Lyme Disease Support Group

I am not sure if I am herxing or if I am getting sick thanks to my Lyme. The lymph nodes in my upper and lower neck and swollen and extremely painful. I am also getting hot flashes and chills. However, all of my joints and muscles are sore. Any one have any clue?

It is my understanding that once you are in treatment for lyme all your sypmtoms are from herxing. We all have these huge bacterial loads which the abx are killing and it takes a long time because the lyme goes through a growth phase every four weeks. Please someone correct me if I am wrong.

Hang in there try some detox treatments.

Good luck and take care,

Denise

Denise,

It sounds like you are on track..I think somewhere in the facts section there is a good explanation of die off and herxing, something about neurotoxins are body is trying to rid due to the die off...

I read somewhere that just like when you have the flu..all of the aches, pains, sweats & swollen lymphs is not actually the virus itself...but the immune system fighting.

Actually when a person starts to feel pain it is from the toxins being left behind by the lyme by their destruction. The pain is caused by these toxins being left or stored at the nerve endings because the body has no where else to put them because the body itself is overloaded with toxins. So like so many people have said in the past drink drink drink water(Prefer mineral) to get this stuff out of your system.

Steelers

I found it..I just copied & pasted part...but if you want to read the full link, I copied that as well...

Consider what happens when you get the flu: You get body aches, chills, fever, nausea, lack of appetite, fatigue, lethargy, and sometimes additional symptoms. What you may not know is that these flu symptoms are not caused simply by the presence of a flu infection in the body. Symptoms experienced are actually a result of your body’s immune system responding to the flu infection via inflammation.

Because Lyme Disease is an infection, as the flu is, most symptoms experienced by a Lyme Disease sufferer are the body’s response to the infection. The spirochetes themselves (their physical presence in the body) are not responsible for the majority of symptoms in Lyme Disease.

As with the flu, symptoms of Lyme Disease are an indication that the body is responding and fighting. Yet, curiously, even in some of the worst Lyme Disease infections, symptoms can wax and wane, even with occasional symptom-free periods. Some people report that when they were first infected with Lyme Disease they were plagued with flu-like symptoms and even bedridden for a while … and then things seem to get better, and their symptoms became less intense.

My Note: Antibiodics help kick up the immune system, I read about that somewhere as well.

Here is the full link, it is quite a good write up, and it has anohter section further down called UNDERSTANDING THE HERX REACTION

Even though I know there is some controversy about the author of the website...; I believe it is a great write up on the immune system and herxing.

http://lymebook.com/blog/the-recovery-process/herx- reactions/herx-reaction-fundamentals/#more-22

P.S. Yes, do detox..very important

Post edited by: Zeke, at: 06/21/2009 03:13 PM

I found the article very interesting, thank you for posting the web address. The explanation for the Herx reaction makes so much sense. I think that I may have experienced the herx reaction. When I started my oral abx I developed a sore throat that has lasted throughout therapy.

Sarah