posted
Hi all who are curious about the Schardt protocol.
UPDATE FROM RIVKA:
I am in the middle of my 3rd round of the Schard protocol (each round consists of 50 days of diflucan 200 mg, followed by 14 days of a penicillin -- my doc has me on amoxicillin, 3000 mg/day).
This is my report so far:
For the first round, while on the diflucan, i was very sick. Was it a herx or a "normal" relapse, i don't know.
Once off diflucan and on the Amoxy, i did well. Super well. Amazingly well. Lasted 2 weeks. Freaked me out. I haven't felt that well in 17 years.
Then back on the diflucan for round two: i did okay, did a lot more than usual, much more than usual!, but at the same time, even tho i was doing more, i still had all the same usual CFS/Lyme symptoms (exhaustion and brain fog), so i was not *feeling* amazingly well, even as i did more than usual.
Then back on Amoxy: same as what i just wrote above: able to do a lot more than usual, but all my exhaustion and brain fog was still very present. but i DID a lot more out in the world!
Then back on the diflucan for round three, and i'm doing amazingly well again. I have symptom-free hours now. Symptom-free afternoons! Whole afternoons go by without exhaustion or brain fog. AMAZING!
I have started taking an aqua exercise class, and started swimming. this is the first time i have done that in 17 years.
Still to do: I have 1 more month of the diflucan and then 2 weeks of amoxy. Then i will be done with the protocol.
I hear there is a lyme doc in the U.S. who has his patients doing this protocol go on a yeast-free diet. I have not done that. Have you, Paula?
Also, I hear this same doc has patients take a diflucan if symptoms return (2 days before symptoms return, after you gage how long it takes for symptoms to return). Has anyone else heard this?
I have been off this list for a while, if anyone is doing this Schardt protocol, I'd love to hear from them!
posted
If this was not posted I would not have gotten this info. as I never saw the first one and would not have looked for it. Reposting has its advantages. Al
Posts: 789 | From CT, | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
Hey Rivka, Thank you for the update. I missed the other posts on this subject. This explains how you felt on this protocol and the improvment you experienced.
Please keep us updated on how you're doing, there are many who are interested in Dr.Schardts protocol. I'm one!
[ 30. December 2006, 12:56 AM: Message edited by: meg ]
posted
Hey Rivka - We communicated a bit about the Schardt protocol back in the fall. So glad to hear your feeling well! Abby
-------------------- "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us" - e.m. forster Posts: 921 | From PA | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Please keep this post intact. I searched the archives and couldn't find the previous post referred to. This therapy sounds very promising and I think we could all benefit by learning more.
posted
hmmm. i see betty's point about not re-posting, but i thought a new thread was in order since it was an update on how i'm doing on the protocol.... i do respect betty, but i think i'll leave the new thread just so folks can find it twice, if needed. and here is more info:
hi others interested in schardt protocol:
in case folks are interested, this is what i have in my files about schardt. includes links to his original article, and a later interview. it is a long post:
You can also access his Forum where many pose different questions concerning the use of Fluconazole, but have to utilize the translation features from German into English. for translation: http://world.altavista.com/babelfish/tr some recommended using babelfish.com for translating Go here and put in website you want translated and I believe its german to english. Translate a Web page http://world.altavista.com/
below is an interview with the doctor (different from the ariticle above) and then pages and pages of other info about this protocol.
protocol in summary: Dr. Schardt's regimen: 200 mg diflucan daily and no abx for 50 days and then narrow spectrum abx for 50 days and then repeat the cycle (schardt later changed his protocol to only 14 days of the abx). __________
Betriebsarztliche Untersuchungsstelle, Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universitat, Wurzburg, Germany. "Prof. Dr. med. F. Schardt" ______________
A New Approach to Chronic Lyme Disease ImmuneSupport.com 05-11-2005 By Jill Neimark
In May of this year I sat down at the beautiful Essex House on Central Park South, with a German physician specializing in internal medicine, Fritz Schardt. Dr. Schardt, who is associated with the University of Wurzburg in Germany, published an interesting pilot study in the European Journal of Medical Research in July of 2004 on the use of an antifungal drug, fluconazole, in treating chronic, advanced lyme disease. This pilot study examined 11 patients with chronic lyme. Dr. Schardt has slowly refined the protocol since then, and believes it holds great promise in treating this difficult condition--which is often misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. Here follows our interview:
Jill Neimark (JN): What made you think of using diflucan, an antifungal, to treat lyme disease?
Dr. Fritz Schardt (FS): I was actually my first patient. I got lyme disease in 1989, and was given two weeks of doxycycline. Our country follows the protocols set by yours, so that's what is generally recommended. I now know that was very inadequate and I do not think doxycycline should be used in early lyme disease at all. It is only bacteriostatic, meaning it inhibits the bacteria but does not kill them.
JN: I know, the same thing happened to me. At the doses they recommend, it also does not penetrate the central nervous system. I had a fever, stiff neck and bullseye rash. The stiff neck means it was already in my nervous system. Therefore I probably needed six to eight weeks of doxycycline at double the dose I was given. Higher doses will penetrate the CNS.
