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Hi! I'm new here, but very glad to have found you all. I am a 58 year old grandmother. I was just diagnosed with Lyme disease, although my 82 year old mom & 38 year old daughter have had it for years. My health background is: fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue since childhood; osteoarthritis & tendonitis everywhere; bursitis various joints; TMJ since childhood; migraines; depression; interstitial cystitis; severe spinal problems with nerve damage & spasms, also foot nerve damage from an old break; chronic stomach inflammation & IBS; thyroid disease; I've had 3 abdominal surgeries for 2 tubal pregnancies & a hysterectomy, a tonsillectomy at 44, & surgery to remove a growth from my ear! Now Lyme disease. I Knew it was just a matter of time til I got it, since I reside in central Pa & spend much time outdoors, gardening, cleaning up, gathering wood. I am the only adult in my household at all able to do the necessary chores to keep us going. My mother & daughter also have fibro/arthritis/IBS, mom broke her back 2 times, falls, has osteoporosis & memory loss. My daughter has back issues, needs a new knee, has no thyroid, 3 neck surgeries & needs another for another growth (sees her doc 1/11, my niece had thyroid cancer, it's scarey). Her 2 kids are 11 year old son, born 9 weeks early at 3.5 lbs, now recovering from mono, & her 8 year old daughter was diagnosed at birth with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (her father has it)! My eldest son, 40, has Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, severe back issues since 19 with his first back surgery, then 2 more for scar tissue; damage to his bladder nerve from scar tissue, asthma & more. My husband, 70, has stage 3 copd; 12 years ago had a massive heart attack & surgery, then 2 years later open heart surgery. This new diagnosis doesn't surprise me. So far this fall/winter my 57 year old sister got strep which settled in her knee, almost killed her & put her in the hospital 10 days, rehab a month & here to recover another month; unable to work. Now she's back at work & recovering, thank god! My eldest brother (64) is now diagnosed with prostate cancer, undergoing treatment. Thanksgiving Monday my 39 year old nephew passed from pancreatic cancer. Thanksgiving day 1 of my favorite uncle's died. Now my sister's best friend has a relapse of cancer; not a good outlook. I'm in a tailspin, I feel totally out of control, the weight of the world on my sore, aching shoulders. It's early in my diagnosis; just started doxycycline. Will symptoms get worse, or have I already had it all with my illnesses? I get Social Security, so I do have medicare, but I still spend a lot of money on tests
& my many meds. Any advice is welcome. Thanx for listening!

While not everyone experiences a herx, many do. A herx is short for a Jaraish-herxheimer reaction, and it happens because as some bacteria (like Lyme) die, it releases toxins. This makes us feel worse, because our bodies can't detox them out fast enough. So, we talk a lot about toxins and detoxing here, as well as supporting the body during treatments to help us heal and get through treatments with as little trouble as possible.

With the experience that I had personally, and what I've watched others go through, here is what I believe needs to happen for many of us to heal. Some LLMD's are now adopting this type of thinking towards treatments.

a)Detoxing - gene mutations, mold exposure and multiple tick-borne infections can all prevent us from detoxing well, but we must be able to get those toxins out of our bodies. We need to detox by several means daily, as detoxing has a cumulative effect - the more you do, the better your body is at keeping those toxins flowing.

For example, I have not had any of the gene mutation testing done, although I do seem to have the same kind of issues as those that do - so I figured it was best for me to assume that I did and work to get my body to detox much better. It took a lot of diet changes as things with my body changed,
I use a foot soak,
dry skin brushing,
Lymph massages as needed,
making sure my bowels moved at least once a day (sorry if it's TMI!)
pushing myself to drink at least 64 ounces of lemon water each and every day,
liver/gall bladder flushes (all natural) as needed,
Apple cider vinegar,
Quercetin,
Alpha Lipoic Acid,
oil pulling with coconut oil and a few drops of tea tree oil,
using Yogi brand detox tea,
taking activated charcoal (when necessary),
and keeping the amount of stress in my life at a bare minimum.

You can find some really good detoxing suggestions in the "New to Lyme?" thread that sits at the top of the forum. And this is another good list of possible detoxing routines: www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

But, there is such a thing as over detoxing, which can bring on a herx as well. There's a very careful balance we each must find with treatment and detoxing. Most of our toxins are in our tissues/organs, not in our bloodstream, so we have to do methods that will help 'release them' and move them into our bloodstream so they can be detoxed out. Over detoxing is when we move more toxins into the bloodstream than can easily be detoxed out by our body. So there's a careful balance that we must maintain between killing bacteria (which creates more toxins) and detoxing so that we can still be functional.This is why we suggest adding in more detoxing methods slowly (no more than 1 new routine every 3 - 5 days), and stop adding in more when you seem to be feeling okay or good. www.tiredoflyme.com/4-reasons-why-you-still-feel-bad-despite-detoxing.html

b)Supporting the body functions/systems. We have to have the body working at it's peak performance to heal from something as devastating as these infections. Supporting any gland, organ, body system that is struggling will allow the body to switch it's 'concentration' from just trying to function over to healing.

c) Raise the immune function. Many legitimate Lyme researchers now believe that it's the lowered immune function that determines who gets chronic Lyme and who heals right away. We already know that Lyme lowers the immune function and when a person has Bartonella and/or Babesia, the immune function is further compromised, so to heal we must raise our immune function.

d) Lastly, oddly enough, are anti-infective​ (abx. herbs, etc.)​
treatments. Many of us have experienced treatment failures​ or set backs​, so we can see that the treatments aren't the only thing we need to have - there has to be more to the equation, but anti-infective treatments are very important!! Lyme bacteria are one of the most complicated bacteria! ​Although it takes only hours or days for most bacteria to replicate, Lyme bacteria only replicates in the body every few weeks.​

And, just to bring the subject up, you may not be the only one in your family dealing with these infections after reading about their symptoms too.

Hi Craftymama. Traveler has given you a ton of great information.

Do you have a Lyme Literate Dr. to treat you?

What about the rest of you family - did they get proper treatment...your family has a lot of maladies...and I'm wondering how many are from lyme and co-infections not being treated effectively.

"My health background is: fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue since childhood; osteoarthritis & tendonitis everywhere; bursitis various joints; TMJ since childhood; migraines; depression; interstitial cystitis; severe spinal problems with nerve damage & spasms, also foot nerve damage from an old break; chronic stomach inflammation & IBS; thyroid disease; I've had 3 abdominal surgeries for 2 tubal pregnancies & a hysterectomy, a tonsillectomy at 44, & surgery to remove a growth from my ear! Now Lyme disease. "

fibromyalgia and CFS - are often misdiagnoses of lyme disease...so it's possible you have had it since childhood...and having it so long untreated...could have led to the other issues - the arthritis, nerve damage..IBS..thyroid disease....actually all of it...they are common issues we see on this forum all the time.