I've been taking doxycycline, and started getting headaches almost immediately that never really subsided. When the dosage increased, I broke out in what appeared to be hives, followed by a rash. Yesterday morning my husband called the doctor's office because I was dizzy, face was bright red, throat and inside of mouth felt itchy and tight, so the doctor on call said to stop taking the doxy and go to the ER to be checked. ER doctor said it appeared to him to be a reaction to the medication, and after doing an EKG to make sure there was no heart block (he said that needed to be ruled out since it can happen with lyme). The EKG was okay, and he said he didn't feel (based on a CT scan from last month that was done at that hospital) that it was meningitis (he said they were the two big issues that would make him say stay on the doxy no matter what because they could be life threatening) so stop.
He said to follow up with family doctor and ask about
a different antibiotic, he said amoxicillin and zithromax may be things to ask about
.
I know it takes awhile for medicine to work through the system and be eliminated, but I did notice that this morning, while I don't feel great, the pressure in my head did ease. So I am not sure if the pressure was from a herx, or the medicine?? The fact that the headaches were pretty much constant, it makes me question the herx
I don't see the dr. until Thursday, so until then I won't be taking anything -- would the break in treatment be much of a set back?
The time line for infection/treatment has me confused too .... when I first noticed the bulls eye rash, it was the middle of July 2013. Got flu like symptoms about
August 3rd/4th. Trip to Er for heart rate/pain/numbness/ thought I was having a stroke, middle of August. Started antibiotics for lyme in mid September. With that overview, I was wondering if this time line fits for early treatment?
The other issue I was wondering about
is the bulls eye mark I had. I've googled, and the images that came up of others' EM rashes, while they "sort of" resemble the one I had, I didn't find one that really made me say "yes!". So I've been wondering if there's a better place to look to compare. No doctor saw the bulls eye in person, just in a picture (my son snapped pictures of it), and the one doctor said it was a pretty bad picture. My son has since found a more clear picture when he was sorting through his files. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I was thinking maybe the clearer picture would be of help with anything. I guess I am just more curious because my lyme diagnosis is based on symptoms, both western blots and also the ehrlichia tests came back negative.