Read Between The Lyme
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6 Tips for Surviving a Herx (flare)
Happy New Year, my people!! I hope your holidays were calm, relaxing, and full of wonder. I also hope that everyone experienced many, many pain free days!
From the HubbleSite a gorgeous Globular Cluster M4
I know I can’t be the only one out there that has those horrible hours or days where you wake up or are woken up by what feels like the very worst hangover –Ever – but no alcohol was involved at all. The Lyme Hours, I like to call them. Not catchy, but it seems to clarify the time lost to the symptoms and the overall suffering involved.
What do we do during these Lyme Hours to make it through? I had one of these days yesterday, from about 3 a.m. until about 3 p.m. and it got me thinking, how do we all cope with this time while we are feeling so awful to just try to make it a little less dreadful? To distract us from the headache, the nausea, the joint pain, the brain buzzing and such?
Anyway, yesterday for me was absolutely NO BUENO for a really long period of time. My husband, who left for a few hours, asked me when I actually was able to get out of bed and actually function, “What did you do while I was gone?” I’m sure I looked a little cray cray after 12 full hours of feeling like a semi had run over me, so I am pretty sure he regretted asking, but my answer was, “I was being sick.” Doin’ the Lyme time, ya know?
These are my top 6 things to do to try to get out of myself when I feel this totally and utterly at the mercy of the Lyme attack (aka chronic illness flare):
- Binge on Netflix. Now, this is only if I do not have a migraine, of course. There are plenty of awesome shows out there. If you don’t have Netflix, maybe try Amazon Prime or Hulu.
- Watch You Tube. Again, if no migraine is involved, I watch animal videos on YouTube. You must check these out even if you are feeling well! My favorites are Silly Goats and/or Silly Bull Dogs. And if the noise bothers you, definitely watching these without sound is just as entertaining.
- Listen to meditations either through an app or on You Tube as well. Sometimes, a soothing voice can really just put me at ease. For the times when I can’t even process speech, I listen to nature sounds meditations.
- Think about a happy memory. I tend to go back to childhood memories more than not. I think through as many of the details as possible, and then I think about the feelings involved. When I have a bad headache or even sometimes a migraine, this can help me just get out of the pain in my body even if only for a few minutes.
- Set up a plan for what comes after this ugly trip when you are able to actually do things. Sometimes, I think of something fun I want to do when I get to feeling better, whether that is going out for a movie or reading a book. Often, I get elaborate and a tad bit unrealistic, you know, plan my trip to Italy, how I will make my first million…..In the end though, it doesn’t matter at all if I end up doing anything I consider while I am experiencing the Lyme time; it is the planning that leads me into another world where I am not hurting or nauseated.
- Make a gratitude list in your head (write it down if you can function that much). This can be a serious challenge while feeling so damn sick, but it really can be freeing. It keeps me as positive as possible while giving me a task to focus on other than all the issues happening to make me feel so ill. I know it sounds kinda smarmy but it does work.
Not all of these work all of the time and sometimes, none of these work. What kinds of things do you do to alleviate symptoms? What helps you to get through the rough times? Please share. I’m sure we could all use a few more tricks in our bag!
Thank you all for following, reading, and commenting here on this blog. It makes my heart happy. Best wishes for a wonderful new year to come! Peace – B
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2 Comments on “6 Tips for Surviving a Herx (flare)”
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Great post on dealing with the dreaded herx! Thanks so much for sharing this. I love your ideas and find that focusing on the positive and things I’m grateful for (like you mentioned) are helpful when I’m trying (desparately sometimes) to keep myself in a good frame of mind.
Also, reminding myself, this herx will end….this herx will end…usually helps too.
I pray a lot for comfort and peace.
And one of the most helpful things I’ve found for the pain is taking a warm bath in epsom salts and essential oils while drinking lemon water or tea.
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Thanks, Lori! It can be so challenging when our bodies react like this to believe it will actually end. It is hard not to just get lost in all of the symptoms themselves. Your mantra is perfect…this herx will end!
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