posted
My situation was like yours, the symptoms still are there, but my weight loss (while being hypothyroid) was caused by babesia which had been inadequately treated. When I finally got enough treatment, the weight came back. Good thing too, as I was looking downright skeletal.
If your babs is gone, though, I wouldn't be able to guess why you are losing weight.
Some docs think vasculitis is involved with lyme, and this could account for cold hands and feet, I believe. And many lymies have thyroid problems. There is a published paper saying that there are similarities between spirochete and thyroid, to the point that the immune system is attacking both.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
Thanks Lou,
I just finished up my third month of malarone (4x a day) and am feeling better (less babs symptoms).
I believe I am to start riphamin next for bart.
I see my LLMD next week and really wanted some info to bring to the table.
If you had seen my diet (before really getting sick) it may explain my continued weight loss.
I used to drink 6 cokes a day. Loved baked potatoes and such.
Not a very healthy diet to be sure.
I don't drink cokes and haven't had a potatoe since October.
Strange, horrible disease. So many things can over lap....hard to tell....is it Lyme?
Is it Babs? Is it Bart?
Or am I just crazy? (Well, maybe a little of everything!)
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
Well, if I had to place a bet on this, I would go with babs as the culprit. Your dose of malarone is higher than mine was, so maybe more time will do the trick. It wasn't until I was switched to mepron + macrolide + a short stretch of artemisinin that it was finally knocked out. Some people have failed on these regimes and had to go to clindamycin + quinine. And liz had to go even further. She has posted previously on her treatment regime. Babs can be very hard to kill.
The mepron dose of two spoonfuls a day gives the equivalent of 6 malarone pills. But I don't know the effect of having another agent in the malarone (which is a combo).
Maybe just stick with it a while longer, or see if your doc might consider changing the treatment to mepron (expensive).
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Foggy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1584
posted
Gen, was your Thyroid auto-ab test normal, as well?
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Vermont_Lymie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9780
posted
Hi Geneal,
That sounds like ALOT of malarone to me!!
I am taking only one malarone 250/100 pill each day, and getting impacted by it --
and you are taking 4/day.
Are you taking the adult dosage (250/100mg), or the pediatic-dosed pills (62.5/25). I was prescribed four pediatric pills each day when I started the first month, in case it was too much, then I would be able to start slowly on it...
Just wondering!
Take care and I hope you are feeling well.
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
I've been on the adult dosage of 250/100.
That just ended on Friday of last week.
Wish I could report complete resolution of symptoms, but I am starting to get chills back
and this darn air-hunger issue....
It is not like I don't eat...I eat three meals a day and snack on nuts and yogurt.
I have some POTs issues....have called around and have yet to find a cardiologist who does
tilt table testing around here.
Will be seeing my LLMD next week....I hope we can narrow things down a bit....
Actually did fine on the 4 doses of malarone daily....it was the 600mg of zith that
really kicked my behind.
I think my system needed this break.
I am still on the zithromax, diflucan, flagyl, and bactrim.
Thanks for all of your replies. Every stone I turn over leads to another puzzle and another piece of the puzzle.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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