The usual combinations are mepron(atovaquone) (or malarone) and zithromax; clindamycin and oral quinine; sometimes Larium is used, but this can have severe side effects, including psychosis. The the Europeans use Riamet and another drug that I can't recall.
The herb artemisinin has been shown in clinical trials to be a very effective supplement to pharmaceuticals, in one trial doubling the clearance rate of the parasite. Some people have used artemesinin alone.
When we suspected babs, we started on the artemesinin right away, and had an instant reaction to it (headaches, irritability) indicating infection. We then added mepron/zith. I get my artemisinin from http://outletnutrition.com which sells the Nutricology brand at about half price.
Babesia sx for us that went away in the first week of tx were sweats, chills, and fever. Irritability, headache, and fatigue increased during the first 3 months, then dropped off dramatically. Here is the longer list of sx associated with babs: Symptoms: Fatigue, night sweats, fever, chills, weakness, weight loss, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cough, shortness of breath, headache, neck and back stiffness, dark urine or blood in urine
Our LLMD treats empirically, and uses tests as only adjuncts to dx -- if you have the sx, he treats any way. Thank heavens.
In our case, we are taking the babs drugs orally, and doing IM bicillin shots. So far so good on the stomach.
Treating for parasites in general seems to be an awfully good idea, too.
Good luck.
Editing to say my hubby uses plaquinol, too. This helped somewhat with the inflammation and joint pain, is thought to be a cyst buster, and is an antimalarial.
[This message has been edited by minoucat (edited 16 August 2004).]
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2004 Jan;48(1):236-41.
Related Articles,Links
Growth-inhibitory effect of heparin on Babesia parasites.
Bork S, Yokoyama N, Ikehara Y, Kumar S, Sugimoto C, Igarashi I.
National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
We examined the inhibitory effects of three heparins on the growth of Babesia parasites. The multiplication of Babesia bovis, B. bigemina, B. equi, and B. caballi in in vitro cultures and that of B. microti in vivo were significantly inhibited in the presence of heparins, as determined by light microscopy. Treatment with various concentrations of heparin showed complete clearance of the intracellular parasites. Interestingly, a higher percentage of abnormally multidividing B. bovis parasites was observed in the presence of low concentrations of heparin. Furthermore, fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled heparin was preferably found on the surfaces of extracellular merozoites, as detected by confocal laser scanning microscopy. These findings indicate that the heparin covers the surfaces of babesial merozoites and inhibits their subsequent invasion of erythrocytes.
PMID: 14693545 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Int Microbiol. 2002 Mar;5(1):25-31.
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An in vitro study of the susceptibility of mobile and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi to hydroxychloroquine.
Brorson O, Brorson SH.
Department of Microbiology, Vestfold Sentralsykehus, Tonsberg, Norway.
In this work the susceptibility of mobile and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was studied. The minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of HCQ against the mobile spirochetes was > 32 microg/ml at 37 degrees C, and > 128 microg/ml at 30 degrees C. Incubation with HCQ significantly reduced the conversion of mobile spirochetes to cystic forms. When incubated at 37 degrees C, the MBC for young biologically active cysts (1-day old) was > 8 microg/ml, but it was > 32 microg/ml for old cysts (1-week old). Acridine orange staining, dark-field microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the contents of the cysts were partly degraded when the concentration of HCQ was > or = MBC. At high concentrations of HCQ (256 microg/ml) about 95% of the cysts were ruptured. When the concentration of HCQ was > or = MBC, core structures did not develop inside the cysts, and the amount of RNA in these cysts decreased significantly. Spirochetal structures inside the cysts dissolved in the presence of high concentrations of HCQ. When the concentration of HCQ was > or = MBC, the core structures inside the cysts were eliminated. These observations may be valuable in the treatment of resistant infections caused by B. burgdorferi, and suggest that a combination of HCQ and a macrolide antibiotic could eradicate both cystic and mobile forms of B. burgdorferi.
PMID: 12102233 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Take care,
Petra
you need either mepron with zithro or biaxin (a macrolide of some kind), or clindamycin adn quinine, and or artemesinin which is also often used effectively on here by many including myself in conjuction with one of hte above to eradicate the babeisa.
babesia is very tough to get rid of..not something you want to fool around with..and you DO need the correct meds, not what you are on....
Lisa