Joyce wrote:
> Can anyone tell me what herx is? Maybe I can help. I recovered
> from a few degenerative diseases, and know a little about nutrition.
You've gotten the concise answer from Brooks. Here's the verbose
response:
Subject: What is a Herx? Answer...
Date sent: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 14:31:25 -5
I'm not as much of an expert as any of our Lyme sufferers, but I've
heard them explain it often.
The Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction is named for the scientists who
identified the condition. It came out of research into the treatment
of Syphilis, which is the archtypical spirochete disease.
It is caused by a sudden die-off of microbes as a result of
treatment. The dead beasties dump their toxins and metabolites into
your system all at once and it takes a while for your liver to filter
out the poisons. You then suffer an apparent worsening of symptoms, or
additional symptoms entirely the result of the reaction.
A major herx, paradoxically, is a sign of hope and improvement for the
lyme sufferer, as it means the treatment is actually getting to the
damn bugs. Given many of these folks' difficulty in getting proper
diagonsis and effective treatment, they're usually grateful to finally
see something, anything, happen.
The downside is that a sudden massive herx can be very stressful and
even fatal. We're talking the potential for toxic shock. Somebody
who's already sick and immune compromised, maybe having more than one
infection, could get knocked on their butt in a hurry with too big an
initial dose of colloidal silver.
Severe Herx's can feature sudden fever, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting
or dizziness (from low blood pressure), and skin rash. Like other
kinds of shock, it may require urgent treatment if blood pressure
drops too low. A mild herx, while uncomfortable, does not *require*
treatment and will run its course by itself.
In the Lyme treatment protocol on one of Advantage Pharmaceutical's
web pages, you'll notice the emphasis on starting slowly, and
gradually increasing the dose based on symptoms. This minimises
the risk of triggering a massive Herx. The URL is:
http://www.xpressnet.com/bhealthy/bodywght.html
****Don't interpret anything I say here as medical advice. I'm just
repeating what I've found and read elsewhere and may have it all
wrong.****
Be well,
Mike D.
[Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian]
[mdev...@mail.id.net ]
[Speaking only for myself... ]
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