Herx reaction - when existing symptoms are stirred up and make you feel worse before getting better. That's the story of my life for the past 10 days. Everything hurts. I have fevers. I'm exhausted, well more than usual. I'm lightheaded. The blurry spot in my left eye is back. My toes are going numb.
I know I'm supposed to see this as a good sign, but it's still hard to live through it. At least I am pretty sure of what caused it. I'm taking Tindamax in addition to the IV antibiotics and that seems to be what is kicking my ass. Five more days of this medication. Yes, I'm counting.
In case that wasn't enough, I now have to take a mega dose of vitamin D2. It seems that my vitamin D just continued to decline so we had to try another route. What I was taking over the counter was D3. The D2 is taken once a week, and hopefully causes a shorter reaction time than taking a daily dose. I can't say that I'm not having any reaction to it... I've still been getting migraines and lightheadedness, but the reactions do seem to be less than with the OTC version. So, I'm working my way through it and hopefully the reactions will continue to decline while my D level rises. And at the end of the day, the increase in D should contribute to feeling better.
Sitting in the IV suite with others has its advantages because I have now found that many of us have low levels of vitamin D, and one other person also has an allergic reaction to it as well. It's nice to know I'm not alone.
