posted
I took it for malaria. It gave me and everyone else I knew who took it nightmares. I was really glad when my insurance paid for Malarone instead, which has no side effects at anti-malarial doses.
Some people have much worse reactions--hallucinations, psychosis, neurological effects, even coma. There's a Mefloquine survivors' support Yahoo group. And a class action suit: http://www.lariaminfo.org/category/homepage/
Given everything can go wrong with mefloquine, and given that Mepron and Malarone are safer alternatives, it seems an unnecessarily risky medication for people with Lyme
Posts: 431 | From New England | Registered: Dec 2011
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posted
My son took it for awhile for babesia, but he also never had any problems with flouroquinolones. He wasn't on it for very long, but I don't remember any specific problems.
-------------------- Son, 26, Dx Lyme 4/10, Babs 8/10 Had serious arthritis, all gone. Currently on Valtrex Daughter, 26,bullseye 7/11 arthritis in knees, cured and off all meds. . Self:Lyme, bart, sxs gone, no longer treating. Posts: 496 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Jul 2010
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Sammi
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 110
posted
There are a lot of posts here about Larium. Many people on this site, including me, have taken this. I was very nervous to take it, but I had no problems whatsoever.
The problem often seems to be when the loading dose is prescribed like in the military. Many Lyme doctors do not prescribe it this way. I did not take the loading dose, and I did fine.
Posts: 4681 | Registered: Oct 2000
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This was one of the best drugs hubby took for babesia. The first time he tried it back in 2003 or so he could not tolerate the psych side effects -- but that was before he got rid of bartonella.
In 2011 he took high dose lariam for 11 months or maybe longer -- along with many other malaria meds. He basically took the loading dose every 5 or 7 days -- at one point he could tell the difference in effectiveness if he went longer than 5 days in between doses. In my opinion this is one of the major meds that stopped his seizure like spells. But just this one med was no where near strong enough for his babs or whatever blood borne protozoa he had.
One of the reasons hubby took this med initially was that for 10 years or so he thought he was allergic to mepron. But he was actually able to take malarone with the lariam and that combo was helpful but again not nearly strong enough.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Interesting about the loading dose, Sammi. Clearly it's been important for many people with Babesia. Perhaps, given the seriousness of the potential side effects, it might be wise to have a discussion with the prescribing doctor about starting low to see how it affects you.
Posts: 431 | From New England | Registered: Dec 2011
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