I am now suffering again with vomiting and diarrhea - I spoke with my doctor a month and a half ago, and told him that as far as I was concerned, I had plateaued with the Amox and Probenecid combo - that I wanted to go on IV. He seems soooooooo incredibly reticent to put me on IV who knows why? I've had the damn thing for at least 4 years; now I am starting to think I may have been bit for the first time 1997 (I recently remembered a rash that was much like the one in 2000). I think in total, I likely was bit 3 times, but definitely 2.
All this to say I am looking at what I should do on Monday when I go see my doc. Push for IV? He's sent me for yet another HIV test, and wants to send me for a CT scan to rule out Lymphoma...still doesn't explain why I clear up on antibiotics _almost_ and then start backsliding...anyone else having such difficulty getting treatment??? Does anyone know about the damn bug building up a resistance? When do I max out the line of credit and give up and go see Burrascano?
Alyssa.
Babs treatment has changed dramatically since I first started seeing an LLMD. If you have taken abx for it in the past, they probably didn't get it all.
It's great if you can get into Dr. B's office, but there are many others who use similar treatments.
yes... borellia contains beta lactamases and correspondingly builds up resistance to beta lactam based antibiotics like penicillin (i.e. amoxy) or cephalosporins.
iv is a lot of time and money and you may get the same results with IM bicillin, which has a higher serum level than amoxy and probenecid.
you can do one shot 2.4 million units a week. i think this would be a good thing for you at this point.
you may also want to use flagyl on the weekends to address cyst forms which can occur when the spirochete is trying to evade the perpetual onslaught of abx.
also penicillin only works extracellularly on the borrelia cell, so you may want to adjunct with an intracellular antibiotic like zithromax or biaxin.
lastly have you checked co-infections?
plenty of things to bring up on monday, and a good alernative to IV or maxing out the credit card.
best of luck.
zip
a second or third HIV test is a waste. you won't all of a sudden become seropositive.
if your dr thinks you are suffering from immunosuppression, as consistent with HIV, then ask for a referral to an immunologist and have further immunological testing done.
[This message has been edited by zipzip (edited 01 January 2005).]