posted
I've suspected I have had babesia for a while now, and my doc is strongly considering it too. I think he is planning a 4 week babesia trial for me next month.
A couple of questions:
What are the main symptoms? I have had tons of weird symptoms, but I think the babesia ones are neck pain and shortness of breath... had them for years now. And recently (after I stopped all meds as a test for 4 weeks), I have begun waking up all hot and sweaty at night. My pajama top was all wet one night, another time the back of my hair was all damp. I'm basically curious, do I need to be drenched in sweat to consider it as a babesia symptom, or is just somewhat sweaty typical?
Are there any tell-tale signs on a CBC that point to Babesia?
One oddness I have noticed are small platelet sizes (or something similar). I also test well for O2 saturation, 98-100, yet am short of breath at the time.
And finally, could malarone substitute for mepron during treatment, and what doses are used? My doc likes zith + mepron, but I have noticed mepron is like insanely expensive and will eat up my yearly prescription cap space in like 2 months. Malarone is a lot of money too, but not as bad (I think).
Posts: 584 | From NY | Registered: Feb 2009
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posted
My husband did mepron and malarone. I think he made more progress on malarone than mepron. Another good combination if you find you are responding to the babesia meds is clindamycin and qualaquine.
Posts: 984 | From San Diego | Registered: Nov 2006
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tick battler
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21113
posted
The sweats don't have to be completely drenching to be babesia. Yours sound like they could be babs to me. And they don't have to be every night.
My kids' babesia symptoms (not all at once) were: sitting around a lot, less active due to increased fatigue, headaches on and off, night and sometimes increased day sweats, more emotional, nausea, reduced appetite, chest pain, hallucinating colored spots (I think this was babs), jaw pain (not sure this was babs), low ferritin.
I think Mepron is used more often but Malarone can work as well. Depends on the person.
You might add artemisinin or artemesia to your Mepron or Malarone, as I think you can kill it better that way.
tickbattler
Posts: 1763 | From Malvern, PA | Registered: Jul 2009
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The shortness of breath is what myself and my doc are using primarily as a basis for considering babesia, although the recent night sweats I find very suspicious.
I already tested positive for ehrlichia, rickettsia, bart, and lyme, so figuring out what specific tick problem is causing my symptoms is difficult. Lyme + Bart still need further treatment, but I think shortness of breath typically (although not always) goes with Babesia. But it's the one co-infection I didn't test positive for.
I guess I'll find out if Babesia meds make me feel better and allow me to breathe normally again. I have this underlying feeling if I can breathe normally, I will sleep much better, and get well from lyme a lot faster.
I'll ask my doc about artemisinin too, But I need to be careful about herbs and drug interactions.
Posts: 584 | From NY | Registered: Feb 2009
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posted
Great, I learn more every day. I already suspected that I had Babesia but if shortness of breath is particular to Babesia then I am positive that I have it. I get short of breath just walking at a leisurely pace.
-------------------- Bart and Babesia seropositive Current tx: Rifampin, Biaxin, Bactrim DS, Artemisinin, Resveratrol (japanese knotweed), Red Root, Boneset Posts: 168 | From PA | Registered: Feb 2010
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