FS: Right. I recommend penicillin in early lyme disease.
JN: Amoxicillin is given here. Is that what you recommend?
FS: No, that's broad spectrum, so you end up killing many bacteria, including necessary ones in your gut. I recommend smaller spectrum penicillins. The syphilis spirochete has not become resistant to penicillin, and there's good evidence that borrelia, the lyme spirochete, has not either. In Germany, we have cefalosporine, roxithromycin, cotrim-TMPO, and clarithromycin. These are all good choices. They should still be taken for 20-30 days.
JN: Okay, well, you took doxycycline so you ended up with chronic lyme disease. What happened then?
FS: I was sick for 18 months. I was given intravenous rocephin several times. I would feel better, but then once I stopped taking the antibiotics, I relapsed. I was often bedridden and I thought I was ready for the wheelchair. Then, I developed a fungal infection, possibly because of all the antibiotics. So I was put on diflucan. This was around 1990. It was a new drug that was being used mainly for opportunistic fungal infections in AIDS patients.
JN: And what happened?
FS: I got better. But I only stayed on it for two weeks at first, and then I got worse again. So I went back on it for 30 days, and I got well.
JN: What was the dose?
FS: I took 100 milligrams twice a day.
JN: Are you completely well?
FS: I am very active and energetic and I feel quite well. I have since competed in athletic events and won them. However, I do have an occasional heart arrhythmia that I believe may be due to permanent damage from the spirochete.
JN: Tell me your reasoning as to why diflucan might work in chronic lyme.
FS: There are several reasons. First of all, it inhibits an enzyme called cytochrome P450. This is an enzyme that your liver, for instance, uses to detoxify chemicals and drugs. Borrelia has a very primitive p450 defense, so if you inhibit it, it is easily weakened. Therefore I believe that diflucan inhibits the growth and replication of borrelia. It does not necessarily kill it. In addition, it penetrates well into the cells and into the nervous system and brain, where borrelia may hide.
JN: What is your current protocol?
FS: I recommend 200 milligrams a day, for 50 days. There are now 200 milligram pills available, so once a day is fine. Then I recommend 20-30 days of any of the penicillins I mentioned. You may have to go through several cycles of this protocol. You must also be very aware of other drugs that act on the p450 enzyme system, specifically a subset that inhibits CYP3A4. You should not be taking any of these drugs at the same time as you take diflucan.
JN: What are some of these drugs?
FS: There are many, and it's best to check with your doctor. Some common ones are erythromycin, amitryptylin, midazolam, Lovastatin, and others.
JN: I hate antibiotics. Do you have to take the penicillin?
FS: I understand, many lyme patients come to hate antibiotics because they have to take so many of them for so many years and are still ill. In fact, I also was made ill by the antibiotics.
JN: They really disrupt your digestion.
FS: Right, that was my problem.
JN: So, this protocol is your best one-two punch against borrelia, but you don't have to take the antibiotics if you truly hate them.
FS: Right. In addition, diflucan has a slow half-life so it can slowly build up in your bloodstream. Sometimes patients call me after a few weeks and say they are feeling very ill on the protocol. Perhaps it's a herxheimer, or perhaps it's that the levels of diflucan are higher than they can tolerate. So I say, take a 3 or 4 day pause, and then go back on the protocol. This is perfectly acceptable.
JN: What happens if you have a weak p450 system? Have any of your patients have raised liver enzymes from the diflucan?
FS: I have been lucky, not one of my patients have had raised enzymes. It is generally well tolerated. If it is a problem, however, you can lower the dose of diflucan. This would be overseen by your doctor. I recommend 100 milligrams in pediatric cases.
JN: How many patients have you treated now?
FS: At least eighty.
JN: What is the most difficult case you've had?
FS: I have one 75-year-old patient who has had lyme for 18 years. He was very ill. He has had to do this cycle of diflucan and penicillin 3 times. He is much, much better. In fact, he's so happy with his improvement he called the drug manufacturer to tell them they need to run a publicity campaign to promote diflucan for chronic lyme disease.
JN: Some patients on some internet groups are adapting your protocol, probably in concert with their doctors, and I'd like to know what you think of this. They are suggesting staying on diflucan for 9 months, and some of them are adding in low-dose minocycline. Are you aware of this?
FS: No, I am not aware of this.
JN: What do you think of the idea?
FS: I believe in the narrow-spectrum penicillins for borrelia, not the cyclines.
JN: What about 9 months?
FS: That remains to be seen. Perhaps, like tuberculosis, some patients will need to be on diflucan at least six months or more. Borrelia is a very sophisticated organism, and one of the few bacterium with two cell membranes. There is much we still have to learn about it.
(c) Jill Neimark, 2005.
THE ACTUAL STUDY OF DIFLUCAN FOR LYME MAY BE FOUND on CanLyme and Ilads cite, I believe. Or you can email me and I can send it to you electronically via PDF:
SOMEONE ONLINE ON LYMENET WROTE: The latest news about the Diflucan protocol from Prof. Schardt is that diflucan alone doesn't work. He is talking now about taking Diflucan for 50 days, then 21-30 days of Penicillin 1,5 mega (3 pills a day, one in the morning, one at noon and one in the evening.). If you relapse, repeat this protocol. He even says sometimes it can be necessary to do 2-3 cycles.
