Just saw my LLMD and found out I have Bartonella. I had a lot of the symptoms and then the marks showed up all over my legs. He started me on 750 mgs of Levaquin once a day. Is this strong enough for the Bart? Anyone else with bart make any progress with visual symptoms after treating the Bart? My LLMD seems to think the Bart could be causing a lot of the visual problems I'm having.
Posted by cactus (Member # 7347) on :
Sounds strong enough. I took 500 mg, but I believe the doses are sometimes adjusted by weight.
Are you taking anything with the Levaquin? Many people seem to take it in combination with zith or another abx.
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I, too, took 750 mg. per day of Levaquin but had to quit early due to tendon pain and weakness. Be sure to call your doctor immediately if you develop any tendon issues. Mine took one year to heal.
I have visual disturbances that seem to be getting worse. That's interesting that your Lyme doc thinks it could be Bart. My Bart is very bad so maybe that's why I've got the visual problems.
I'm on Rifampin now and so far it has not helped the visual problems. But I have been unable to get to a high enough dose of Rifampin due to herxing.
I have a friend with Bart who has neuropathy like I do. She felt that Levaquin helped her more than any other medication.
Jill
Posted by Mike55178 (Member # 11597) on :
He warned me about the tendon pain and said to call him if I experienced any. Right now he wants to do just the Levaquin till the Bart clears up and then start treating the Lyme again. He has me taking Cats Claw for the Lyme for now.
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
Dear Mike,
Levaquin made me feel full of energy....Like taking No-doz
When I was studying for finals in college.
Unfortunately, it also gave me insomnia....I didn't sleep
For 4 days longer than 10 minutes at a time.
It immediately gave me elbow pain too.
LLMD said to stop and now I am on rifampin.
Good luck.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by valymemom (Member # 7076) on :
Can't remember if I took 500 or 750 mg but I took 2 ceftin twice daily with the bart protocol.
Posted by lymednva (Member # 9098) on :
Geneal,
I find your response interesting because I had some early problems with sleep when I began Levaquin. I'm on 500 mg/day, along with artemisinin, doxy and plaquenil.
I talked to my LLMD about the possible connection between my worsened insomnia and he told me he was certain it wasn't from the Levaquin, he even looked it up on his computer right then and there. The literature I have on it says it can be a side effect.
I also have been having trouble falling asleep during the days. I usually take a nap each afternoon for one to two hours, and have not been able to do that most of this week. Today I feel asleep, but had to get up after half an hour due to an appointment.
Can you tell me more about your elbow pain? I've had that, but my massage therapist said it wasn't inflamed and that it could be from a change in computer ergonomics, which I have had due to a new chair.
I adjusted my armrest two weeks ago and it has improved somewhat, but is not gone. She did suggest I mention it to my LLMD if it continued, so now I'm not sure what I should do about that.
I've never had tendonitis, and have looked it up, but it seems to involve inflammation and swelling from what I read. I definitely do not have swelling. Any input from anyone would be appreciated on this.
Thanks!
Posted by WildCondor (Member # 434) on :
That's a good dose. I got tendonitis too, make sure you take magnesium while on levaquin.
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
Lymednva,
It sounds like you read the package insert for Levaquin. From what I recall, it can cause a variety of central nervous system reactions (I think I had some severe ones, but my Bart symptoms are so severe in terms of CNS, who knows). I'm guessing when the central nervous system is affected, so is sleep in many cases.
Watch out for that elbow. My Achilles Tendon pain started with just a little heel pain that a nurse did not think was the tendon. But then it spread to the soles of both feet, then up into the Achilles Tendons.
A friend of mine who developed tendon issues on Levaquin got tendon pain in her shoulder/shoulder blade area.
Neither of us got swelling - just pain and weakness.
Putting ice on it seemed to help us more than anything including anti-inflammatories. You might try icing it a lot.
Jill
Posted by Mike55178 (Member # 11597) on :
Thanks for the responses. Wild... My LLMD warned me to take more Magnessium. Any of you know how much pain do I need to feel to stop the Levaquin. I feel a little sore but nothing too serious. I don't want to stop unless it's nessacery. I would like to get this Bart all cleared up so we can get back to treating the Lyme more aggresivly. Right now he just wants to do cats claw until the Bart is gone.
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