Reaction to doxycycline? Need your expertise & wisdom ASAP!!

[[An...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I know I've been mentioning Lyme stuff a lot lately but I am beginning to think my reactions and Lyme disease symptoms have a lot to do with my withdrawal and I know you are all the most wise and knowledgable about it. I'm sorry this is long also.

 

After taking Ceftin for the Lyme for 6.5 days, my daily fevers and absolute exhaustion continued. I started having 8-10 stools per day but not diarrhea. Every day I was having hours of big PVCs and an arrhythmia. So I went back to my primary care and after an EKG they told me to discontinue the Ceftin and take doxycycline. He felt that I might have some coinfections that weren't responding to the Ceftin.

 

I took my first dose of doxycycline 100 mg at around 9 pm last night.

 

I had a little bit of a racing heart a little while after I took it but it calmed down in time. Had a few skipped heart beats but nothing as intense as it had gotten with the Ceftin on my sixth day of taking it.

 

I did notice that it felt like my fever has gone but I haven't checked. I also noticed immediate reduction in my joint pain within hours of taking doxy. I have noticed no nerve zap feelings at all. And my mental symptoms like confusion and feeling like I was going insane started to let up. I quickly started noticing that horrible exhaustion and sick feeling lifting away. My vision has also improved. These and many more were Lyme symptoms for me and as you can see they are withdrawal symptoms too. Very hard to differentiate between the two right? That's why I passed the Lyme off as withdrawal for almost two months because it's all stuff I've experienced already in withdrawal.

 

After waking up with my son around 3:30 am I went out to go pee. I suddenly felt wide awake.

 

My heart started racing and I thought ok just breathe through it, stay calm.

 

Then I started having an arrhythmia with several skipped beats in a row along with the racing heart.

 

Then my calf muscles started to feel very tight. And suddenly I am having tremors in my legs and uncontrolled shakiness from my ribs through my legs. (I know tremors well - I had them a ton in cold turkey withdrawal and they hit me badly in January again after having tried to take vitamin d and a calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement for only a few days.)

 

My heart rate has calmed down a little but I am having slight tremors now still and skipped beats here and there.

 

I will call my primary care when they open.

 

I'm still getting skipped beats on and off. And my heart is still slowing down. I don't think it's an allergic reaction because I'm not itchy and not having trouble breathing.

 

Any thoughts or guidance will be so appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

I don't really have many options for treating this horrible disease and I can't let it go untreated as I have been so very sick. I'm scared and don't know what to do. Would love to mention withdrawal to primary care but know it may make them think I'm nuts and I'm scared to risk that. I need them to take me seriously. I feel like so much of this could be my withdrawal and inability to take any medicine. I have been avoiding this for so long and now I can't believe I'm in a situation where I must take medicine. It is my worst nightmare.

 

I'm also worried I have some sort of magnesium deficiency or something since blood tests aren't reliable for that...but I don't want to end up having to take it as is recommended for Lyme patients because I suffered tremors for 6 months after taking the calcium/magnesium/zinc and vitamin d supplements and I still to this day am not sure which one I was reacting to. I have read of lots of suffering from BBs who have gotten stuck taking magnesium and have often wondered if that was the culprit...but have also thought that perhaps it is simply any change in digestion as my withdrawal has always been so much about digestion/eating/my vagus nerve. When I took the calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement I immediately noticed constipation and was constipated for 3-4 days so it makes sense that that slight change could've set forth the tremor reaction. (And yet I keep thinking, what if I do actually need the magnesium? I don't want to end up in another withdrawal type situation ever again - I have read many times on BB about magnesium withdrawal. Does magnesium act on GABA or glutimate or something? Is that why it's such a problem for so many?)

 

I haven't had to go number two at all since taking the doxy so maybe it is causing a little change in digestion and hence the tremors and heart reactions? There is also something known as a herx reaction in Lyme disease patients treating with antibiotics so that could be coming into play a little here too. And I am still taking ursodiol morning and night.

 

Please any thoughts or guidance or experience would be so helpful. Thank you all.

[Guest [mu...]]

You could check out Stephen Harrod Buhner's book: "Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis and Its Co-infections." It covers everything from antibiotics to herbal treatments. Stephen just released an updated version this year, and I've heard great things about it. I'm so sorry you're dealing with lymes on top of withdrawal!

[[An...]]

I will check it out, thank you so much!

[[Co...]]

If it's not an allergic or hypersensitivity reaction then you were probably experiencing a herxheimer reaction on the ceftin (fever), and probably also on doxycycline. How strange it may sound - that's a good thing. Borrelia (lyme) is a gram-negative bacteria with a LPS "shell". When it dies it sheds the LPS, this gets into your bloodstream and triggers an immune reaction so cytokines go haywire. If it's a true herxheimer reaction then adding some natural anti-inflammatories and "detox" to drain your lymphatic system may give some relief.

 

I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[[An...]]

Thank you so much- it appears to be I am having herx reactions indeed. They come and go and vary in intensity. I truly appreciate what you wrote!