sleeperwoken

Hi bettysmithers, sorry to hear you may have lyme. You are right when you say that three weeks may not be long enough. It's likely that your dose is not high enough too, that is common. How high is your dose?

Please don't go in the sun at all while you are on doxy, you could burn your skin very badly. Also, don't lie down within a half an hour after taking it as you could potentially burn your esophagus if it comes back up your throat. Don't take any calcium or magnesium supplements at the same time as doxy because these minerals bind to the medication, keeping it from being absorbed into the body. Also, don't take the acidophilous at the same time as any antibiotic, take it at a different time of day or the abx will kill the probiotics and that would be a waste.

As far as what a herx is, it is the body's reaction to the toxins that are formed when lyme and its coinfections are killed by the antibiotic. If you have lyme in your body and you start the process of killing it off with abx, the lyme doesn't disappear, it dies and is still in the body, causing pain in the joints, neurotoxins, depression, extreme fatigue and a slew of other problems that seem to be very individualized. This is a herx, the full name is Jarish Herxheimer reaction, you can look that up and get a better explanation. The best way to alleviate this is to detoxify. Look at other threads that talk about detoxifying, because this is a whole topic in itself.

There are doctors who believe that a herx is a good sign, meaning that they see it as an indication that the medication they chose is working to kill lyme. There are other doctors who say herxing is not necessary and it is a major stress on an already weak body. These doctors are usually naturopaths who prefer not to use antibiotics. I recommend that you study both schools of thought and decide for yourself which one is right for you.

I hope you feel better soon.