If lyme disease is caught in early stages...can it be treated and cured first and then treat the coinfections or do the coinfections always have to be treated first before treating for lyme disease??
Posted by Buster (Member # 19472) on :
treat them all at the same time
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
I had undiagnosed lyme disease plus babesiosis and bartonella for 10 years before finding out what was wrong with me and getting treated.
It has been 4 years now since I completed treatment and I am still symptom-free, enjoying my life.
The doc who got me well treated me for lyme disease first. Then, later he found out I had the 2 coinfections. Then, he treated them.
He expected that since he treated in this order he would have to go back and treat lyme again at the end. However, in my case, that was not necessary.
He treated lyme, then bart, then babs. And, then I was done.
This is not the typical way it is done.
Posted by coltman (Member # 21272) on :
quote:Originally posted by TF: I had undiagnosed lyme disease plus babesiosis and bartonella for 10 years before finding out what was wrong with me and getting treated.
Hey what was your treatment protocol like? I think I have bart , from the symptoms. Kinda looks like bart is treated with what I want to avoid at all costs
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
To coltman: Levaquin. Then, Bactrim DS for babs, but it also hits bart.
Posted by forgetlogic (Member # 21408) on :
alot of treatment for lyme disease begins when a bullseye rash is seen, even befor the test results come back, antibiotics are given....does that mean that if there is a coinfection confirmed later, that the initial treatment started right aways is useless?
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
For a brand new bite, my lyme doc gives 2 antibiotics that, together, treat lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis and bartonella.
That will cover everything that a person gets, almost always, from the bite.
When I got a new bite last year, he did that for me. I only had to take 30 days of meds and I was done. But, mind you, I got to him within a week of the bite.
He didn't do any tests on me. He said the bulls eye rash means either a spider bite or lyme disease. No doc can tell the difference, so you treat for lyme and all its coinfections. If you have no symptoms at the end of the 30 days, you are finished. If you have symptoms at the end of the 30 days of treatment, you must treat further.
I never had any symptoms except the bulls eye rash, and I knew the day I had to have gotten the bite with certainty.
On meds, I had a day when I had no stamina. It was about the 4th day on the antibiotic combo. I would do a little something and in 30 minutes I was played out and would have to lay down for a while. That went on all day. The doc said that was my herxheimer reaction (evidence that the meds were killing so much that it overloaded my body for a while with toxins). So, that proved it was lyme disease.
This happened in late August 2008 and I have been fine since then. So, the treatment obviously worked.
So, to answer your specific question, a good lyme doc will cover all diseases if the patient just got bit. If he doesn't, then the patient likely will have symptoms after the treatment is over because the coinfections were not killed. They will have to go to a lyme specialist to get rid of their diseases.
I was able to get in with a lyme specialist within days of my bite because I was not a new patient. However, this is extremely rare.
For most people, when they get a bite, they see a doctor who does not really know how to treat lyme disease and its coinfections. So, for many, many people, the treatment does not get them well.
That's why we on this site tell people to stay on the antibiotics the regular doc gave them until they can get in with a lyme specialist who will be sure the job is done right. Even go to walk-in clinics to continue on antibiotics while you are waiting to see a lyme doctor. Being on meds given out by a regular doctor is a help, but not enough on its own to cure most people.
Posted by forgetlogic (Member # 21408) on :
TF, what were the meds that your lyme doc. gave you?
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
For the new bite, I took doxycycline (kills lyme, ehrlichiosis, and bartonella) and Bactrim DS (kills babesiosis).
Email me if you want the dosages. They recommend we not give details of treatment on the public boards.
Posted by JamesNYC (Member # 15793) on :
Spiders don't bite
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
TF, interesting about the Bactrim DS. My LLMD's nurse said Bactrim had no effect on Babesia. I guess we have two drasticallty different schools of thought. Regardless, I'm glad the quick treatment worked time #2. Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Seek, I know a patient of your doc. She too was surprised to learn that my doc cured my 10 year babesiosis with Bactrim DS.
Guess that shows that different lyme docs have different knowledge. Probably not as different as a different school of thought, though.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
I'm just excited Bactrim may be a solution for Babesia.
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