I was so befuddled, I didn't hear anything except some people get gallstones and have to have their gallbladders taken out.
He said for 6 weeks....and possibly for 3 months.
Posted by 1Bitten2XShy (Member # 12280) on :
Standard for this Dr. He does this so the little buggers do not get used to the meds, as well as to give your body a slight break.
Also, his nurse S., will be more than happy to answer any of your questions if you call her. It may take her to the end of the day to get back with you, but she will!
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I'm doing that with one of my meds (not IV) because it causes so much of a herx. The days on the med allow it to build up to a therapeutic dose, then the days off allow for some recovery.
Posted by Hides1 (Member # 6348) on :
I did that protocol with Dr. B before he retired. He preferred the 4 days on and 3 off to give your body and lvier a break. However the 4 days on were a hard kill since you had a double dose of medicine and needed to recover. I did it for 3 months that way- orinally through another doc I had done it the regular way - I think the 4/3 works better but I still have it so who knows!
Posted by MommaK (Member # 10376) on :
ADVANCED TREATMENT OPTIONS PULSE THERAPY consists of administering antibiotics (usually parenteral ones) two to four days in a row per week. This allows for several advantages: *Dosages are doubled (ie: cefotaxime, 12 g daily), increasing efficacy *More toxic medications can be used with increased safety (ie: vancomycin) *May be effective when conventional, daily regimens have failed. *IV access may be easier or more tolerable *More agreeable lifestyle for the patient *Often less costly than daily regimens Note that this type of treatment is expected to continue for a minimum of ten weeks, and often must continue beyond twenty weeks. The efficacy of this regimen is based on the fact that it takes 48 to 72 hours of continuous bactericidal antibiotic levels to kill the spirochete, yet it will take longer than the four to five days between pulses for the spirochetes to recover. As with all Lyme treatments, specific dosing and scheduling must be tailored to the individual patient's clinical picture based upon the treating physician's best clinical judgment. COMBINATION THERAPY (see page 12) This consists of using two or more dissimilar antibiotics simultaneously for antibiotic synergism, to better compensate for differing killing profiles and sites of action of the individual medications, and to cover the three known forms of Bb. A typical combination is the use of a cell wall agent plus a protein inhibitor (ie: amoxicillin plus clarithromycin). Note that GI intolerance and yeast superinfections are the biggest drawbacks to this type of treatment. However, these complications can often be prevented or easily treated, and the clinically observed benefits of this type of regimen clearly have outweighed these problems in selected patients.
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My daughter is pulsing two IV drugs, rocephin for lyme and cipro for bartonella, 4 days per week each, overlapping, with one day taking both. She is also pulsing flagyl ER, taking that the three days she is not taking rocephin. I think that has helped tremendously with the herx's. This regimin has also helped the symptoms, next week we are deciding if it's time to stop the IV!
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