LymeNet Flash: How long to treat Bart with levaquin?

This is topic How long to treat Bart with levaquin? in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

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Posted by Kathy D (Member # 7750) on :

I'm currently on Doxy 400mg IV and po levaquin 500 mg a day for lyme and bart. We're going to do 6 weeks of this to try and clear the bart. How long have others used this regime to treat bart and was it enough?

Thanks,
Kathy D

Posted by micul (Member # 6314) on :

If only you could be so lucky and get it in six weeks! Unfortunately, Lyme and coinfections are not things that you can put a definate time frame on.

I know that some Dr's tell their patients that it might only take 1 to 2 months for bart, but I can't recall anyone that got rid of it in only 2 months. They usually would stop after 2 months and test for it. The test would still be positive, so then they would Tx it for another 2 months. It seems like the minimum is around 4 months, but it can take even longer. Good Luck!

Posted by hopeful123 (Member # 3244) on :

watch out for the side effects of levaquin (tendonitis). i stopped it after one month or so because my llmd had seen cases of tendonitis. i realized that after i stopped, that what i thought was a herx, was, in fact, tendonitis!!
[bonk]

getting better now.

good luck

Posted by SForsgren (Member # 7686) on :

I was on it for 12 weeks.

Posted by micul (Member # 6314) on :

Scott,

Did you test to verify that it is gone? Quite a few people have stoped Tx thinking that it was gone, only to have it come back later. If someone has had Bart for a long time, it can get really entrenched. This is one disease that I would tend to overtreat just to make sure that it is gone for good.

Posted by humanbeing (Member # 8572) on :

How is the accuracy for Bart tests? If it says it's gone...is it?

Posted by micul (Member # 6314) on :

They're not very accurate. False negatives are common. I think that Dr B says that PCR tests are only 30% accurate. PCR tests are suppose to be done only after someone is off of all abx (incl herbs) for at least 4 weeks. Even then, you are only looking at minimal accuracy.

Posted by liz28 (Member # 4946) on :

I ended up using the rifampin/ketek treatment, not levaquin. But it took five months.

Posted by lymster (Member # 5964) on :

I did 4 months of levaquin for bartonella; it was a great drug for me, no problems but really intense herxing the first month.

Lymster in WA