Hi, I guess I'm just looking for a little light at the end of the tunnel, maybe some of you can shed that for me.
I'm on about my 5th course of mepron for babesia over the course of about 7 years. It always comes back!
The first clue to it's arrival is mind numbing headaches and soon to follow are the drenching night sweats.
I've been fortunate that I've tolerated the mepron without a problem along with artimenisin three times a day. Of course I'm on a litany of supplements, along with ketek and ceftin.
This go round started about 4 months ago. The headaches are much better but the sweats just don't seem to want to go away.
So I guess my question to those of you who have experienced this is should I be thinking this particular regimen is no longer working and see if my LLMD will try something else..malarone?
Or is this expected, Does anything else in the coinfection world cause night sweats..Bart?
I appreciate you taking the time to read this and value your input.
Thanks Sue
Posted by SForsgren (Member # 7686) on :
I have also heard of other approaches to the Artemisin which is 1200-1500mg a day for 3 days then take a break for a couple of weeks and repeat the cycle. Might want to ask your doctor about that.
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Did you a try a search of the archives for babesia? Lots of previous discussion, including some recent on alternative treatments for recalcitrant cases.
It took me 8 months to beat it down.
Posted by dharmacleaning (Member # 2114) on :
I just read an article about malaria ( in my case, tick malaria or babesia) and the need to take BOTH antibiotics and quinine - I took clindamyacin and some kind of quinine that the doctor prescribed. It worked, and the sweats went away, although I did have some headaches still that I took homeopathic belladonna for. Please only take homeopathic belladonna to anyone reading! The herb belladonna is really dangerous. Anyway, the article said you must take both or it won't work. Perhaps this is what's happened to you? Good luck...
Posted by rosesisland2000 (Member # 2001) on :
I indured several years of drenching, severe night sweats. I had to change bed linens and my night clothes, sometimes a couple of times per night.
I even learned to cheat having to change bed linens by going to bed first laying on a very thick beach towel. After it got drenched, I'd then have a couple of hours sleep before more got wet.
What worked for me was a combination of things, antibiotics and hormones. That didn't work over night but, eventually it worked.
Have you had your hormone levels checked? It doesn't matter whether you are man, women, pre-menapausal, or post. Lyme interferes with those levels....IMO, and I'm not a doc.
My LLMD, I don't see anymore cause I don't need to, checks for many of those levels and goes from there. Check out the link below my signature.
Good luck and I hope for you that this passes fast.
Posted by David95928 (Member # 3521) on :
My night sweats stopped several months after starting treatment for lyme. My results have been good and my doctor and I have not investigated further. Perhaps your problem is due to the Lyme not being effectively treated.
Posted by vitch (Member # 8094) on :
My night sweats happen if I've eaten high carb that day. It turned out to be Morgellons. Morgellons is rarer than anything else that's been mentioned here but it is a slight possibility for Lyme patients, especially if you've had yeast.
Posted by liz28 (Member # 4946) on :
I had this problem for a year--relapsing babesia--and am now doing well on the following combination: mepron, doxycycline, artemisinin supplements, primaquine. You may also wish to go online and research ACTs, malaria treatments that combine artemisinin with other drugs.
Before starting on this latest abx treatment, which is very strong thanks to the primaquine, I did five months of rifampin and ketek for bartonella, which seems to have worked, and omnicef and ketek for Lyme. While it's never wise to say Lyme has completely gone away, the symptoms have not been around for at least two months.
If you are taking malaria drugs, it's a good idea to just dive into all the websites covering this topic and learn everything. The authorities on this subject are travel doctors, not Lyme doctors. There are also specialists now in drug-resistant babesia. Relapsing malaria (plasmodium vivax) is the most common form of malaria in the world, and is well-studied. Its presence in North America has also been well-documented by, among others, the New England Journal of Medicine.
Posted by Lydie (Member # 8327) on :
Are you having hot flashes as well? It is true that Lyme can affect hormones and can cause sweats. But also, if you are a female in your 40's, perimenopause causes these (as well as menopause itself, a little later).
There are OB/GYN's who are very good at figuring this out...Try to find one who prescribes bio-identical hormone replacement. These docs do very individual testing and custom-made, "compounded" hormone supplements that can help a lot.
If hormones aren't relevant, and you have pretty good evidence that it is not Lyme itself causing your problem, then you can feel better about taking the strong meds like mepron for babesia.
Personally, I am saving a lot on our heating bill, because, when I am alone in our house, I do not need the heat on! However, every morning I wake up sopping wet. The warm covers are a trigger for the flashes/sweats, so I think that's why they happen so much at night.
It seems reasonable that the autonomic nervous system could be affected in such a way to cause body temp. problems w/sweats, too- by Lyme or by some other cause. I think, if you do a search on "dysatonomia," there miht be some information on this.
If, for any reason, your body's thermostat regulation is off, it overcompensates for low temp. by trying to raise it, and then overreacts again to the heat, by sweating, which then makes you cold, which makes the body try to warm up, etc. etc.
Posted by Life inLymbo (Member # 8388) on :
Thankyou for your input. I'll do some searches and just keep on trucking along. Thanks Sue
Posted by 5dana8 (Member # 7935) on :
Hey Scott 1,200 to 1,500 thats a huge dose. Do you have any stomach upset. Is it dangerous to take such high does?