I'm on my fifth day of Bactrim DS with Biaxin / Amatadine for Bart / lyme. One thing I like about Bactrim DS is it also works against Babesia.
For those of you who have treated Babs with Bactrim, how long did it take you to see results or get a flare / herx? Was it immediate, days, or weeks?
I've suspected Babs as I had some, but not all, of the symptoms. But so far the Bactrim appears not to be hitting anything.
We'll see how I do when adding Rifabutin on Saturday night.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
I have been on Bactrim DS with a macrolide for 9 months, taking a break since Oct 27 to clear yeast before my LLMD appointment next week.
Babesia symptoms came out while on it. Right now my primary symptoms seem to be babs. I have hot flashes, feel dizzy all the time, depression, no stamina, weakness and bouts of air hunger.
So it has brought this out rather than cleared it up. My bartonella symptoms are suppressed right now, not completely gone but not as obvious.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Within a week of starting Bactrim DS my babs began to flare. Then, doc added artemesinin to encompass the flare days and that really knocked down the flare.
Every week the flare was less and less with the art added.
Prior to adding the art, the flare was bad every week. I waited a month (until my next appointment) before I told my lyme doc this was going on. Now, I wish I had told him sooner and spared myself the agony of those flares.
If you notice the babs flare, I would call your doc and let him know about it in case he wants to add art right away.
The babs flares were awful. Never had them before taking Bactrim DS.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
I wish I could take Bactrim DS since it cured TF. Even if it took a while, it's so cheap. It sucks I can't.
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
What is a Babs flare like?
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
It can be any of the babs symptoms listed in Burrascano, any of your personal babs symptoms, etc. to an extreme.
So, if you feel depression from babs, this could be a feeling of utter doom, a totally black place. I got that with flares.
I also got totally exhausted where I became immobile. I didn't eat, drink, talk, move, get up, go to the bathroom, etc.
It will be different for everyone.
Once I added the artemesinin, it was just an overwhelming urge to sleep that could not be ignored.
Posted by Beachinit (Member # 21040) on :
By the third week on bactrim and artemisinin I started having streaks of yawning, tiredness and a desire to nap in the middle of the day. 5 months into treatment I could barely discern any symptoms of Babesia at all. I have now been off all meds for almost 2 wks. Just taking herbs, supps and probiotics for now until GI issues stabilize. After 6 months or so on Bactrim I noticed some Red Blood Cell toxicity due to antifolate effects of Bactrim. I decided to switch to doxy/artemisinin combo at that point and the RBC's are now nearly back to normal.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It sucks I can't.