linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
My son is being treated for bartonella. He has been taking rifampin and bactrim oral antibiotics 2X day for about a week.
He started feeling weak, drained, sweaty, and had a headache yesterday and today. He is now sleeping about 14 hours per night.
His doctor now thinks his symptoms, which are cognitive in nature, line up more with bartonella than lyme.
He also said the bactrim will work on bartonella and lyme, the rifampin is for bartonella. So my question is: can you herx during bartonella die-off? You mostly hear only about lyme herxes.
Or could he just be feeling bad from so much antibiotic? Lot's of questions I know. Anybody out there got any answers? Thanks!!
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
| IP: Logged |
Jill E.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9121
posted
I had horrendous herxes from Bartonella medications, yet I rarely herx from Lyme medications - even though I am Western Blot positive for five diseases.
One of my LLMDs thinks that any of these type of pathogens can cause a herx or die-off reaction, not just Lyme.
That being said, Rifampin is a tough antibiotic even for those who do not have Bartonella. A nurse in my internist's office had to go on Rifampin due to a TB exposure and she could barely function on it.
Jill
-------------------- If laughter is the best medicine, why hasn't stand-up comedy cured me? Posts: 1773 | From San Diego | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged |
linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
Hi Jill E.,
Thanks for the info. My son is 14 years old and very thin. He's under 100 lbs. and getting thinner. No appetite.
I wonder if I should ask for a lower dose and work our way up or tough it out. It sure looks like it's working on something. I worry since he's so frail.
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
| IP: Logged |
Jill E.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9121
posted
Linky,
I could never make it to a full dose because the herxes were so scary and debilitating. However, my LLMDs really wanted me to push through to the full dose (I work so it was hard).
However, now I regret that I stayed on a half-dose because my Bart test just came back still positive despite long-term treatment with Rifampin, and some treatment at a different time with Levaquin. So I may be dealing with Bart that became resistant to antibiotics.
But given your son's age and build, it is important to talk to his Lyme doctor.
Because I am so sensitive to medications, I had to start at a compounded pediatric dose (liquid Rifampin) and ramp up to the adult version (and I'm no youngster, believe me!)
The bright spot is that some of the worst side effects did eventually calm down after several weeks, but other things that were clearly herxes were a problem for me for months. However, my symptoms have always been clearly Bartonella-related for the most part.
Jill
-------------------- If laughter is the best medicine, why hasn't stand-up comedy cured me? Posts: 1773 | From San Diego | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged |
losferwrds
Unregistered
posted
Bactrim had a ton of negative side effects,
6 pages of horror storys, I was on on it 14 days for Bart just stopped sunday, anxiety from day 1 by day 14 tachychadia 110 bpm all day, felt like I was on speed, dry cough, chedst tightness , hey I thought herxes made you tired not make you feel like yout on crack, I stopped the crap and 3 days later I feel fine.
IP: Logged |
linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
Jill E.
I guess since it's my child going through this, I get a little neurotic. I know we all have to endure some tough things to get through all this. I will call his doc tomorrow to see what to do.
It may be a blessing in disguise that he is sleeping so much. He has very poor sleep efficiency, which I understand is another symptom of bartonella.
This was confirmed on a recent sleep study, which was done before starting the meds.
Maybe this medication will help him to get some much-needed rest. He's so tired. Take care, I hope you feel better every day.
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
| IP: Logged |
linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
losfrwrds,
Thanks for the link. Lots of good info. Scary though!
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Askapatient.com is a great site, but keep in mind if you look at the results for any antibiotic on the site they all sound really scary and are all given low ratings.
Posts: 526 | From NJ | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic