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Posted 8/5/2017 7:35 AM (GMT -5)
Hello.

I currently just finished my 6th week of doxy (200mg twice a day) and added in BLt, Crypto-plus, and EBV drops last week. Plus so many other supplements and vitamins. I'm taking close to 80 pills a day.

I had a couple of ok days this past week. Still haven't reached the point where I wake up and feel ok/good. Most days I don't feel great and I'm hoping for a few hours in the day that I do feel ok. So I was happy to wake up a few days this last week feeling pretty decent and stayed Decent most of the day.

But yesterday I woke up with the worst headache. And it just progressed all day.

The headache is my main symptom now. Mainly in the back of my head and it hurts so bad sometimes. Like those muscles back there are squeezing so tight and my head itches and feels like the skin back there is crawling. And I get kind of weak and just hurt so bad.

Sleeping helps the headache but even now as I'm just waking up the head pain is still there. Just not as intense or as painful.

The other main symptom is my hands drawing up. Like tightening up like trigger fingers. And sometimes I can't use them correctly.

Do you think the combo of the 200mg twice a day doxy and the titration of the herbs is too much for my body? Should I stop the doxy?

Dr had me on plaquenil with the doxy too but I stopped that last week bc I felt like it was making my vision insanely blurry even though I'd only been on it two weeks. And my head would get super foggy no matter what everyday around 2/3pm.

My dr said work all the way up the full dosage on the herbs and then I could stop the doxy. The higher I'm getting on the herbs the worse I think I'm starting to feel. I felt like at first they were helping but now the higher I get it seems my body is not liking it.

My lower back has been hurting.. kidneys?! My lower front abdomen will spasm occasionally.

I'm still so new to this too... I have no clue when I'm herxing.
Is that when I'm feeling bad after taking med or herbs? Bc I'm just feeling bad most of the time but then it gets worse.
Posted 8/5/2017 9:54 AM (GMT -5)
I'm to sorry to hear about that. Back of head pain and blurry vision have def been issues for me, and sometimes when I used to herx those two symptoms would get worse (doesn't happen anymore though as I've gotten further in treatment and recovery).

Have you been employing and trying out various detox methods? this is a huge aspect for helping manage treatments, has helped a lot of patients. Let us know if you need more info on this if you aren't already employing this strategy. One other thing that helped me manage or curb some pain was diet, avoiding sugars and processed foods.

I can't say for sure but it does sound like you are herxing. I remember in the first parts of my treatment I couldn't handle much medicine because my herxes were so strong, and without realizing it I ended up going through continuous herxing, I was utterly miserable 24/7, torturous. This was before I knew much of what was going on with my health, and was really still in the dark. My herxes can still be strong now but so long as I pace I can manage more things and stronger medicines than earlier parts of my treatment journey.

You might consider lowering antimicrobial doses or even taking a few days break. See if that helps. Then you could reintroduce the antimicrobials one at a time, not at full dose but work your way up over time. I think of it as finding a manageable herxing level that can be controlled and won't make you suffer inordinately. I would talk to your healthcare practitioner about this if this is a potential option that makes sense to you, see what they say and what they propose. If they say just barrel ahead and fight on through it I would be a bit disappointed. There are better strategies that can make treatments more bearable (and effective!) for the patient, and too much herxing can burn out the patient. It is a marathon.

Slow and low is the way to go especially if it seems herxing is an issue!

Good luck, you will get there! please keep us posted.
Posted 8/5/2017 10:19 AM (GMT -5)
Thank you Sebring! I appreciate the advice.

there are just some days I feel like I might die! Literally! It's awful.

I am doing epsom salt and hydrogen peroxide baths, exercise, lemon water for detox right now.

I tried one coffee enema the other day and didn't really like how it went.. my lower back hurt afterwards. Wanting to try it again but giving it a little time.

I lowered my dose of doxy. I didn't talk to my dr about it. I just went to 100mg of it twice a day for now. Then I'll get in contact with dr Monday.
Posted 8/5/2017 10:45 AM (GMT -5)
Detoxing is so important! And, 6 weeks of treatment is just a drop in the bucket. I hate to tell people that. But it is reality. Lyme takes time to get rid of. How long? We don't know, because there are so many variables.

Here are some more detoxing ideas. www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods

Here is a thread where we talked about our own detoxing methods to give you an example. www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3602759
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