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Severe dizzy herx

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Posted 4/19/2019 11:33 PM (GMT -5)
Hi everyone,

I was wondering if someone can help me. I’ve been on doxy for a while now and just recently started cefuroxime. I’ve been diagnosed with bartonella with mainly neuropsychiatric symptoms. Intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, fear, etc. my question is how long after antibiotics can you herx? Because I took my antibiotics at 2pm and then right before dinner, I got a HUGE dizzy spell. It was like the whole world was spinning. It lasted about a minute, but was terrifying. I think I may have had high blood sugar though which caused me to dehydrate. I had a glass of grape juice a couple minutes before the spell so I don’t know.
Posted 4/20/2019 12:12 AM (GMT -5)
It could be electrolytes. It could be POTS. It could just be a reaction to a medication. Those can happen anytime, even up to a day between when you take them and the reaction occurs. Do you keep track of your heart rate sitting and standing?
Posted 4/20/2019 12:46 AM (GMT -5)

Barthelp said...
my question is how long after antibiotics can you herx?

Depends on the antibiotic, but with some the herx can start within a few hours.
Posted 4/20/2019 8:16 AM (GMT -5)
I would suspect the grape juice since it was so sudden and brief.

Do you have POTS? Sugar can make the symptoms worse.
Posted 4/20/2019 11:09 AM (GMT -5)
I’m not sure if I have POTS. I have a lot of the symptoms like cold clammy hands and feet all the time and lightheadedness. How do I even get tested for it?
Posted 4/20/2019 11:28 AM (GMT -5)
My LLND had me test my heart rate and blood pressure when sitting and then standing.

Based on those results he said I had POTS.

Doctors can have you do a tilt table test
Posted 4/20/2019 12:16 PM (GMT -5)
If your heart rate rises 30 beats per minute between sitting and standing, that would indicate POTS. You can do an unofficial test at home. But if you can, find a good cardiologist who knows about POTS.

A diagnosis might not help in a practical sense because it should go away when you treat the infections, but it's nice to know. Things that help include lots of salt and compression stockings.
Posted 4/20/2019 1:03 PM (GMT -5)
Often with POTS - the blood pressure drops instead of rising as well. I only do the heart rate now.

I do hope it goes away with successful treatment of lyme and co's.
Mine is somewhat better. Sometimes my heart rate will only go up 20 bpm.

And it usually resolves quicker than before.
Posted 4/20/2019 4:57 PM (GMT -5)
Regarding POTS: My heart rate always spikes in the morning after I get out of bed and put clothes on/take meds/pee etc. Then within five minutes drops down about 30-40 points. So I think heart rate is a good indicator. I'm not sure if blood pressure is a major factor but mine is usually steadily on the low side.
Posted 4/20/2019 5:47 PM (GMT -5)
Does cefuroxime cross the BBB ?
I've experienced a similar rollercoaster 'the world is spinning' effect while on IV rocephine. Thank god it only lasted like 1-3 seconds and only happened once. Yours lasted 1 entire minute? OMG.
I remember it came out of nowhere and was very scary.

Make sure to drink lots of water especially when on abx!

Post Edited (insomniaaa) : 4/21/2019 1:18:20 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/20/2019 6:22 PM (GMT -5)
I think IV abx cross b/b barrier better than orals.
Posted 4/20/2019 6:48 PM (GMT -5)
When treating bartonella I get awful spinning dizziness. It's definitely one of the worst herx symptoms for me. I get other types of dizziness with other causes (including POTS), but the spinning is always from bartonella die-off, for me.
Posted 4/20/2019 9:47 PM (GMT -5)
Saraeli, short spells like this?
Posted 4/21/2019 7:32 AM (GMT -5)
You could have benign positional vertigo, which can have an easy fix (Epley maneuver).

For me, though, yes, I have those spells when treating bartonella, sometimes short spells and sometimes long. Always horrible! ;) I lie down with some essential oils for dizziness, put on my SeaBands, and do tapping (EFT) until it passes. But it's so maddening and freaky.

For me, POTS dizziness is more of a lightheadedness or disequilibrium, less spinning, although other people's experiences might be different.
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