Have you ever felt fatigue, nauseous, brain fog, lack of motivation? Have you heard of the Herxheimer Reaction or herx or even herxing? Here's an explanation that I found on a Lyme Disease page explaining it. Sidenote- you can experience this for many reasons, not just from Lyme Disease:
The technical definition for a Herxheimer Reaction (i.e., herxing or die off) is the release of endotoxins from the destroyed cell walls of the bacteria responsible for Lyme Disease, Borrelia Burgdorferi, that causes an additional inflammatory response (i.e., debilitating physical and mental state) contingent to the amount of endotoxins released, which is directly correlated to the amount of Lyme bacteria killed (i.e., lysed).
In layman’s terms, a person with chronic Lyme Disease who is experiencing a Herxheimer Reaction has recently killed an amount of Lyme bacteria worthy of causing them to enter a debilitating physical and mental state in which their already present symptoms become exacerbated. They feel as horrible as the amount of Lyme bacteria that have been killed. The more Lyme bacteria that are killed, the more endotoxins that are released. Endotoxins are released from the Lyme bacteria’s cell wall when its cell wall is destroyed by either antibiotics or the immune system. The more endotoxins that are released, the greater the body’s inflammatory response is in order to control the pernicious nature of these endotoxins. It is chronic inflammation that is responsible for much of the symptoms a person with chronic Lyme Disease experiences and a flood of endotoxins only increases it. Having understood that premise, it should now make sense that because people with chronic Lyme Disease have ever-present symptoms, they have chronic inflammation.
Here's the article where you can read more: Herx article
I have been experiencing some herxing the past week and a half as I have been doing an 11 day deep cell body cleanse, particularly on my cleanse days. My body is fatigued (not fatigued like I haven't slept but fatigued like I have worked out so hard and so long that I don't ever want to do anything again nor can I, but I haven't). I lack motivation, my head and neck (vagus nerve) hurt, my stomach is uneasy and nauseous, my joints ache, my vision isn't clear and my brain is foggy. Saying that, the level of discomfort is far less than it was 2 years ago when I was going through this and my Lyme was just being fought for the first time and I am so grateful.
You are probably asking why I would cleanse if this makes me feel so crappy, right? I will tell you without hesitation that cleansing and detoxing the body is the best way to rid the inflammation in the body and release the dead bacteria fast, balance the pH in the body and build healthy new cells. Once I get through this I start feeling good again, my energy increases and my ability to work out and live life is greater than it was before. I am releasing a lot of toxins and not just toxins but toxic fat so of course the other side effect of losing some inches (and weight but I never get on the scale so I don't even know what I weigh) is great.
I know a lot of people who experience the Herxheimer Effect when they cleanse- they feel tired and sluggish and they don't like it so they don't ever want to cleanse again. What they aren't realizing is that their body is working so hard to release toxins that have built up for years and years and deep nutritional cleansing is the only way to release it quickly and less expensive than other medical therapies. They are doing their body a huge favor and it will thank them sooner than later.
I woke up at 5:45 am this morning because I was awake and ready to go. I started thinking about how I was feeling: I could feel my head and neck were still a little sore, my stomach is uneasy (I also have to note that it is my time of the month which also has an effect on my body AND I got biofeedback on Tuesday which adds to the soreness and fatigue which is healing it but adds temporary discomfort) and I thought of the herx reaction. I hadn't heard of it before I found out I have Lyme but I sure had felt it before so I thought I would get up and share this information with you as I am going through it. Maybe it will help someone else realize what they are experiencing and realize that it is a good thing and necessary to go through to help the body heal.
I am on my second round of deep cleanse days, day 4/4 and hoping that by later today or tomorrow I am feeling great. Sometimes hope and faith are what get me through the tough days so I will keep on hoping!
