I'm on day 16 out of the 21 that has been prescribed.
My LLMD says that she thinks that this treatment will be enough to kill the buggers (I was on 6 weeks of doxy before this for Lyme before we knew I had babs).
I'm herxing for the second time on this round of abx and need some help from you folks.
Is 3 weeks enough or do you think it'll come back?
Thanks, hatpianka
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
I was on malarone for a little over 5 months for babs, and even that long I am not sure it is gone.
An indirect answer to your question. Personally, I would want to do more than 3 weeks of mepron/zith for babs.
Posted by docjen (Member # 7510) on :
Oh my gosh, I wish that were the case. It probably has to do with a lot of things, including how long you have been infected, what systems are involved. I have been treating babs continuously without break for almost 2 years. Still herxing.
You can always try the short case and see how you feel. Hopefully it will be gone gone gone.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I've been on Mepron/Biaxin for 8 months and my babs symptoms are finally gone. I was still having severe babs symptoms after three weeks.
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
Hi hatpianka,
I was on Babesia treatment for for over two years, but I don't know how long I have been infected.
See how it goes, if the treatment is not long enough you will know the symptoms will come back, that is what happened to me.
Hang in there.
Posted by Grady (Member # 12875) on :
If you have babesia and lyme, can you treat them both for two years?
Posted by savebabe (Member # 9847) on :
I have been treating babs for a year and a half.
According to Dr. B, he suggests at least 4 months.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
I'm not a doctor but I doubt it. One reason according to the babs book by Dr. S. is the life of the red blood cell and the fact that these organisms live in the red blood cells. You must wait for the red blood cell to be replaced (I think around 4 months), otherwise, they survive in the red blood cells. According to the book - 5 months is about the length of time that Dr. B. treats for babs.
I was on low dose malarone and 500 mg zith for a little over 2 months, after that, 3 weeks of mepron at 1/2 dose and 3 weeks mepron at full dose, all with zith. Also on artemisinin the whole time. I had to go off to get liver enzymes under control and symptoms were not gone and came back full force after a few weeks of being off babs treatment. This may have been related to my taking Doxy at the same time (there is another discussion going on about that) but from what I've seen, most people here require longer than 3 weeks and sometimes several 5 month or more courses of treatment.
It's possible that a non-US strain may require different treatment times but I'm unsure about that given that my understanding is that all strains live in the red blood cells. Is your LLMD a member of ILADS? Has your LLMD read the new book out by Dr. S.? There is a physician version of the book that she should get and read.
Terry
[ 23. August 2007, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: TerryK ]
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
VERY doubtful. Took years for me to knock out babs. I didn't take mepron though. Maybe I shouldn't be replying then!!
I'm also going by the experiences of others here over the past 7 yrs.
Posted by northstar (Member # 7911) on :
Lymetoo, you said Took years for me to knock out babs. I didn't take mepron though.
How did you do it? (I'm always looking for an easier way out!)
North
Posted by EWT1638 (Member # 11315) on :
I've been on Mepron for months, and I was taking Zith with it for a little over a month before my llmd pulled me off abxs. He will probably put me on Biaxin soon.
I doubt that 3 weeks is even closely long enough. Still working on mine. Keep a diary of symptoms each day. Blessings!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by northstar: Lymetoo, you said Took years for me to knock out babs. I didn't take mepron though.
How did you do it? (I'm always looking for an easier way out!)
North
I took many rounds of clindamycin/quinine .. over and over until it was knocked down pretty good. Then I decided to take artemisinin and zith. That did the trick in about 2 months.
Now, I don't know if the art and zith would have worked that quickly without the many rounds of clindy/Q!!
Posted by northstar (Member # 7911) on :
Aaaah....no mepron, just tons of other stuff!
So, there is no easy road.....
And now I have to read about your combo...
Glad you are in remission!
Thank you,
North
Posted by shoney (Member # 9925) on :
If you catch babs EARLY-like within a few weeks of bite, 3 weeks is enough, otherwise at least 4-5 months, or a little past the life of a red blood cell.
Posted by Boomerang (Member # 7979) on :
Hey...reading through some of the threads about babs. Hubby is considering malarone next.
Lymetoo, did you have brainfog, cognitive problems?
It is so strange to me that most people's brain fog problems are one of the first issues to resolve, and that is the last thing for my hubby.
Makes me wonder what is going on.
Thanks.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by Boomerang:
Lymetoo, did you have brainfog, cognitive problems?
Oh yes! It didn't resolve until I started on Xango.
Posted by Boomerang (Member # 7979) on :
Well, I did a "head slap" right after I posted that, and read your story again. Duh to me!!
Hubby is on Xango. I have to nag him to remember to drink it though. How much Xango did you drink a day when you were still having problems?
Posted by elle108 (Member # 11730) on :
From what I have read here and elsewhere, I doubt three weeks is enough. My daughter is in her fourth month of being treated for Babs and Bb.
Posted by shoney (Member # 9925) on :
Acute infections, they say 1 month-but what is acute?
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
I was on Mepron & Zith two years, the last year with Artemisia.
My daughter was on Mepron & Zith for 9 months!!
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