Posted by bleauberry on March 12, 2018, at 15:41:40
In reply to initial side effect of minocycline, posted by Jeroen on March 10, 2018, at 15:53:29
I don't think you had Minocycline side effects. If you were complaining of loose stools or nausea, then yeah that would be side effects.
I believe the 'side effects' you experienced were actually part of a "Herxheimer" reaction. Which is bacterial die-off, too much, too fast. The body gets overwhelmed with death and debris that your liver and kidneys and lymph glands cannot clean out fast enough. And in fact there can be so much debris, body parts, and such, that the lymph glands get clogged up and then you really feel like crap. (An herb called Red Root unclogs them). This is why your depression and everything got so much worse on Mino.
In the real world we stop treatment for a few days and then resume, or we go to a lower dose, and try going higher later. Herxing can be really bad and even suicidal. We've all heard of people going crazy, losing it, or committing suicide, shortly after starting an antibiotic. That is a Herx and it is avoidable with proper management of treatment.
Herxheimer reactions make getting better a long process. Because if you ramp up doses too fast, you get sicker with too much die-off, which basically feels like your original symptoms, except worse, and some new symptoms as well.
I am not at all surprised that you felt good shortly after starting Mino and then you crashed hard. That is a picture-perfect presentation of how Lyme disease is diagnosed by LLMDs (Lyme Literate Meds), and what it feels like to have a Herx.
Because lab tests are so terribly inaccurate, the only accurate diagnosis is a clinical one based on presentation of symptoms and history. My doctors say that if psych symptoms are present, then the odds are automatically 9 out of 10 that you have a tick born disease. That's because 9 out 10 get better with treatment with antibiotics or herbs. But they came in with years and years of psychiatric care which didn't work on the 9 out of 10 with psych symptoms. Lyme treatment did - even if they didn't have Lyme!
What I am saying is that based on your own words and your own story, you have already done the diagnosis and it was positive for Lyme. You felt great shortly after starting, and then you crashed hard. THAT is a solid diagnosis. There is a perfect scientific explanation of why that pattern happens. If you would like to hear it let me know.
And you have already experienced what Herxheimer reaction feels like. And you have felt what it is like to feel good! To get to the point you feel good all the time will take months of persistent treatment and probably dozens of Herx's, but we can keep them mild and few with low doses and slow titration.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1097250
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20180212/msgs/1097291.html