Having extreme Herxheimer symptoms!

[maryok]

I've been posting about the Aruyvedic protocol I'm currently on and how I'm 95% symptom-free but can't seem to shake the last 5%. My eyes are an absolute mess, and suddenly I'm having rashes breakout, my mouth is breaking out in sores(never happened before) -- and basically, I'm feeling awful and like I'm getting nowhere.

Then I remembered reading about the Herxheimer effect (otherwise know as the die-off effect -- Bubba posted about it on Oct 13 -- scroll down to page 5) and googled it again today and realized today that everything that's happening to me, as awful as it is, is part of the body's natural healing process.

I haven't experienced herx reactions like itching/crawling, biting, etc since I began treatment in Dec -- and the symptoms I now have are only in the neck area and up -- but the extreme fatigue, brain fog, and flu-like feelings have been constant.

Whenever I read up on the herx effect, they say it doesn't last more than a few weeks -- and that's only in extreme conditions. But here I am, 8 weeks later and still experiencing them. My doctor told me to hang in there and give it more time and I keep having to remind myself that feeling bad is actually the process of getting healed (had a really hard time wrapping my brain around this one).

Any way, just wanted to share this in case others are also feeling maybe they're doing something "wrong" when they see symptoms getting worse. Has anyone here who's actually experienced the miracle of remission had a really long herx effect? Thanks so much, Mary

[beverlybdmd]

With my worst herx reactions, I usually have found that Ibuprofen, or an anti-inflammatory, and Hot cups of the drink "Emergen-C" (which is full of B vitamins and high dose Vitamin C) and hot tub soaks, or saunas, and LOTS of extra sleep are the most helpful things that I can do. (besides just treating the skin lesions with DSP or eco-vie.)
This too shall pass.
-Beverly bdmd

[linnysue]

Mary, I am so sorry you are going through this. It must be discouraging to be going through these herx symptoms for so long. I found some treatment ideas for the sores in your mouth in a thread posted by bubba. I copied and pasted her comments for you:

"I had some mouth sores and it felt like I always had a hair or two stuck in the back of my throat. I knew that they were starting to try to invade my mouth. Be sure to gargle with hydrogen peroxide at least twice a day (more is okay). Use a capful or two of the peroxide and swish it all around. You may need to do this a couple of times before all the "suds" decrease. It will take a while for your mouth to clear up, but I am certain that it will. Just be consistent and persistent with the gargling. When the Eco-Vie product arrives, dilute it into a spritz (following the directions on the bottle) and spray it into your mouth and gargle with it and SPIT IT OUT. It will taste kinda sour, but will help you to kill the organisms inside your mouth. I also spray it into my nostrils and inhale (like you would use a nose spray). It has helped to clean out my sinuses. I also spray it into my ears and a little bit into my eyes."--bubba http://www.morgellons-disease-resear...pic=30.15;p=19

I hope these suggestions help you. I'll be praying for strength for you to get through this difficult time.

[maryok]

Thanks SO much Beverly, Bubba and Linda for all this great information and advice! What a treasury of information you all have -- I'm feeling better already just reading your posts. Also, I'm going to ask my doctor to join this site so she can learn more about Morgellons. I'm so grateful to have found this site... xoxo m

[MELISSAJ]

Hello Mary. I have been experiencing this every time I do a big clean up in the house and on me. They went after my eyes, nose, mouth when I Eco-vied and even my boys had problems with their eyes. I didn't realize what was going on. I have gotten the "flu" every 3 or 4 days and cannot get out of bed on that day. I slept the other day for 36 hours and today I got out of bed at 1pm. I am a person who has only slept 4 or 5 hours a night since I'm sixteen. I didn't know that this was part of healing and I believed it was the Lymes related virus issues. If you can, sleep. The days that I sleep it off (I couldn't see this morning), I wake up and am much better. If I can get past the guilt of sleeping in, my immune system would be tripling rather than just doubling.

Keep us posted.

[maryok]

Yeah..........herx has finally ended. Yesterday my brain unfogged, I'm getting my energy back -- and my last problem areas (eyes, ears, nose and scalp) have cleared up. And my skin is almost comletely cleared. Yipeeeeeeeeee!

[beverlybdmd]

Celebrate!! Celebrate! Celebrate! It's yer Birthday-WA-Hoo!!



(and p.s. please don't think that I want to detract from how good you feel NOW, BUT, please, don't blame yourself or get angry or hopeless if you don't simply have a smooth upward recovery from here to forever. This disease does NOT work like that. It is nearly always two steps forwards, one step back, two forward, one back, etc. Just don't get hurt IF that occurs.)

[linnysue]

Originally Posted by maryok

Yeah..........herx has finally ended. Yesterday my brain unfogged, I'm getting my energy back -- and my last problem areas (eyes, ears, nose and scalp) have cleared up. And my skin is almost completely cleared. Yipeeeeeeeeee!

Go Mary, go Mary!!! Good for you.

[MELISSAJ]

Yeah Mary. I'm so happy for you. Take things slowly and enjoy all the freedom of life without the constant attack.

Please take Bevs advice and remember that it's steps. I have personally celebrated SO SO many times since I joined and was ready to lose this address forever, but I am living so much better than I can imagine given the severity of this disease because of all of you.

Keep up the good work. Tenacity definitely pays off here.

Love,
Melissa

[maryok]

Thank you guys for the wonderful posts! I'm definitely keeping in mind that with this disease, it seems to be two steps forward, one step back!

The one thing that has still remained is what I call worm bumps and scales on my arms/skin, sort of like an inner layer of worms under my skin. For the last 2 days, I've been aggressively treating them with vaseline and they're finally dissolving. But as soon as I attack this area, I feel my body temperature heat up and have an overwhelming need to sleep -- more herxing.

Also, I'm hoping that the Aruyvedic thing has gotten me into pretty good shape so that when I finally get diagnosed/treated by doctor #2, maybe I won't have to stay on the prescription meds for very long? The Aruyvedic thing had a 3-prong strategy:

Stage 1: Detox: clean out my colon/digestive system of the stuff that was feeding these creatures (detox stuff, blood purifier, liver toner)

Stage 2: Start killing off the creatures (neem tablets and other herbal meds)

Stage 3: Strengthening my immune system (Ary. immune meds) so that it can repair and start fighting these things again. (When I first saw her I asked if we could work on my immune system straight-away. Not a good idea -- learned that with an auto-immune disease, if you strengthen the immune system, you strengthen the illness. Never knew that!)

Amazing that she didn't know anything about Morgellons when I first saw her -- I guess Indian medicine has had to deal with lots of strange parasites over the centuries and they seem to take a systematic, holistic approach (only now do I realize what holistic means).