herxing
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
present participle and gerund of herx (“to experience Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction”)
noun
Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction, a negative reaction to antibiotic treatment.
Informal; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Brenner’s own experience with “herxing” (a common phrase among Lyme patients) started 2 or 3 hours after his first antibiotic treatment."
- "Moreover, the Jarish–Herxheimer reaction (sometimes referred to as “herxing”) is a rare syndrome seen within the first 48 hr of starting antibiotic treatment for some spirochetal diseases; the belief that “herxing” causes ongoing symptom flares in patients with Lyme disease is a fallacy for which there is no objective evidence."
- "Herxes, or “herxing,” are a great bugbear in the world of chronic Lyme. The term is drawn from the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, originally identified in the context of syphilis. It refers to a brief, severe reaction that can take place within the first few days of antibiotic treatment; as bacteria die off and release endotoxins, a patient experiences fever, chills, and sometimes dangerously low blood pressure."
- "He sets the machine to the frequency that’s supposed to kill the Lyme spirochete, turns it on, and immediately starts Herxing."
Etymology
Shortened from Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, which in turn derives from the names of Adolf Jarisch and Karl Herxheimer, physicians who separately described the reaction in syphilis patients.