Feeling sick hourly

[kday]

So, when I became ill, my symptoms were present all the time for a couple months. After that, they became daily/weekly/monthly. The past couple days the symptoms have literally been hourly. I feel sick upon awakening, an hour later I feel fine, and another hour later I am sick again. Can Lyme cause this?

I don't know if I have Lyme yet, I was just wondering if Lyme could do this.

[patsy10]

My symptoms have been like that.

[kday]

Now my ribs are sore. I have been having muscle twitches (fasciculations) between my ribs all day, and now my ribs are sore. They aren't sore to the touch just a dull pain when moving to certain positions.

All my symptoms are so weird.... Do people get this with Lyme too? Trying to see if the dots connect.

[gorbybelle]

yes - rib pain/inflammation is common in 'lymies' - also the 'hourly' change from o.k. to sick.

I have had - from time to time - very painful ribs/chest areas.

[jkv44]

Hi,
the symptoms sound very much like lyme. Some days you think wow, I'm getting better then out of the blue, new and old symptoms kick in.

Rib soreness like everyone here has mentioned is a classic symptom. This in the beginning, was my worse and since being on treatment, has subsided somewhat.

You can feel great upon awakening, and then within an hour or so feel terrible.

Keep us posted.

[patsy10]

Yes those symptoms are present in lyme.   I had sore spots all over my ribs for years and the twitching on the ribs as well.

[skarey]

Yes I definately get the hour to hour changing of symptoms.  That's very common with lyme patients.  I've had the really bad rib pain/tenderness once before and it wasn't any fun.  

[kday]

After an 8 month journey, my testing came back CDC positive for Lyme. I was diagnosed on Friday, so I haven't seen a Dr yet to start antibiotics.

I am still experiencing unexpected symptoms that come and go by the hour. The last couple months I've been taking lots of acidophilus (a probiotic), and nothing helps more to keep my symptoms minimal and my upper GI/chest pressure comfortable. I literally can't go a day or two without it without paying consequences. I'm not sure why it helps me so much and why I need to take so much to feel good.

For those with chest pressure and chest pain, I highly recommend trying acidophilus. By far, the best stuff I have taken. Not sure if it will help everyone, but it is my "drug of choice" (even though it's not a drug).

[kday]

So, yesterday afternoon through evening was a struggle. I felt like I was getting the flu, but without the fever. Body aches everywhere, chest discomfort, and ribs sore on both sides. I tried tylenol and anti-anxiety tranquilizers. It didn't seem to help. Sometimes the anxiety medication helps when I feel like I may have a panic attack or have an anxious feeling, but this time it did nothing.

Woke up this morning, and the aches and pains are pretty much gone for now. Chest still bothering me, and I can tell I am having sinus arrhythmia this morning with a couple PVC's here and there (I got good at taking my pulse. It's not a very steady pace).

I am so looking forward to starting antibiotics. I'm ready for this to stop. The hardest part about each day is that I never know what to expect. It seems to help to just live in the moment and let the pain come and go when it pleases. I used to try to fight it, but it seems to help me much more if I don't. I think trying to fight it and letting it scare me was what was causing panic attacks.

[JackieCalifornia]

Sorry to hear you're having such a rough time.  I think you're right, once you know what a Herx is like, it's less scary.  Still scary, but less so.

Did you talk to your MD about your heart rate?  Mine was a problem too.  I was told it's because Lyme bacteria use up the magnesium in your system, which also controls heart rate (magnesium is necessary to send the messages to the heart cells to contract or not).

I had a bunch of blood work done recently and all my levels of stuff like that were normal --- except magnesium, which was low.  For blood levels of magnesium to be low, the cells have to be low, because the cells are where most magnesium is.

This morning I woke up with a terrible leg cramp -- I jumped out of bed yelling OW OW OW and it took a while for it to calm down.  So I'm upping my magnesium supplements and hope that's the problem.  

Talk to your MD about taking magnesium supplements, and be sure to tell him/her about your heart irregularities.  [I'm not medically trained, so dont' rely on me.]

[JackieCalifornia]

Sorry, I think it's not a Herx when you're not on meds yet.  I had terrible symptoms with my heart before I was diagnosed, but once in treatment and getting enough magnesium, my heart was fine.  

[kday]

I had been supplementing magnesium before I knew what was going on. I haven't been taking it recently, but I've been thinking about picking some more up at the health food store. I've been holding off because my stomach is a little upset, and I am afraid magnesium would make that worse. At my worst, my potassium was also low, but recent blood work showed that it's perfect without taking any supplements.

My cardiac and cardiac-like symptoms are by far the most bothersome. I haven't been able to do moderate to strenuous exercise for 8 months as my heart gets stuck in tachycardia and I feel sick. I used to be highly active and would mountain bike 20+ miles a day, and now I am careful just climbing the stairs. They say nothing is wrong with my heart, so hopefully these symptoms will go away when I start treatment.

I'm not sure why I felt so bad yesterday, but the night before I did lay on a FAR Infrared heating pad. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. I've been feeling very cold and I feel much better while laying on it. I took a nap on it this morning too.