posted
After quite a few months, I was feeling really amazing on Amoxicillin, Bactrim and Grapefruit Seed Extract. I got the feeling that I was getting better!
I was only feeling sick for 3-4 days of the week and was feeling fantastic, energetic the rest of the week.
My LLMD thought that maybe the Bactrim had done the job, and took me off it. Now, I'm feeling sick and tired again.
Bah! Always two steps forward, one back.
Anybody else here dealing with chronic Bartonella?
Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
I jsut stopped treatment of 4 months with rifampin and septra. I felt GREAT on those drugs. I had to stop due to a possible C Diff infection, of which I should find out test results any day.
I am slowly seeing bart symptoms returning though, much to my discouragement.
I too would like to hear from bart sufferers. Anyone seem to cure bart? What treatments did you use?
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
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posted
7.5 months of rifampin here with no improvement--worse, actually.
Posts: 124 | From Toronto | Registered: Aug 2009
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seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
TF has stated many times her Bartonella was cured with Levaquin for a few months - basically just following Dr. B's recommend guidelines.
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
I've been on Levaquin for about 5 months now. I've had on and off relief from my Bart symptoms. With me its sort of an every other month thing. One month I think "hey I'm cured" then I hit a trough, which can last another whole month. I've been nauseous for almost a month, not bad, but its there. Also my eye gets this fuzzy, odd feeling that can last for a week or more. Sometimes it'll be my arm and shoulder that feel like they are under a lot of pressure, which I thought I was done with but which has come back a bit lately. Then there is the famous "painful soles of feet". Five months ago the bottoms of my feet all day and sometimes pretty badly.
I am gonna do some yoga and go to the gym. Yeah I feel pretty yucky, but I'm gonna go do pullups and presses and all sorts of stuff.
I couldn't do that a year ago. So perhaps all of the Babs, Lyme and Bartonella treatment really is doing something. I don't see any end in sight yet though.
Posts: 152 | From West Palm Bech, FL | Registered: May 2008
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
Ninjaphire,
Have you considered that maybe it's being off the Amoxicillin that is making you feel worse? Or are those definite Bart symptoms you're dealing with now? I ask because in my opinion, Lyme is harder to get rid of. That has been my experience.
The first time I took Bactrim, I herxed really hard, right away (after the first pill). After about 6 weeks, I wasn't really herxing anymore. Then a little after that, I felt like it was no longer doing anything, and maybe wearing me down, so I stopped it.
But, my cognition and psych symptoms had greatly improved just in those 6-8-ish weeks. So much so that I stopped my mood stabalizer, and haven't gone back on it since.
I think I was also on Zithromax and maybe minocycline for Lyme, with the Bactrim.
Even though those cognitive/emotional symptoms were better, I still did herx when I started an herbal tincture that treats Lyme and Bart. So I suspected the Bart was still there, just not as active.
Well recently I got a bladder infection, so i started Bactrim again. I got incredible headaches from it (or it could have still been the herbal tincture, b/c I was increasing that as well). But I think there's a good chance it was the Bactrim hitting some more Bart, because I started getting really irritable.
But I'm still feeling like now that it's been a week or two, the herxing is already starting to die down, so this time, it was shorter herxing.
So I guess I feel like I'm making progress, sort of by doing long pulses of it. (8 weeks on, 12 off, 8 on, etc).
So far, only 2 weeks into Bactrim round 2, it's a lot better. I'm planning on doing it for awhile longer, to continue to beat the Bart into the ground.
For me it seems to be working.
If I don't get lasting symptom relief though, I may still try Levaquin, just to see if it takes me to another level of wellness. Levaquin does seem to help a lot of people.
I didn't get much benefit for the 2 months I was on Rifampin. Stopped it b/c it was making me super tired. Cipro also wasn't too great for me.
So those are my experiences....for me, Bartonella henselae has responded a lot quicker to meds than Lyme, which makes sense because Bart has a shorter reproductive cycle. I did test positive for both in the past.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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I'm still on the Amoxicillin+GSE. I'm just not feeling as good now as I was feeling on Amoxicillin+Bactrim+GSE.
Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
Oh, okay. Now I understand.
How long were you on the Bactrim for?
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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posted
I can't remember exactly when I started it. 4 months I think ...
Posts: 330 | From Colorado, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
I wonder if Bactrim has any effect on some species of mycoplasma. Or if you could be killing some other type of "mystery bug." Or, it could have even been affecting babesia.
Because it seems to be like "normal" Bartonella (dunno about "BLO") should be under control from 4 months of Bactrim. And if not, I don't know how much more benefit continuing Bactrim would be, for normal Bart, if it's not already gone on Bactrim.
So if you think it could be hitting myco or something else, you could keep taking it.....but if you still need to take care of Bart, maybe you should try something new, perhaps in combo with Bactrim?
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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tick battler
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21113
posted
My kids see Dr. J in CT. He told me it normally takes 6 to 12 months to eradicate bartonella. He has used either bactrim or rifampin for my children.
He said that both work equally well, but in some cases he sees one drug work when the other doesn't, as what happened with one of my boys.
tickbattler
Posts: 1763 | From Malvern, PA | Registered: Jul 2009
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