Annnnnnd..... I spoke too soon.

Very shortly after I posted my last post, I think I started my first herx reaction.  My forearms and hands started hurting - aching down every bone and in the muscles.  Not too intense, but noticable.  And a few moments after that, I started feeling chilly cold (however, it was right after Jared opened the windows and its cool and breezy).  I put on a shawl and some socks as I started to feel like I had the chills, and it soon turned into feeling too warm and flushed.  You know the feeling, when you are coming down with something and you get the chills along with a fever.  Its still all pretty mild, but I can tell I'm not feeling right.

What I'm referring to is a Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herxheimer_reaction, (aka Herx) your body's reaction to toxins released by a bacterial die off.  Essentially, the bits and pieces of dead spirochetes overload your immune system and you feel like you have the flu.  Its a good thing cuz you know the bacteria are dying, but the toxins can also cause physical damage, so you need to be careful with them.

My dr told me that if and when I Herx (all but 15-20% of people with lyme have them), I need to stop my antibiotics until it passes and I should call her so we could discuss changing doses of meds.  Since I'm doing the urine test protocol, I'm going to take tonight and tomorrow morning's doses and call her.  I'm guessing that she didn't expect a reaction on the first day, so we'll see what she suggests.  I have no clue!

I am known to have a pretty sensitive body.  I react to meds in odd ways and at small levels.  I remember when I had my night guard for my TMJ issues adjusted, the tech always said I was amazing at determining minute differences in where my teeth met.  I think its just that I notice very small changes in my body.  So it doesn't surprise me that I feel symptoms flaring up right away.  Is it an actual, full blown herx?  We'll see what my doc says tomorrow.

For now, I'm having a mix of emotions.  I'm kind of excited, and validated!  This would mean that there actually IS something in my body that is dying from the antibiotics!  That even if I haven't tested positive for lyme and its co-infections, chances are good that's what we're dealing with.  It means that at least one of the drugs is doing its job and killing those buggers!  But at the same time, I'm kind of nervous and scared.  Cuz yeah, I DO have lyme disease, and I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg.  There's a LOT more of this to come, possibly years. 

But I'm feeling optimistic and strong.  I find myself yelling at them, egging them on.  "Oh yeah?  What, you're getting scared?  YEAH!!!! You better be scared! DIE BORRELIA!!!  There's plenty more where this came from!  Bring it on you little fuckers, bring it on......."