posted
My daughter is taking Bactrim and zith. She added the Bactrim about a month ago and she is still the same. In the past, we have seen improvement after some med changes right away. Unfortunately, the improvement doesn't last.
Is it too soon to call the LLMD to ask if this is the right med?
Posts: 984 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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dmc
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5102
posted
up for imput.
Posts: 2675 | From ct, usa | Registered: Jan 2004
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
It might be too soon to tell. Has she had any kind of flare or herx symptoms yet? You might want to give it more time.
I hope your daughter feels better soon:)
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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2roads
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4409
posted
JK,
My son is on Zith and Bactrim too.
It's been four months.
I have seen improvement with some things within the first month, like stomach and leg pain.
Other symptoms are better, but not gone....like drinking mucous every night, and eye issues.
I am staying the course until I see Doc J in the beginning of June.
I am not sure which TBDs you're fighting, but I know it takes awhile on meds to clear Lyme and Bart, especially if children are limited by age.
I would say it's too soon to tell, but I may be wrong.
If you don't mind my asking, how much does your daughter weigh, and what is the dose of Zith?
2roads
Posts: 2214 | From West Chester, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
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groovy2
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6304
posted
Hi JK
What dose is she on??
Posts: 2999 | From Austin tx USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Unlike other abx, I felt virtually nothing from bactrim. The word on this board seems to be that bactrim is good for co-infections. It could be that if you "only" have lyme then bactrim won't do much for you.
Posts: 727 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2006
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
Bactrim created some definite herxing for me. I herxed hard after the first pill, and continued to herx after each dose. After about 2 months, the pills didn't seem to do as much, but my cognitive symptoms do seem better now. Could be the minocycline I'm on too I suppose that cleared the symptoms, but it was definitely the Bactrim that was producing the herxes.
I would get fevers about 3 hours after taking it.
For me, I think it was hitting bartonella, because I wasn't really taking much else for babesia, and because of the symptoms that flared and then got better from it. I have Lyme/bartonella henselae/babesia confirmed in bloodwork.
However, maybe people with other strains of Bart would not respond to Bactrim. Or, maybe for me it was just hitting something else entirely. No way to know I guess.
For others, it seems to not do much. (maybe it IS doing something, but it is just not very obvious. I'm not sure)
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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tickbattler
Unregistered
posted
My 3 kids started on Bactrim and zith with Dr. J about 10 months ago. It seemed to help muscle pains in the beginning but both of my twin boys have slowly become more angry and more oppositional after 9 months on Bactrim. I didn't notice any herxing.
Also, the muscle pains came back after about 5 months with one of my boys. It seemed to help with the night terrors and crying at night with the other boy.
My 2 year old daughter started having the same night crying/whining and night terrors so I asked for Bactrim to be added to her protocol (she was only on zith), and after about 3 weeks on Bactrim that improved significantly. She has a positive bart hensalea test.
I asked Dr. J to switch one of my sons to rifampin about a month ago and his muscle pains disappeared right away. (He used to wake up every other day saying everything hurts.) He seems to be herxing with his behavior which has been a bit worse since starting it. Today was a better day, however, so I'm hoping we may be turning the corner. I am a little frustrated that we didn't switch to rifampin about 6 months ago!
My theory is that he has two or more strains of bart, and the bactrim helped one of them but the other gradually got worse. He did test positive for henselae and quintana.
You might give it another month, just to make sure, but when I asked Dr. J about how long he waits before switching meds, he said if there is no improvement in a month or two, he would switch. Not sure if this was only with respect to bart or not.
You are smart to start questioning whether it's working. Just keep pressing Dr. J if you feel that it is not and see what he says. After losing 6 months with my son getting worse in some ways (but better in others), I no longer hesitate to send a fax and request a change even before the next appt, or schedule a call to discuss it.
At our last appointment, I requested med changes for my other son too and got what I wanted...rifampin and biaxin. Per Dr. J, they both go after bart. We will see if that helps. He was formerly on omnicef and bactrim for 10 months (couldn't tolerate the zith).
With him too, I wish we had changed sooner, but at every appt, Dr. J told me that he was getting better, and he was in many ways. But had plataued with the oppositional behavior and now recently started having motor tics (OCD symptoms, per Dr. J).
Another thing Dr. J told me is that it takes about 6 to 12 months to get rid of bart.
I am glad to hear that Dr. J's guideline is to switch after a month or two.
I was thinking she might do better on rifampin if this doesn't work. She did test positive for henselae.
Tickbattler, why did you request biaxin to go with the rifampin?
Posts: 984 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
I used bactrim+ biaxin xl, and minocin also rifampin replaced bactrim after 2months.
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
My son couldn't tolerate azith, so he was put on omnicef. He is also being treated for babs with Mepron and artemisinin. I have heard that Mepron works better with a macrolide and it has always bothered me that he wasn't on one with it.
When I asked Dr. J, he said that macrolides are better with it, so I asked why we couldn't try biaxin. He said he often doesn't use it for younger kids b/c of the taste. I said that I would like to try it and if he won't drink it, then we could go back to omnicef or something else.
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