Doxy

I would still watch for a herx, especially the first few weeks! A herx is created when large amount of toxins enter the blood stream. This will happen when she is started on abx, even at lower doses, as the die off of bacteria will increase since her body now has some help. I wouldn't expect them to continue for very long though. If it does, that would most likely mean that her detox pathways are compromised, and you should lower her dosage.

A herx is also known as a healing crisis, as the healing slows or even stops when there is a crisis like this in the body. So lengthy or strong herxes are actually counter productive, that's why it's best to lower the dosage if herxing is a problem.

Once you start the second abx, her possibility of herxing would increase I would suspect, so watch her closely for increasing severity of symptoms and new symptoms. If this occurs, increase the detoxing to see if that helps. If not, lower the dose and either see a LLMD or ask another qualified practitioner - one that knows about treating Tick-borne infections.

Personally, I like kefir better for probiotics. It has many more strains of beneficial bacteria, plus it has beneficial yeasts (yes there is such a thing!LOL!), and other good things in it. The cost of store bought kefir was too much for our finances, so I make my own. It's pretty easy to do, and kefir "grains" are pretty easy to get. They really aren't any type of grain, it just sounds a lot better than calling them kefir "globules" LOL!!

Believe it or not, raw carrots are great for detoxing. If you can get your daughter to drink carrot juice, it'd be the easiest thing to do, but if not, help her find a way to eat a lot of them every few days. I can sit down and eat an entire pound of those baby carrots with homemade hummus! Yum!!

Some of my supplements come from the health food store, but to be perfectly honest, I don't have enough money to buy them all through a health food store, so I buy things like my multi vitamin/ multi mineral supplement through Walgreens - I use their brand. I use a common brand for magnesium, melatonin, vitamin E and many other things as well. The things that I get from the health food store are things that I need to be a certain way - like my B-12. I don't absorb the cetyl type of B-12 - lots of people don't, so I go to the health food store and get the Methyl type of B-12(but I still get the least expensive brand) and that works great.

Just work with what you've got. Lots of people believe it's worth everything to have the very best supplements - all of them. I don't disagree, but reality says that this is a long haul, and I will need these things for a long time, so I need to be able to afford to keep up with what I'm taking, using the best that I can comfortably afford, using the best when it's necessary.

I don't use nettle tea, I have only used the detox methods that I keep posting everywhere (LOL!) and eating good, drinking lots of water, eating my carrots, and getting as much exercise as I can without over-doing it - which I tend to do anyway! Rest is an important part of healing as well, so be careful to allow your daughter to rest lots too, I'm sure, as her mother, you can actually see when she needs rest, and when she needs to get up and move around. Depending on just how severe her symptoms are will dictate how much exercise she really needs. If walking around the couch three times wears her out right now, then that's enough exercise ...for now.

You can feel free to email me if you wish to get more details. Otherwise, I do hope this helps! Keep on asking those questions!! You're doing well.

There is something that I'd like to bring up - for you, not your daughter. There is a site called Lymespouse - it was actually designed for spouses who care for those who have Lyme to help them deal with their feelings and help them to understand some of what's going on - a really great site. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to visit that site? It's very informative. Here's a link, in case you feel like checking it out: www.lymespouse.org/

Dear OKMom, You've been given some great advice. The only thing I'd like to add is to be really careful and keep your daughter COMPELETLY out of the sun until done with doxy. My little girl quickly developed face and lip blisters in only a few minutes of sun exposure. She had to play inside during recess, and used a hat and long sleeves when switching classes to keep her safe. It's a pain, but I SOOO wish someone had warned me about how quickly a sun reaction could happen. I don't want to alarm, you but arm you with this info so you can keep her safe :)

Thx guys i was aware that on Doxy she had to stay out of the sun but had no idea she could burn that fast! This is all so overwhelming but thank you for the warning PennyPru:)I hope your daughter is well:) Do you mind if I ask what dosage and for how long she was/is on?
Traveler just got a juicer and will start your suggestions for my forever baby girl;) Still really concerned about 100 mg twice a day Doxy just doesnt seem like its enough I guess we will see. I have started a daily log of meds/vit./probiotics/foot baths/symptoms/and temp. Which is running around 97.7 super low but i understand that is common. No afternoon fevers or anything. sigh

How much does your daughter weigh? My dd was only 32 lbs at the time and if my memory serves, she was on 75 mg twice a day for 21 days. This was 2 years ago, and now i'm learning it may not have been enough. She seems to be doing ok though, and now that I'm finally getting to the bottom of my OWN lyme, when I'm feeeling better, I'm going to take my DD to my LLMD. Children are AMAZINGLY resilient and recover better from most illnesses, at least that's been my experience with my 3 monkeys.

Overall, I'm learning from so many amazing folks here AND my LLMD, that wellness comes from nurturing and strengthening the immune system, not necessarily in mega doses of abx, although the abx is supposed to be fantastic for early Lyme.

Wishing you and your little one many blessings :)