I'm currently treating lyme with Rocephin IV and Tindamax. My lyme nurse wants to add another drug for bartonella. I've been given the choice of levaquin or Rifampin.
I'm told both are good drugs for bartonella, she mentioned that taking Rifampin is like bringing out the big guns??
Not sure what she meant but I gather it kicks butt???
Any one with experience of either/both would you give me some feedback???
Lavaquin gave me insomnia (big time) and a too rapidly beating heart.
Also had tendon pain within 48 hours along with tingling neuropathy.
Rifampin gave me bladder spasms, muscle cramps (especially at night)
And led to my worst run with yeast. It did give me orange pee which was really cool
To my young children.
To date, rifampin has been one of the hardest meds for me to take.
However, I did make excellent progress on it.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I had the insomnia already .... now that the bart is being treated it's getting somewhat better ... I sleep a little longer with an Ambien than I did a month ago.
My LLMD did tell me to stop taking it immediately and call him if I had any sign of tendonitis.
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
I'm on Rifampin and Doxy for my Bartonella.
I was on 300 mg of Rifampin and starting tonight I will be taking 600 mg Rifampin. I'm worried!!! That's a pretty big number. So far I've only herxed a little bit. I've heard that Rifampin can really make you herx big time. That's what I'm afraid of. :-(
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
You could also use Cipro instead of Levaquin. It is a first generation fluoroquinolone, I personally would choose it over Levaquin simply because it has been around longer w/a proven track record. Both, be aware of any tendon pain.
If you search Rifampin here, you will find not many had a great reaction to it. Post after post talks about how many couldn't last even a few days on it.
The only person I know who loved Rifampin was my sister, but she was clinically diagnosed with Bart/Ehrlichiosis and we don't know if she had either for sure, so no herx, no problem may have been the reason she liked it.
One Rifampin, ONE pill, sent my husband into a moody frenzy, insomnia for 2 nights and weakness in his legs - he calls it the "devil" drug and said he will never touch it again.
Obviously, there is no way to tell how you will react, everyone is different.
I also have to choose one and I don't like either choice but both are good Ehrlichiosis & Bart killers. (Yes, Rifampin AND the fluoroquinolones both kill Ehrlichiosis/Bart - see page 14 regarding Burrascano's co-infection killers: http://tinyurl.com/27wxf9
I will start with Cipro, I can always switch to either levaquin or rifampin if it doesn't do the trick. I asked a similar question the other day, many said they felt great on Cipro.
Take care.
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
My llmd uses rifampin. I have not started it yet due to work demands, but will go with that for bart later in the year. Sounds best to start at a low dose of rifampin and work up from there if it is tolerated. In my experience, the phrase 'no pain, no gain' has been pretty apt for treatment for TBD's!
Posted by shoney (Member # 9925) on :
I did 3 months of rifampin/doxy/zith-only got up to 300mg-but I weighed at that point 99 lbs. It was tough-many emotional issues-had to go on an anti-depressant.
But, here I am today-unfortunately, not bart free.
Posted by sfcharm (Member # 9392) on :
Thanks all for you feedback, it really means alot. I am definitely experiencing the insomnia with Levaquin.
I remember one of my boys was on Cipro for a short time and did fine on it. I don't see it offered much for bartonella, I'll have to run it by my Lyme nurse.
Thanks again,
Barb
Posted by Andie333 (Member # 7370) on :
I'm taking rifampin, along with ceftin and tindimax.
I've been on rifampin for awhile now, and, for me, I feel it's made an incredible difference in my recovery!
I did ramp up dosage slowly and still had a pretty wicked herx reaction initially. While it was nasty, my germ load was reduced enough that it wasn't unbearable.
At this point, I've been on it long enough that I've begun cutting back my dosages (of all three abx). For me, it's been a really powerful and good abx.
Feel free to send me a pm if you'd like any more information
Andie
Posted by valymemom (Member # 7076) on :
Like Andie, the rifampin/doxy/zith protocol has helped to give my 25 year old son a more normal life. This is his 8th month on it, and for the first time in years he is able to take four college courses at a time. (He has been ill 7 + years.....forced to drop out of college.)
Over winter break he is taking a 3 credit course in Ireland for two weeks with his university. We are so thrilled that he feels well enough to tackle this.
Of course, I will treat his clothing with permetherin since he will be all over the countryside.
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
Cipro took away my last remaining symptoms!!! Completely*)!*)! I was on it for a year with no problems- I loved Cipro-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
Just so you know, highly regarded Dr.S in SF (CD57 Dr. S - ILADS) prescribes Cipro for Erichia/Bart - make sure to ask your LLMD for it,so many love it. Link I gave above shows Dr. Burrascano's recommendation for these 2 co-infections, if he says it, there is no questioning it!
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)