Have you ever woken up with extra “bags” or discoloration under your eyes the morning after a great night out with very little sleep? Of course, most of us have at one point or another, but unfortunately many chronic Lyme patients are noticing this issue without the benefit of any of the fun associated with the previous night. It’s the way many patients wake up first thing in the morning as a matter of course, and we refer to them as “shiners.”
What are shiners and what is this reaction? It’s an inflammatory response called an IgG (Immunoglobulin G) reaction, and in the case of Lyme patients, it is almost certainly a reaction to particular foods the patient has eaten as many as 3 days prior. This reaction is also very similar to the way your body reacts when it detects foreign bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungus (candida).