycle", but are there hidden reactions that would be just as bad as the cycle episodes? It has gotten SOOO bad recently! I am at my wit's end....
5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
me too...my lyme sypmtoms get way worse when I am pms & durning my week. Then a few days after I am always more tired.
For me I think it's the hormonal changes that effect my lyme symptoms. And I also think the water retention doesn't help either.
It really stinks. Can't wait for menopuase.
hugs & sympathys Dana
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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tailz
Unregistered
posted
I have a theory that these bugs tend to copulate (so to speak) in sync with a woman's cycle. I often wonder if that's why it appears women have a harder time getting rid of this bug than men do.
Also, because modern medicine has a tendency to blame hormones, unresolved emotional issues, and low self esteem on most of our complaints, we're the ones ending up with chronic infection.
Orrn - I had a hysterectomy (uterus and left ovary removed). Though it took the pain away, I had a horrific time of it immediately following the surgery, and I regret that I allowed them to cop out on me like that.
I don't care what anybody says - the female reproductive organs are part of a 'grid' within a woman's body, so if you remove parts of it, the entire 'self' suffers - both physically and emotionally. Wires connecting the female organs to the brain get confused and try to compensate.
My recommendation? DON'T do it. Have them find and treat your infections.
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Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
I started the pill last year because my pain was so bad with my period and would last 2 weeks. It made a huge difference and basically eliminated my cramps.
I unfortunately had to stop because I found out I have a propensity for clotting. I'm terified to see what happens in a few days.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I always feel worse too but I thought it had to do with the fact that your blood changes. You're basically losing pints so your body sends more that way. Of course before LD I always felt like crap anyway. Who knows. Posts: 7 | From NY | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
My daughter's menstrual cycles have always been HORRIBLE! She's had Lyme since age 7. The way she describes her cramps, it sounds like labor pains and she bleeds profusely.
Her moods crash and she's even more exhausted than ususal,. She was put on the pill a few years ago to regulate the cycles, before we knew she had Lyme...she became almost non-functional from the hormones....
Posts: 217 | From New Jersey | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Well Ladies, I think we have a consensus here. Lyme lifecycles seem to coinside with the hormonal changes. You feel your worst 2-3 days before, painful cramps (like contractions in beginning of labor)- and a very heavy flow. I get some acne flare ups, I never had acne before lyme.
But I agree, don't mess with the infrastructure of you reproductive organs...can cause more harm than good.
Sorry about an misspellings, I don't remember how to spell a lot of things now.
-------------------- When you reach your "wits-end" remember this: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27 Posts: 397 | From Loudoun County Virginia | Registered: Mar 2007
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cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
im worse during ovulation.....now that i actually have my periods back.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I usually feel worse during ovulation-the middle of my cycle-glad to see it's not just me.
Posts: 561 | From eastcoast | Registered: Aug 2006
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mojo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9309
posted
My sypmtoms get worse about a week prior to my period (and that's in addition to my every 4 week "bad/herx" week, yay).
For about 10 years I would get super sick on the first day of my period to the point where I would be in bed (felt like my flu-like Lyme symptoms). I've had Lyme for a LONG time, I know that now, and I'm sure it was the Lyme talking. That went away with treatment.
Posts: 1761 | From USA | Registered: May 2006
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Rianna
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11038
This article explains why - Your monthly cycle gives a change in immune system response/function, so your immune system changes around your monthly menses - ther are Many many articles regarding this.
quote:Originally posted by disturbedme: Just another reason to hate being a woman -- when I get my period my lyme gets so terrible. I've been feeling so good, too.
And then I started having more night sweats a few days ago and I didn't really think much of it. Then my period starts and I feel TERRIBLE. I feel like I was run over. I feel as terrible, if not WORSE, than I felt before I was even being treated.
Does this happen to all of the women out there? I mean, I've never enjoyed having my period, but now having to deal with my lyme flaring on top of all the cramps and everything else, I just don't know how I'm going to do it. :\
I feel so sick.
-------------------- Bullsye rash: 1994, tx w/ ABT, Symptomatic:1999 Hospitalization: 2004 Equivocol results (specialy lab) resulting in chronic use of ABT, herbs, etc ever since. Severity of symptoms continue to worsen intermittingly. Posts: 140 | From maryland | Registered: Oct 2006
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YEP- this just started happening to me. What an enormous bummer!!! My lyme symptoms show up around that lovely time of the month- yuk.![[toilet]](graemlins/toilet.gif)
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