posted
My daughter just began doxycycline, and will probably start mepron and azithromycin (please pardon misspellings) in 30 days. We have an opportunity to travel abroad in May. Does anyone have experience on these drugs? When should she start feeling better? Right now, the doxycycline is making her feel worse.
Thank you!
"mum"
Posts: 4 | From PA | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
Mepron and Zith can make someone herx very hard. It's been a hard road since I have been on them, but not much worse from how I felt before I started any meds.
I don't think I could travel abroad...but that's just me.
Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Talking to your doctor about minimized abx for the time just prior to and during travel might help.
a careful planning of energy output would help.
for instance, call your airline and say she needs wheelchair assistance from door to gate.
as soon as getting into the airport, use a courtesy phone to call and have a wheelchair brought to you. Someone will be "driving" it - I usually would tip them at the end. You also might want to ask them to turn down the volume on their walkie talkies as that will be directly behind your daughter's head.
Once to the gate, you daughter can walk around a bit, to the rest room, etc. (unless she needs wheelchair to board).
As soon as she gets on the airplane and people are settled, ask the flight attendant to be certain to alert the next airport to have a wheelchair waiting at the gate. Just having it in the system is not enough. You have to check with each step.
Some airports use medium, or even large, golf carts at regular times and no reservations. It depends and sometimes you have to roll with the punches.
Usually in the US, anyone in a wheelchair goes to the front of the line - that saves a tremendous amount of energy.
If you have to give the airline a dx, keep it simple. One can still walk some if they want to.
While waiting at the gate to board, I have told the counter attendant that I'll be lying down over in that corner and will need early boarding. I've even gone across the aisle to an empty waiting area for quiet.
Conserving and planning energy very carefully - and then there's more for what really matters - or reserves for unforeseen events.
If this is the chance of a lifetime, this is your - and her - lifetime. GO FOR IT.
You can search to find out which airports have quiet lounges, etc. And the same with lodging. Stay away from the nightbclub districts. Getting good rest, good food is what can make the difference.
Reserve wheelchairs at museums, too. I used to be too embarrassed, but, you know, if I had a sprained ankle and I just HAD to do that, I wouldn't be so embarrassed. So, with "sprained energy" the same care is vital.
You often see folks in some places, still getting up and walking here and there, and then sitting back into the chair when they need to. So don't think it has to be all or nothing.
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If you take supplements with you, you might need a doctor's prescription. Not sure, but you can check on that.
To save you from carting a bunch around, you might check ahead and see if you can buy what you need at your destinations.
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Cordyceps is a wonderful medical mushroom that helps me with endurance. Some LLMDs incorporate it or other medical mushrooms.
For nausea, GINGER - for upset tummy, chewing on DGL might be good. CankerMelts, is a blister packed, timed released licorice (not DGL but still good for the tummy stuff).
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Always having water on hand helps. Don't let that water bottle get empty as, for me, when I need it and am too hot, I simply cannot wait. It becomes a medical emergency to down a cup or two on a warm plane.
Beverly
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 1271
posted
Hi featheredfolk,
Great advice and information above!
I also herxed very bad right at the beginning of my treatment for Babesia, so did my son. We had to travel to see our LLMDS and it was very hard. Sometimes I wonder how we got through it, but we did.
I hope she feels better soon, please keep us posted.
Posts: 6641 | From Michigan | Registered: Jun 2001
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sixgoofykids
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11141
posted
I responded very well to meds and got better in only a year. Even my doctor was amazed at how quickly I got better.
I hate to have to tell you this, but the travel to NY to see my LLMD was very difficult for me. There is no way I could have traveled abroad after only three months of treatment.
I did go on a weekend trip about that far into treatment, but it was to Phoenix .... I could spend a lot of time just resting either in my room or out by the pool.
I had a couple good days on our trip, but by the end was worn out.
Wow--she is not feeling as weak as to need a wheelchair yet, and she isn't electrosensitive yet.
It sounds like we need a lot more info about herxing. Can you point me in the right direction? Her caregiver says she will adjust the meds for travel.
She is going to be treated for babesia,hence the other drugs besides doxy.
Our window of opportunity closes after May, so we'll have to make a decision yes or no.
Thank you!
"mum"
Posts: 4 | From PA | Registered: Feb 2008
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sixgoofykids
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11141
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I guess it all comes down to how sick she is now. When I started treatment I wasn't really very functional. I improved a little each month.
I think that is in general what you can expect, a little improvement each month.
Would she be able to handle a trip now? May is only three months away, so there should be some change (though there are no guarantees), but probably not a dramatic change.
It's not that she needs a wheelchair for normal walking around .... it's that walking across and airport is VERY difficult. Traveling is a long day for a healthy person, and those walks are long walks for a healthy person.
I know I could not have handled it .... but when I began treatment I'd say I was only 15% of normal health ... by three months of treatment, I was probably about 30%.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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about the wheelchair. and about the energy bank. planning is vital.
walking when one feels energy can still mean that later that day - or for days - all other activity has to be canceled.
It takes a tremendous about of brain energy, not just legs . . . to walk. Thousands, even millions of pieces of input from the eyes, ears, balance center . . . all that has to be processed.
Conserving strength for what really matters can make a huge difference.
Many a time I thought I could walk in an airport, only to collapse half way to the gate. Getting a wheelchair, and then strolling by it if one feels okay can help. Or using it like a grocery cart and push can also ease the stress on the body/brain.
I also exerted energy for this or that mediocre event only to have to cancel the really big thing the next day.
I resisted the idea energy planning and always just did as much as I could. Had I not done that, perhaps my endurance would have lasted as long as my wishes.
I do wish you the best of luck with this. I hope it works out well, whatever you decide. And, if the decision is to put it off, perhaps an alternative (and delightful) series of events during that time to help shift the understandable feelings around that.
If the trip is on, perhaps finding supportive measures in advance for the places your daughter will be ? Maybe contacting a support group for those areas to learn of the healthy food markets and quieter lodging or travel tips regarding times of day best for this or that.
posted
Problem with doxy is that she won't be able to spend time outside in the sun. Maybe the doctor can switch her to something else while you travel (and for warm weather in general), there are other abx's to choose from.
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