In the midst of a flare

Updates on Antibiotic therapy - switched over to brand name Minocin

Since starting the brand name Minocin about 2 weeks ago, I haven't been feeling well. Don't know if I can attribute this to a Herxheimer reaction or what? Previously, I had been on the generic form of minocycline since December 2011. With the generic I didn't really feel a herxing at all, but I did end up getting sick (not sure if it was a cold, really) at the end of December. It was a complete mixed bag of symptoms, running the gamut from muscle pain to night sweats to sinus drainage to nausea. The whole shebang. I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical as to whether or not the Mycoplasma are playing a role in my autoimmunity/symptoms. I'm trying to be very careful with attributing my symptoms to flares, herxheimer reaction, or just plain old autoimmune bullshit. I'd love to be able to admit that I am 100% sure that what I'm feeling is a herx reaction, but I honestly don't know. What I do know is that since starting the antibiotic protocol in December, I've never felt worse. Which is a good sign, I suppose.

Unfortunately, I also ran out of Plaquenil (generic) a few days after starting the Minocin, and was off the plaquenil for almost 2 weeks. In these 2 weeks I've had a increase in muscle pain all throughout my body, but mainly some severe pain in my neck (cervical vertebrae) running up the muscles through the occipital bone at the base of the skull. My left knee pain has returned, and it usually doesn't bother me at all when I'm taking Plaquenil (which is good, though, because it shows that the Plaquenil is working to some degree). In addition, the bursitis in my right hip is giving me some trouble and ibuprofen barely touches it.

Tramadol helps to take the edge off the pain, but the pain and discomfort is still there. I really don't like taking tramadol considering it acts similar to an SSRI, gives me a small headache, and I'm already on a high dose of Cymbalta (an SSNRI). I don't like to mix the two drugs together.

I have some leftover prednisone from a horrible itchy rash that I developed in 2009, and have taken it upon myself to treat my current symptoms with a small burst of low-dose prednisone, 5mg a day. The rash has appeared again, making its debut about 2 months ago (as it seems to do every year now since 2009).  The rash is mainly confined to the groin region, lower abdominal area, saving the worst of it for one of my shins. The rash doesn't respond well to hydrocortisone cream (though I continue to use it), I usually end up using an ice pack over the rash for a few minutes to dull the itchy feeling. Typical antihistamines (benadryl, etc.) don't work on these rashes, either. At night, if the rash is so bad that I can't sleep, I end up taking Atarax (Hydroxyzine). I hate to take this medication as well, because it tends to make my hypothyroid symptoms worse, and seems to linger in my system for 1-2 days following the dose making me feel like a zombie.

The pharmacy also magically filled my plaquenil. I was under the impression that the script had expired, but shiiiit, I'm not going to complain! Either way, I have plaquenil for another 60 days and started taking it again 3 days ago.

Started doing veggie juices again about 4 days ago. I try to make one a day to help with detoxing. Last night's was super salty tasting and consisted of: celery, ginger root, lemon, spinach, golden beet, and carrots.