I have tried over and over again to get my LLMD to test me for Mycoplasma and yet again I have been shot down.
The Dr. states that the research shows that almost everyone is positive for Mycoplasma and that this is not a likely cause of my CNS symptoms.
Yet I have read on this site how treating for this concurrently with Bb has helped a good number of you. Also, I have read that other LLMD's take mycoplasma seriously.
Is there any Dr. on the West Coast that takes mycoplasma seriously enough to test and treat for it?
Thanks!
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
I asked my doc about that because mycoplasma is what my daughter was first diagnosed with. He said that the two best antibiotic to fight it is zythromax and doxycycline.
So..if you have been on either one of those, then you have been treating the mycoplasma. He said he doesn't even test for it any more because it seems to get taken care of during the course.
Posted by GotLyme? (Member # 8485) on :
this is an informative site...although it is a protocol for mycoplasma in arthritis, I see no diff w/lyme treatment.
Has a section for you to print out for your doc to follow...very interesting.
I think that very little is know about various strains of mycoplasma...we have it everywhere but some weird strains like fermentens can be virulent.
Another Cell Wall Deficient organism that is too complex for anyone to study or discuss!!
Posted by tabbytamer (Member # 3159) on :
My LLMD tested me for it. My Mycoplasma pneumooniae IgG was positive. But she didn't seem to put much weight in it. She said if someone ever had the chickenpox it could be positive.
Maybe because it wasn't very high (?) It was 1.45 with a posit being anything greater than 1.09.
IgM was negative.
Test was performed by MDL labs.
Posted by Virginia of Yore (Member # 3269) on :
Try contacting Garth Nicolson, PhD at the below address (or Google if number has changed) to ask for a referral to a west coast doctor who'll test for Mycoplasmas. (M. fermentans is the Army-patented one that some are concerned about relative to Gulf War Syndrome and lyme.) You can read more on it if you Google for an article called "New Treatments for Chronic Infections Found in CFS, Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Gulf War Illnesses courtesy of American Academy of Environmental Medicine Newsletter (Winter 1997)" .
The Institute for Molecular Medicine 15162 Triton Lane Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1401 Tel (714) 903-2900 Fax (714) 379-2082
Someone earlier posted this on mycoplasmas, which come in many varieties):
"A mycoplasma is a pathogen that infects plants, animals and humans, and it is not a bacteria or virus. Rather, a mycoplasma is a member of the mollicute family, having no cell-wall, and is characterized as a virus-like infectious agent, somewhere in-between a virus and bacteria in complexity."
Posted by Mathias (Member # 5298) on :
Let me get on my soap box.....
He probably doesn't take mycoplasma seriously becuase he doesn't understand it. I had the same problem with my first LLMD and had to get a new one.
I am proof that mycoplasma can effect the CNS.
* Spinal tap PCR positive for mycoplasma fermentans * Treated with floroquinlones * I feel better today than I did and have fewer neurological problems
There is a lot of information published about M. pneumoniae leaving it's primiary site (the lungs) and then getting into the CNS and causing lots of damage.
Others mycoplasma species like fermentans are not as well understood but they are very pathogenic.
Mycoplasma treatment is similar to lyme treatment except that different antibiotics need to be used.
If you are not improving with your current LLMD my advice to you is that you need to find another LLMD that will at least check you for these infections. Call around.
After my symptoms started it took 11 months for them to find my mycoplasma infection. Since then I have been on antibiotics for it virtually non stop (2 years +) and I still relaspse 14-21 days after I stop them.
Systemic mycoplasma infections are nothing to mess around with.
Posted by GotLyme? (Member # 8485) on :
Thanks everyone for the information and links.
Keep them comming!
Posted by GotLyme? (Member # 8485) on :
Does anyone on the West Coast know of the MD that will test for Mycoplasma?
Posted by Jellybelly (Member # 7142) on :
West Coast is verrrrrry long. I can recommend someone in San Diego Co., hope you aren't in Northern West Coast. He is very knowledgable about Mycos, it was the first pathogen I was positive for, Fermentans and Pnuemonia. I had moved out of state for awhile and that is where I was finally diagnosed with Lyme. I have not seen my old doc since returning, but plan to soon. He will treat the Lyme, no doubt about it. He is very open minded and will find my new diagnosis fascinating. I have been seeing him for about 12 years, and we work great together in trying to figure this puzzle out. He LOVES to learn from his patients.
Like others have brought out treatments are similar. I was given Doxy and then Mino for the Mycos. I have made some great improvements so I suspect that the Mino and Doxy work for the Lyme too. Maybe not the #1 drug of choice, but they are listed pretty high up there.