ANOTHER POST FROM ANOTHER LISTSERV SAID: Fluconazole for 2 months 200mg/day. After 2 weeks on the Fluconazole start Penicillin 500mg/4x/day. Repeat 60 day cycles as necessary.
AND FINALLY, MY (RIVKA'S) DIRECT EMAIL TO DR SCHARDT FOR THE MOST UPDATED INFO ON DIFLUCAN FOR LYME
EMAIL FR DR SCHARDT MAY 26, 2006 From : Prof. Dr. med. F. Schardt Sent : Friday, May 26, 2006 4:55 AM Subject : Re: diflucan treatment
An improved therapy is now 50 days fluconazole, 2 weeks penicillin and 2 times repeating this scheme.
Sincerely F.S
> Hello Dr. Schardt, > > I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/or Lyme for 16 years. > > I am hoping to begin the Diflucan protocol that you describe in the below > article. Are there any changes to the protocol since this article was > written? I will see my local primary care physician on Thursday and my Lyme specialist on Friday, and will discuss with them your response to my email > before I begin the protocol. > > Thank you so very much! > > RIVKA the USA (Boston) _____________
Posts: 17 | From boston | Registered: May 2006
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posted
This is quite interesting -- please keep the thread intact. Im glad to hear from someone who has first-hand experience with this protocol, as I have only read articles until now....
I'm on regular diflucan as a part of my treatment, and it helps tremendously! I have always been prone to yeast, and the diflucan keeps that in check, plus seems to also help with the lyme stuff.
-------------------- "Looks like freedom but it feels like death.. It's something in between, I guess"
Leonard Cohen, from the song "Closing Time" Posts: 822 | From California | Registered: Jan 2006
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Greatcod
Unregistered
posted
This is a link to a table of drugs which are the metabolized by P450 enzyme in its various forms. I guess the idea is to come off these drugs so that they don't compete with the diflucan treatment, reducing its effectivness. I am in over my head here, my biochemistry is primitive, so I welcome comment or correction.
posted
can you please tell me if your doctor checked your liver and kidney function? mine tests about once a month and i'm only on ceftin.
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posted
Hello Rivka and all, I'm new here, and thanks to Rivka, I am doing well on the Schardt protocol.
Briefly, I was diagnosed with cfs in 1995 and found out a few months later that I had mycoplasma incognitus. Fortunately this meant that I was treated with antibiotics for years, mainly Zithromax.
In 2003 I learned that I have borrelia and probably babesia. But the antibiotics I was given did not help. In fact I got worse from tendon damage while on Levaquin and Avalox. Prior to this I was about 80% recovered but kept relapsing off antibiotics, probably because the borrelia and babesia were never effectively treated.
Seven months ago I developed vestibular nerve damage in both ears and thrush. I did not recover, so MRI, CT scan and lumbar puncture were all done - revealing nothing.
Then I read about treating borrelia with diflucan and decided to see if my doctor here in Las Vegas would try diflucan on me even though the thrush seemed to have cleared up. I showed her Schardt's study. She put me on 25 days of diflucan at 200 mg a day.
I finished that 4 days ago and started penicillin. During the 25 days I felt like I was Herxing a lot. I even ran a low grade fever several days - almost unheard of for me in years. I stopped the diflucan 4 days and felt better during those days. My liver function lab results have remained completely normal during this time.
Now on the penicillin I am again feeling better. I am very excited about this protocol and hopeful that it may be the cure the doctor ordered. Well, not cure, but maybe I will get a lot better.
I will post further as time goes by. I welcome any and all comments and advice.
Paula Carnes Las Vegas, NV
I have been off this list for a while, if anyone is doing this Schardt protocol, I'd love to hear from them!
I plan on trying the Schardt Protocol myself after I'm sure that Babs and Bart are gone. There is no proof that Diflucan is effective against them, so I don't want them to hinder Tx with any coinfections.
I heard a while back that Schardt was doing a larger trial with around 100 people. Does anyone know what the results were?
Posts: 134 | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Did I give up on the MP? Yes, for myself. I was getting more and more muscle weakness on Benicar. So I stopped the Benicar and kept taking the minocycline and Zithromax, but I couldn't see any improvement.
Finally I just quit everything. About that time I started drinking 2 envelopes of Recuperation a day and getting out in the sun. I felt a lot better for about 8 months. Then I don't know what happened. I think I got some sort of infection in my sinuses or head.
But as to the MP, I still think it is a good protocol IF you have a doctor who can work with you and balance the time spent without vitamin D and sun - I think this needs to be gradually increased as the bacteria load is reduced. After all it is not healthy for a person with normal health to avoid vitamin D - not healthy at all.
I would love to hear from others trying the Diflucan and penicillin.
Paula Carnes Las Vegas, NV and gambling on Diflucan
-------------------- Paula Carnes Posts: 23 | From Las Vegas, NV | Registered: Jan 2007
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