LymeNet Flash: Biaxin XL with Plaquenil? What do they target?

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Posted by Farmerboy (Member # 5401) on :

What does this combo target? How hard is it on your stomach? Any success stories?

Thanks

Posted by Julie-MA (Member # 5110) on :

I'm not sure what they specifically target, beyond Lyme, which is the main thing I am being treated for. My understanding is that the P. helps the abx penetrate cells to truly get to where the bacteria hide.

I guess P. also helps joint problems.

I have not had any trouble on the two. To be honest, I had a pharmacist mention somthing to me once about how hard Biaxin XL is on stomachs, and I was shocked. I even take mine first thing in the a.m., before food, coffee, etc. and have had no problems. Doxy sent me over the edge when I took that also, but these two seem to be fine for my stomach.

I have definitely improved tremendously over the past 13 mos. on the drugs, though I have had relapses both while on them daily and when trying to reduce. I get to try to reduce again at the end of this month and am hopeful that I will not relapse, because I have been feeling pretty well for a little while now.

Best of luck to you.

Julie

Posted by minoucat (Member # 5175) on :

Plaquenil is an antimalerial, so is sometimes used against babesia, although usually in addition to other anti-babesials like cipro or mepron/zith. Some have found the mepron/plaquenil combo to be a bad one, but it seems like most people (including my hubby) haven't had problems. It has an anti-inflammatory effect, so it is popular to reduce the effects (pain and swelling) of rheumatoid and Lyme arthritis. It is also used against the cyst form of Bb, although the literature is very sparse on this. It changes the pH of the blood and assists penetration of abx into the cell.

Biaxin is a macrolide, one of the abx that inhibit cell protein synthesis (rather than breaking down the cell walls). It's used for Bb and other such bacteria.

I haven't heard of this combo being used particularly against babs or bartonella, but I guess it could be. If I were you I'd confirm the purpose of this combo with your doc, so you'll know about what coinfections you're getting at, if any.

Biaxin can be hard on the stomach, but it's far from being the worst. Take probiotics, of course. Plaquenil can cause eye problems--rare, but it happens -- so you should get your eyes checked every 6 months or so. Everything is hard on the liver, so milk thistle and liver cleanses are a good idea.

Posted by klcst (Member # 3427) on :

WHatever you do do not take Biaxin XL. This is a time release and it is totally ineffective against Lyme. We almost lost my huband on this stuff. A nurse practitioner put my husband on XL and we couldn't figure out why he was going down hill quickly. WHen I called my LLMD and told him about my husband the doc asked if he was on XL. He told me XL is completely ineffective against treating Lyme and in some cases can be life threatening if one stays on it.
You need to be on Biaxin 500mg BID, no XL.
Lisa

Posted by lla2 (Member # 2364) on :

lisa, i'm sorry you're husband had a tough time on biaxin xl, but most do extremely well..including me.

I was on it for over a year with plaq. and it brought me to about 90%...It's a macrolide and is used quite often for lyme...I used it with the combo of mepron also for my babesia too...

best of luck with it..xl is there so it protects the stomach...it's longer acting, therefore it gets disolved inthe intestines instead of the stomach...

lisa

Posted by virginia/anez (Member # 6450) on :

For me Biaxin XL and Plaquenil were great!!!
I took it for 3 years with no problems!!!

Posted by fish (Member # 4096) on :

ditto for my husband and me.

I saw absolutely my greatest improvement on this combo. Took just the 2 of them for 7 months, husband took them for 6 months. We never had side effects or problems with our bloodwork. I think this is a common combination LLMDs use.

I can see in my "Pill Book - 11th edition" that there are quite a few warnings against taking it with certain other drugs. But LLMD and/or pharmacist should know this.

KLCST, was your husband on something else while taking the Biaxin XL? I'm sorry but it doesn't ring true to me that Biaxin XL is dangerous to be on for a long time, in general.

Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :

I was on both. The Biaxin targeted Lyme and Salmonella. The plaquenil was symptom related, to reduce swelling. We think it may also help with babs.