I’ve been reflecting a lot on my experiences over the past few years. I came across an interesting post today on Facebook describing what is known as autonomic storming, or paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity. I realized that this was what I had experienced last year so many times during my Lyme treatment. I finally had a name for the terror that I felt during those times of severe herxing. This syndrome most commonly occurs in traumatic brain injury patients, though I suppose neuro Lyme is a type of brain injury as well.
I remember a feeling of complete and overwhelming panic. My senses became so acute that it was painful to feel or hear anything. My heart raced and my muscles became so rigid and trembling that I could barely move to speak. I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath no matter how much I inhaled. My skin quickly became covered in sweat. I recall becoming extremely thirsty as well. I had a feeling that I was about to have severe diarrhea, though there wasn’t any stool in my lower intestines. My description doesn’t even begin to capture the way I felt during these episodes. You might liken it to a panic attack, but much worse, as an autonomic storm can actually kill a person.
I took Nutramedix’s Burbur Pinella during these episodes. Sometimes it would take several doses to finally calm me down. I also took Alka-Seltzer Gold, but I don’t believe it helped very much. The episodes always seemed to happen at night, around the time when I was trying to go to sleep. This may have been due to the timing of my medication.
I became accustomed to these episodes, and over time they became less severe, until they finally stopped altogether.
I haven’t heard of anyone else who has experienced this from a herxheimer reaction. I’d be interested in knowing if any of you have experienced this or know of someone who has.
Lyme Everyday 