Well I have been on my current treatment plan for a few days now and things seem to be going ok. At first it seems like nothing is happening at all, but that would change a few short days later. By day 4 I began to have what I now know as Herx Reaction. This is a term that basically means that you feel worse while you are getting better. All of my symptoms seemed to getting worse and new one surfaced. I was super exhausted, my legs felt like they were on fire, I had the worst migraines ever and I could not focus at all. I honestly did not expect this, I mean isn’t medicine supposed to make me feel better? What I later learned is that this is part of the process of getting better. As the antibiotics are killing the Lyme in my body, the dead bacteria is creating toxins and causing inflammation. At times I had a hard time breathing-“air hunger” and that can be quite frightening. The Herx Reaction occurs in cycles, usually about every 4 weeks. The other 3 weeks I am still feeling ill, just not as bad as week 4 which at times can seem unbearable. It is during week this week that I have the most pain, the worst brain fog and tremors, the hardest time walking and talking and my voice comes and goes. I also have problems with eye inflammation, involuntary muscle and limb movement.
Each day I wake up not knowing what symptoms I will be facing. This makes if very difficult to plan out my activities ahead of time. My sweet family just goes along with the flow of things and doesn’t really put pressure on me to do anything. Most days I have just a couple of hours that I have energy to do things like pick up around the house or cook, so I try to save all my energy for that “one” thing after which I would crash.
The nights seem to be the worst for me, it’s around this time that I have developed insomnia. I am up at all hours of the night, not feeling well but not being able to fall asleep. My doctor prescribed Ambien for me, but I have heard so many horror stories that I refuse to take it. I pray to God to help me to pass out so I can get just a little rest, if only for a few hours. There are some nights that I am up until about 3am and I wake up at 7am and keep on going until the next day. I try not to complain as I remember, this too shall pass!
Until next time!
Thank you for reading,
WJC
