...a life free of Lyme disease? Well, I hope so, but I'm more than a little nervous.
Jamie and I went to see our Lyme doctor a couple of days before Christmas. He was pleased with Jamie's progress - he's moved up from only tolerating one doxycyline pill every 3 days to being able to take one every day. Of course, he had a bit of a set-back this past week. He went up to 2 pills a day (the dose he is supposed to take) and has been badly crashed this entire holiday week. However, his brother has had a cold at the same time, so it's hard to tell how much of this crash is herx reaction and how much is CFS immune stimulation. He's had joint pain, so at least some of it is herx reaction, so we've backed off on the dose again to one pill a day...that's still progress from where he was two months ago.
As for me, my doctor thinks it's time to try going off my Lyme meds again. This both excites and terrifies me! I have been taking antibiotics for Lyme disease since I first got the infection, in the summer of 2008. That's 3 1/2 years of daily antibiotics, plus a bunch of supplements, and additional medications to try to get at the stubborn Lyme spirochetes. That's a total of 28 extra pills a day!!
I've tried stopping the treatment twice before, and both times, my Lyme symptoms returned within a week or two. This last time, the doctor added lots of extras, including a second, more powerful antibiotic, an antifungal, and additional supplements...so we hope this has done the trick. When he told me to stop my meds, I said I'd wait until after the holidays. So, I quit taking them today. I just refilled all of our weekly medicine boxes, and it was a huge relief to have 28 less pills to worry about each day (and two less weekly reminder boxes for me).
Now, I wait. This is the tough part. The last two times I stopped, I went through a 2-month long herx reaction again when I had to restart, so I am really, really hoping this time will be different. Wish me luck! I'll let you know what happens. Hopefully, this will be the start to a healthier new year!
Jamie and I went to see our Lyme doctor a couple of days before Christmas. He was pleased with Jamie's progress - he's moved up from only tolerating one doxycyline pill every 3 days to being able to take one every day. Of course, he had a bit of a set-back this past week. He went up to 2 pills a day (the dose he is supposed to take) and has been badly crashed this entire holiday week. However, his brother has had a cold at the same time, so it's hard to tell how much of this crash is herx reaction and how much is CFS immune stimulation. He's had joint pain, so at least some of it is herx reaction, so we've backed off on the dose again to one pill a day...that's still progress from where he was two months ago.
As for me, my doctor thinks it's time to try going off my Lyme meds again. This both excites and terrifies me! I have been taking antibiotics for Lyme disease since I first got the infection, in the summer of 2008. That's 3 1/2 years of daily antibiotics, plus a bunch of supplements, and additional medications to try to get at the stubborn Lyme spirochetes. That's a total of 28 extra pills a day!!
I've tried stopping the treatment twice before, and both times, my Lyme symptoms returned within a week or two. This last time, the doctor added lots of extras, including a second, more powerful antibiotic, an antifungal, and additional supplements...so we hope this has done the trick. When he told me to stop my meds, I said I'd wait until after the holidays. So, I quit taking them today. I just refilled all of our weekly medicine boxes, and it was a huge relief to have 28 less pills to worry about each day (and two less weekly reminder boxes for me).
Now, I wait. This is the tough part. The last two times I stopped, I went through a 2-month long herx reaction again when I had to restart, so I am really, really hoping this time will be different. Wish me luck! I'll let you know what happens. Hopefully, this will be the start to a healthier new year!