HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Lyme & The Sun...

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/19/2014 6:49 AM (GMT -5)
Does having Lyme and co make us extra sensitive to the sun?

I know that certain meds can cause problems with prolonged exposure, and that Bactrim is one of them. I spoke with my LLMD last month and asked if at all possible if I could be changed b/c I have 4 kids who play sports and I cannot stand to be cooped up all summer long. It's bad enough that I have Lyme, I don't want to not be able to enjoy my kiddos. The meds coupled with the fact that I'm already proned to sunburn, b/c I have such fair skin. So I've been off Bactrim for over a month, read all the labels of the other stuff I'm taking, and should be good to go.

However, yesterday, I was in the sun for about an hour, I used sunscreen, wore light colored clothing etc... and today I feel as if I've been hit by a truck. I'm sunburned (even after using 75 spf), groggy and my joints are KILLING me. I made sure that I stayed hydrated too. I know how important that is.

Just wondering if it's Lyme or maybe the Bactrim isn't fully out of my system....
Posted 5/19/2014 7:43 AM (GMT -5)
I don't know the answer to the question you asked, but I would like to say that actually the darker the clothing you wear, the more you are protected from the rays of the sun. Also, there is a brand of clothing being sold that protects from UV rays.

I don't know what percentage of pain in Lyme is caused by mast cell degranulation caused by LPS or lipoprotein, but I have read that extra sunshine and extra vitamin d can increase that phenomenon. If that is the issue, though, taking baking soda is supposed to help neutralize the toxins that cause the mast cell degranulation. I go one step further and add an aspirin to the baking soda, which forms sodium salicylate. Works fairly well, but everyone is different.
Posted 5/19/2014 8:16 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks for the response... I thought darker colored clothing attracted the sun? My doc has always told me light colored, loose fitting clothes.

Anyways, I'm not sure I follow your last paragraph, my brain feels like it's on fire today... and I'm having lots of trouble with comprehension. What is degranulation? I've never heard of this...
Posted 5/19/2014 8:30 AM (GMT -5)
It could be that your sunscreen isn't as effective as it says. Here is a site - Environmental Working Group - that rates sunscreens according to several factors:
www.ewg.org/2013sunscreen/about-the-sunscreens/

.....but I always noticed that I sunburned much quicker while I was still dealing with these infections as well.
Posted 5/19/2014 8:35 AM (GMT -5)
MrsPallas, there is a protocol that includes complete avoidance of sunshine, and it recommends black tightly woven clothing. Also, people with porphyria who have severe reactions to sunlight use dark tightly woven cloth, too. You can tell that dark material blocks the sun better by holding up black material vs white material.

The mast cell degranulation is difficult to explain, but if you can find the Synergy Protocol that WWJD20 has a link to in his/her signature, there is a paragraph about histamines/mast cell degranulation/LPS, which is the endotoxin from breakdown of certain bacteria. I hope that helps, I am sick today, too, and can't explain things well.
Posted 5/19/2014 8:51 AM (GMT -5)
I'm with Traveler,

I was listening to a dr talking on the radio this morning, about sunscreens. The factors mentionned on the bottles are those factors only if you apply it in a thick layer. Most people apply it in a thinner (what we think is normal, like applying a body lotion) layer, which means it'll in fact be only half the factor it mentions.

Be sure to use a sunscreen with as less harmfull ingredients as possible. A lot of sunscreens contain a lot of harmfull ingredients.

MarieLS

 

Posted 5/19/2014 1:48 PM (GMT -5)
Doxycycline is way more of a concern with the sun. I had to switch antibiotics bc I was getting a chemical like burn from the sun and the doxy interaction, plus I was getting peripheral neuropathy. The Dr switched me to Bactrim, and I am totally fine in the sun now. You do have to be careful with Bactrim as well, but I guess everyone is different - I haven't been putting sunscreen on and I've been ok.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply