posted
Hi everybody, I'm a 55 year old male living in Northern Virginia, and I need the basic facts about I V antibiotics treatment. Oral Doxycyclene makes my stomach too sick. I asked my doctor about it, and he said it's very expensive. 1) Do I have to go to a hospital infusion unit? 2)How many times a week? 3)How long is the visit, is it a drip bag? 4)Do I need to have a hose put in my vein? 5)What antibiotics are most popular? 6) Are there intramuscular antibiotics I could do at home? I think that's it. I want to prepare myself before my next doctor's appointment. I've tried to find out this information by searching this site, I have tremendous brainfog and just get more confused. If anyone is kind enough to answer, you won't insult me if you use very simple basic explanations. Thanks.
Posts: 22 | From No Va | Registered: Mar 2008
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Hey Tod.. Welcome to LymeNet!
) Do I have to go to a hospital infusion unit?
That sometimes depends on your insurance if you have any. Usually it is done... if you have to go there.. on a daily outpatient basis. Most folks have it done at home though.
2)How many times a week?
Different drugs are different schedules. Some are dripped in your vein 4 times a day.. others once a day... and some 2 or 3 times a day.
3)How long is the visit, is it a drip bag?
It can be a drip bag.. or a ball even. It can take 1/2 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours.. depending on the amount in the bag and the drip rate.
4)Do I need to have a hose put in my vein?
That varies too. Some have tubes in placce in their arm.. some have them in their chest. Some have ports in their chest.. some have tubes in their legs (on a rare ocassion). But you don't put them in.
It is done either at your home by a nurse who comes in.. or in the hospital as an outpatient... and possibly at some doctors offices.
5)What antibiotics are most popular?
It depends on what you have. No one drug works for everyone. Some folks have co-infections that complicate the picture and some drugs target different microbes.. so no one drug is prescribed for all.
6) Are there intramuscular antibiotics I could do at home?
Yes.. if you have a tough butt and are very experienced some doctors do prescribe it.. but not that often.
posted
Thanks, that helps alot. I don't think I can stick a needle in my vein. If you do it at home, do you have to stick a needle in your arm every time?
Posts: 22 | From No Va | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
No, you don't need to insert a needle into your vein each day.
If you're doing it at home, a nurse will have to insert what's called a picc line or a midline inserted in arm (or elsewhere). Essentially a tube inserted into your vein, that extends a few inches outside your body (is taped to your skin and covered with cotton gauze)
When you infuse the abx, you just hook a tube from a medicine bag into the picc or midline.
Posts: 39 | From wdc | Registered: Aug 2007
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
You are welcome.
You said..
"If you do it at home, do you have to stick a needle in your arm every time?"
Yes.. in both feet and both arms every day.
Ok.. no. Just kidding.
If you get a "pic line" in your arm there is a little tab on the end of it. The pic line stays in the vein day in and day out.
When you need to "hook-up" your drip bag each day or up to 4 times a day.... it is hooked to the tab on the outside of your arm .... so once the "pic line" is inside your arm... no more needles in your skin to infuse the drip bags.
In other words the pic line is placed there permentantly (for the duration of treatment).. so only one stick in your arm.. the rest into the tab on the end of the little line that sticks out a few inches.
Hope that is clear? I am having trouble explaining myself tonight it seems.
posted
Yes, thanks, those are very helpful. One last question, I think. I believe I've had Lyme over 35 years. Is the I V the most effective treatment? I've tried diet and exercise, it just makes me more exasperated. I think as long as the Lyme is rampant, nothing else really has any impact. I think I've had to make friends with Lyme disease, in a way. Just to carry on.
Posts: 22 | From No Va | Registered: Mar 2008
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Here is some of what my 20 year old daughter had been through with her IV treatment:
She initially had a PICC line put in her arm. She had no problem with it being inserted.
It's a very thin tube that entered the side of her left bicept area and held in place with a couple of sutures.
An extension of this tube is outside the arm with a connector at the end to which you attach your medicine bag or bottle.
The procedure was a short, simple and was done at our local hospital using local anesthesia.
In her case, the PICC line had to be removed after 5 weeks due to phlebitis of the vein. This is when the vein gets inflamed.
She then had a Port-A-Cath (spelling?), put in the upper left side of her chest, which she's had for about 5 weeks with no problems at all. This procedure was considered an operation and was done under general anethesia.
This small device goes under the skin and to infuse, a needle is inserted through the skin into the device.
The needle can stay in the skin for a number of days at a time allowing multiple infusions.
She didn't want to be dependant on the nurse coming to the house so she had them teach her how to insert and remove the needle herself.
It was a little difficult at first but with the use of a mirror and some practice she now does it easily.
Our insurance covered both devices which about knocked me off my feet. Not sure why because they haven't covered a number of things over the past 8 years.
The Port-A-Cath would have been much more expensive than the PICC line.
The number of times you infuse will depend on the medicine and the dose.
I don't have any experience with the intra-muscular drugs.
You'll do fine! The worry before a procedure can be much worse than the procedure itself.
Good luck! Paul.
Posts: 80 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
Thanks Everybody! I think I have enough to go to the doctor with. I hope he's been through this with other patients.
Posts: 22 | From No Va | Registered: Mar 2008
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
You believe you may have had Lyme for decades. There are some here who have. I'm sorry you have suffered for a long time.
Do you have an LLMD who is an ILADS doctor? If not, you might check in the special forum here for that.
Or check at the top of this page, left menu, "Support Groups" for people nearby who can help lead you to a good Lyme doc.
You've had it so long. You really need a good doctor. The doctor will then work with you on treatment.
Yes, IV Rocephen has been used for crossiing the blood / brain barrier.
I had a PICC line for 6 months for Rocephen. the line was inserted into my upper arm at a hospital. 4 days in a row I infused myself--that means there was no bag.
Rather, I simply inserted a syringe each time into the PICC line. Completely painless.
Once a week a home health care nurse stopped by to change the dressing and often pull blood for testing.
Those procedures can vary, depending on your circumstance.
Rocephen has drastically reduced in cost--see the Medical Forum with the list of topics. The one I'm referring to is near the top--look for the red flagged topics.
LA Bicillin shots in the butt cross the blood/brain barrier almost as well.
With good insurance FOR COPAYS, maybe you can arrange for a nurse in your doctors office--or your PCP's office, to give you the shots.
They will have to be willing to cooperate with your LLMD.
Not all are.
I had 10 months of Bicillin shots, three days a week. But the amount in the shots and the number of shots varies by LLMD and your health needs.
If you inject yourself, LA Bicillin must be kept refrigerated. It's hard to inject yourself. It takes a moment to inject the liquid because it's thick.
However, this is very important: It's what your doctor thinks is the best approach--along with your input, and there are many considerations, especially when you have had it for decades.
posted
I get anxiety attacks driving, I wish I could get to the closest support group, but I'm such a basket case, I'm pretty desperate to get antibiotic treatment to get me to "the road to recovery" My doctor is a chronic fatigue doctor, but he's written papers on Lyme, and seems to know what he's talking about. To be honest, 2 years of IV bags isn't a pleasant thought. But I have Blue Cross and live 5 minutes from a hospital. I'll see my doctor in two weeks, and see what he says. Thanks for the great information.
Posts: 22 | From No Va | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Consider a Groshong catheter in your chest over a picc line. No dressing after first month. Will likely last a lot longer without complications. Easy care. No repeated through skin access...IE Portacath type. May not/should not need a nurse for infusion...therefore lower expense. Not in an appendage you need to use. Hidden from public view. Can shower with reasonable care...Bathe even, if careful and rinse site well.
Groshong is probably more expensive initially but if it lasts longer with less complicaions, it will be a good investment over a picc.
Posts: 70 | From AZ | Registered: Sep 2007
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