What is a Herx?
A herx is a systemic inflammatory response to the toxins released by spirochetes when they die. Successful treatment results in the cell membrane breaking down and the contents being released into the body. This causes widespread inflammation, which is responsible for our herx symptoms. On top of that, our detox pathways are compromised in Lyme, so we can often struggle to excrete these toxins, prolonging this inflammatory response! Knowing how to reduce a Herx is an important part of a treatment approach.
What Does a Herx Feel Like?
Herxing usually begins within the hour after treatment. It generally has a quick onset, and involves your usual Lyme symptoms flaring up whilst being accompanied by symptoms of inflammation. Common symptoms during a herx include:
Brain fog, dissociative episodes
Headaches
Twitching
Pins & Needles
Numbness
Crawling sensations
Skin sensitivity to touch
Poor emotional regulation – sudden depression, anxiety or feelings of rage
Painful muscles
Increased joint pain
Stiffness
Shortness of breath, air hunger
Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps
Diarrhoea
Pain in upper right quadrant – liver
Pain in upper left quadrant – spleen
Fever, chills
Loss of appetite
Sugar/carb cravings
Insomnia, excessive tiredness
10 Ways to Reduce a Herx
Dealing with a herx revolves around reducing systemic inflammation and helping the body to detox. Unfortunately, there is no pill or potion that will remove a herx and there is always an element of just letting it run its course. Nevertheless, there are a number of things we can do to help your body prepare for herxing, and things you can do to manage a herx once it arrives.
1. Activated Charcoal
Charcoal binds to toxins in the GI tract and not only helps with nausea, but with the general feeling of not being ‘well’. When you herx, you often feel a whole-body, all encompassing sensation of not being right. When asked to describe the sensation, it can be hard to pinpoint what it actually feels like, and this is because of the widespread inflammation.
2. Curcumin
Curcumin is a wonderful supplement which acts as a broad anti-inflammatory. It doesn’t further tax the liver like pharmaceutical anti-inflammatory and it comes with zero side effects. This is always worth a shot before progressing to ibuprofen (or other anti-inflammatory medicines).
3. Alpha Lipoic Acid
ALA is useful in aiding energy production whilst protecting cells from free radical and inflammatory damage. ALA is also one of the building blocks of glutathione, which your body uses in the detox process.
A Note on Cytokines & Inflammation
In a healthy body, cytokines promote inflammation and are an important part of a well-functioning immune system. When Lyme is present, these can become wildly unbalanced. What’s more, you often end up with a ‘cytokine cascade’ which is where one cytokine triggers the production of another, which triggers the production of another, and so on and so forth. What results is an inflammatory snowball effect and unchecked inflammation. When thinking of ways to reduce a herx, cytokine management is a key part.
4. Herbal Tincture Blend
There are many beneficial herbal treatments with regards to Lyme. However, when it comes to herxing I highly recommend a blend of three tinctures: Chinese Skullcap, Red Sage & Kudzo. This provides you with an inhibitor, a modulator, and a synergist. This means you can inhibit cytokine production, regulate cytokine production and help your other herbs and supplements be absorbed better.
5. Boneset Tea
Boneset is a wonderful herb in the treatment of Lyme, but it truly shines when it comes to reducing a herx. Not only will Boneset help to bring a fever down, but it will act as an anti-emetic (to reduce nausea) and as an anti-inflammatory. I tend to sip on Boneset tea all day when herxing and I notice a huge increase in symptoms when I don’t.
6. Infrared Sauna
If you have access to one, an infrared sauna offers a wealth of benefits for those suffering with Lyme. It not only actively aids detox on a cellular level, but it also helps to reduce the pain associated with herxing.
7. Epsom Salts
Adding two cups of Epsom salts to a bath acts as a potent detoxifier. The magnesium salts draw toxins out through the skin whilst also replenishing magnesium in the body. Magnesium is an effective relaxant, and so helps with muscular pain and twitches. Its anti-inflammatory properties help with joint pain and its toxin-drawing action helps to reduce the toxin load in your body, and therefore inflammation.
Note: Don’t add anything else to the bathwater as it will be readily absorbed through your skin with the magnesium.
8. Rest
Although this is technically the easiest thing on this list, time and again it seems to be the hardest thing. This is not helped by the fact that most of us, healthy or not, don’t really know how to rest effectively.
Allowing yourself to rest involves accepting your current limitations. It’s frustrating not being able to do what you’re used to, and often that results in pushing ourselves harder and causing more pain, causing a push-crash cycle to develop. Try to remember that this is a process you must go through to get well – and you can either fight it or let it happen.
9. Eat Well
There are many, many diets out there that claim to be the only way you can eat when you have Lyme. However, I don’t believe that one size fits all. What works for one may be counter-intuitive to another. Having said that, any diet you choose to follow should reduce inflammation and the number one inflammatory food is sugar.
Final Thoughts
All of these methods will aid with reducing the inflammation and toxins that are an unavoidable part of a herx. However, you can super power them by adopting a good treatment approach which aims to reduce inflammation is the best thing you can do to reduce the severity of your herxes. When you combine both prevention and cure you set yourself up for success.
Do you have any herx remedies I’ve not listed? I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below!
Inflammatory Foods
Whilst there are food groups that can be inflammatory, it isn’t useful to cut absolutely everything out because you read somewhere that it’s bad for Lyme. Things like gluten, soy, dairy & nightshades have the potential to cause inflammation, but not for everyone. I recommend a proper elimination diet to work out what actually has a negative impact on you and what doesn’t. If you follow all of the advice out there carte blanche you’ll be left with only lettuce. And that’s no fun at all.
Sugar, however? It’s inflammatory for everyone in high amount, Lyme or not. Find a way to reduce it in your diet to help with Lyme inflammation.
The problem is, it’s not uncommon to crave all the wrong things when you’re herxing. I don’t think that this needs to be attributed to any strange medical condition. More often that not, it can simply be down to two things. Comfort and energy.
Comfort: Sugary foods increase serotonin in the brain, which is the feel good chemical. It combats depression and anxiety. When you’re in pain and feeling low, there’s a reason youo might reach for chocolate instead of celery!
Energy: Your body is using a lot of energy and you probably have a limited supply. Seeking a quick boost in blood sugar is completely natural. However, it’s only going to lead to an insulin surge followed by a crash.
Do I always practice what I preach? NOPE. Should you beat yourself up if you have some cake? Absolutely not!
10. Move a Little
Movement is wonderful medicine. It gets your circulation up, improves lymphatic drainage and helps to prevent stiffness. There are many ways to get some movement into your routine, even if you’re bedbound, and when you want to reduce a herx it will do wonders.
How To Reduce a Herx: My Top Tip
My number one tip for managing a herx is to start managing it before it even happens. It’s all about two things – reducing inflammation and aiding detox. By following a treatment approach aimed at continually doing these two things, you set yourself up for easier herxing.
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