I have only tested positive for Lyme. After treating just lyme for 3 months I am suddenly getting many more Bartonella symptoms that I never had like: foot pain, frontal headaches, left side pain ect..
My new LLMD thinks I may have Babs because I have shortness of breath and very bad DAY sweats. These are the only symptoms I think I have though and those could both be either Lyme or Bart. If Babs was here wouldn't it be taking center stage???
Im not being treated for Bart b/c doc says that Babs should be treated first if I have it. She's having me take Arteminisin to see if it brings out the babs symptoms. So I guess my question is...wouldn't Babs symptoms be really bad if that were present?? Why would I treat the infection that I don't have symptoms for before those that I do have symptoms for???
Posted by sickntired19 (Member # 21949) on :
I haven't been dealing with Babs all that long so I don't know everything there is to know about it, however I will tell you my experience.
My dr suspected that I had some Babs involvement. However, I didn't have the huge sweats. So after several trials of Babs meds and no real results, my dr finally tested just to make sure.
Sure enough, it came back positive. I started on Malarone and now I am starting to have more sweats. And if I quit the treatment for a day to a week, the sweats get worse.
So this is to say that you don't have to have the huge night sweats to have Babs.
Posted by Camp Other (Member # 29797) on :
I did not have sweats with Babesia. I had stomach pain and shortness of breath - more like I could breathe, but it felt like I couldn't take full, deep breaths in.
Posted by jadams (Member # 28016) on :
Thank you both! That's interesting that neither of you really had severe symptoms. I have the same stomach pain and shortness of breath (like I can't take a full breath). I do have sweats that are really bad but they are all day and not at night! I suspect that I have Babs though based on these similar symptoms.
Posted by 17hens (Member # 23747) on :
I treated Bart for 8 months but was never able to get past a certain level.
I started writing down my symptoms and noticed that I had a 5-6 day cycle in there - Babesia. More focus on the very mild, barely noticable symptoms convinced me and my LLMD that babesia was in the mix.
I started Mepron & Zith & Bactrim (to hold the Bart at bay) and made huge strides!! I never felt bad on mepron at all (well I had 1 rough week when I was very tired), only chills would come back when I'd run out of mepron for a few days.
If I had only known before the 8 months of Bart treatment maybe I could have saved time...
Posted by BoxerMom (Member # 25251) on :
Babs doesn't always take center stage. In my husband, it was "behind the scenes" for his first 18 months of treatment. And he tested negative.
His symptoms showed up after Lyme and Bart treatment.
Docs differ in the order in which they treat co-infections. Some treat the one with the most obvious symptoms first. Some still think Babs first. Some treat everything at the same time.
Your symptoms point to Babs. IMO, treat it now, before the symptoms get worse. Full blown Babs is a drag!
Posted by sickntired19 (Member # 21949) on :
Oh, I wasn't thinking to mention that I did have all the other symptoms of Babs though. The chills, fevers, air hunger/cough, headaches, etc.
Just not the sweats.
And I think it is playing a part in my extreme fatigue....not really sure though.
Posted by BoxerMom (Member # 25251) on :
Babs is an extreme fatigue bug, for sure.
I had my worst fatigue during Babs treatment. Once the Babs load lifted, I felt pretty good.
Posted by blinkie (Member # 14470) on :
My babs symptoms are...
major fatigue poor sleep insomnia lack of regular sweating(under arms) night sweats in neck area major lung congestion wheezing, major heart palpitations light sensativity chills hot flashes painful feet poor stamina
Posted by Awake (Member # 29746) on :
Blinkie, you list painful feet, could you explain how they hurt?
I was having pain in the sole's of my feet which my LLMD felt is Bartonella.
I did tested positive for Babs and was treated for that first. I had all your babs symptoms and they all went away during babs treatment.
Now we are treating Lyme and Bart but I worry about Babs coming back.
I know co-infections overlap with symptoms but I don't often see folks suffering from joint/muscle pain with Babs. Cany anyone speak of their experience with such?
I slowly got better and better during Babs treatment. Now having been off that treatment for 4 months I seem to be going downhill.
Thanks, Awake
Posted by jadams (Member # 28016) on :
17Hens-thats an important statement. My LLMD said that she doesn't see improvement in Bart or Lyme until she fully treats Babs. So she will be attacking that first.
Just a side question...does anyone have this feeling of head pressure/headache after starting something to treat Babs/Bart? I started Bactrim and a week later had the worst pressure in my head, like my brain is swollen. What infection is this related to? Have not had this the last year until taking Bactrim.
Posted by blinkie (Member # 14470) on :
Well let me start by saying that I don't know for sure i have babs or some other protozoal infection since I've never had a positive babs test.
But, I respond to all antimalarials in a big way and I'm getting well on lariam, flagyl, bactrim, art and zith.
However, I have a hard time tolerating bactrim due to c diff. That's why I take the flagyl. I'm risking a major c diff bug resistant to flagyl but I was so sick I felt I had no other choice.
The pain in my feet in in the bottoms. It appears after standing for too long but not really all that long for a healthy person. It was gone a few weeks into bactrim but I've had to stop it for a week and my feet hurt yesterday. It just feels like I've been standing on them too long.