Hmmm. For me there are variations but also some consistent core herx symptoms. Effective meds flare my original symptoms, namely greater pain/inflammation/burning sensation/discomfort in my lymph nodes behind/under my ears. It can be a more dull pain but it can also be a knife-like pain (especially earlier on in the treatment journey). The other symptoms I often get are crushing fatigue and headaches, leading me to feel zombie-ish and out of it, like a shell of myself. It is hard to concentrate and think. The herxes also drive up my antsiness, as I feel uncomfortable in my body and time slows to a crawl. The problem for me with herxes is that it is harder to distract myself as the flaring symptoms impose themselves upon my consciousness and eat up my mental energy (I have to put a lot of energy to to deal with the pain and compartmentalize, this can be very taxing).
And for my worst herxes I will get tingling, neuropathy, and burning neuropathy. Those are the worst, especially burning neuropathy.
I can't say this is a universal rule but in general to simply describe my herxing: a flare of my original symptoms (lymph nodes, fatigue, headache, neuropathy) induced by effective therapeutics killing pathogens.
It is a hell within a hell and a terrible irony that often times effective medicines impose this double-layered hell upon us. This paradox is hard for people to understand (effective meds should make you better, and quickly, not punish you!). And that's if people can even understand the first layer of hell which is these diseases and the difficulty and pain they can impose upon us in the first place and how hard they can be to treat. If they respect that and have some comprehension of that aspect that is the first step and means there will be greater chance they might be able to understand the herx aspects of treatment and why this might be so difficult for patients. But if they understand how difficult these diseases are they will be more likely to appreciate why patients might pursue some of these therapeutics that can often be punishing in and of themselves.
For me I haven't been able to avoid herxing, I do all I can in terms of detox, diet, and those things and I think that helps. And slowly pacing the treatment. But when push comes to shove there is no avoiding herxing for me, merely containing it and trying to manage it is all I can do. When I come across effective treatments I herx, I have strong sensitivity and part of it is likely pathogen mix I have plus genetics (immune system genetics likely being key imo). I'm sure in future with proper research and investments medicine will develop better therapeutics and strategies for patients that have strong herx issues, but for now it is tricky.
Post Edited (sebreg) : 8/4/2017 10:09:49 AM (GMT-6)