Holy crap, I was just about to swallow my evening dose when I read this. I didn't take it. I knew Ketek could be "hard on your liver" but this is a risk I'm not willing to take.
I'm just about at the end of my initial 6 month treatment, any advice? Have any of you changed from Ketek to a different abx ?
Posted by psano (Member # 7785) on :
Scot, I improved a lot on Ketek. I DID have some hepatotoxicity early in treatment, but after starting milk thistle and alpha lipoic acid supplementation my liver enzymes went back to normal and I continued on Ketek for another 5 months without problem.
According to my LLNP, Dr. B has used Ketek successfully on thousands of patients. But you must take appropriate measures (milk thistle and ala as I mentioned above) to protect the liver.
I took the Ketek in addition to getting Bicillin LA injections weekly. So my experience w/Ketek was overall positive. I'm still on Bicillin LA, but have switched the Ketek to Tindamax as of 2 months ago, and continue to improve.
Be sure to monitor your liver enzymes monthly.
Patti
Posted by Mathias (Member # 5298) on :
First ABX that helped me and I had no liver problems whatsoever. I'm a big believer in it. No qualms about using it again.
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I've posted several times about Ketek and liver damage so you can do a search.
I am not warning anyone against it - it's a decision between you and your LLMD.
My recommendation is that you have your liver enzymes checked far more frequently than with many other antibiotics.
In just seven weeks on it, it damaged my liver so severely that the hepatologist was almost sure I would need a liver transplant. The pathologist who saw my liver biopsy told my hepatologist that it was the liver of someone who was already in liver failure. I had been on liver-protective herbs the whole time I was on Ketek.
I had to go off all antibiotics, supplements and everything for five months until my enzymes normalized. The hepatologist was considering putting me on steroids to reduce the inflammation, but I refused given the Lyme. Needless to say, my Lyme symptoms worsened dramatically.
Again, I don't mean to scare you but I am one of the horror stories, my hepatologist filed an official incident report with the pharmaceutical company, etc., so it can happen.
It's too bad because Ketek was the only antibiotic that lessened my muscle pain.
Jill
Posted by minimonkey (Member # 8693) on :
I'm a Ketek believer, too -- though I know it is risky. I'm taking a lot of liver support, watching the enzymes, and hoping I can keep taking it. It is helping me immensely!
Posted by dontlikeliver (Member # 4749) on :
Jill,
Were you taking other herbs, apart from the liver support at the time?
Posted by GiGi (Member # 259) on :
up
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I was on a Lyme herbal/homeopathic/frequency formula at the time, too, that never had any interaction with the Doxy I had been on previously, but who knows if it interacted with the Ketek. I had been muscle-tested for everything.
I was on no other antibiotics except Ketek at the time.
That is the challenge of these kinds of things, whether it's an unexpected interaction or just the medication. The biopsy showed a medication toxicity.
The only thing I can say is I've never had any problems on any other antibiotics before or since Ketek, my liver biopsy results were nearly identical to the results of one of the patients in North Carolina (I believe) who needed a liver transplant after only a few days on Ketek.
I never drink even one drop of alcohol so that's not the issue (I think it had been an issue with some liver problems with Ketek), and even when I used the herbal tincture, I let the alcohol base evaporate out for 12 hours before I used it.
Again, everyone has to make up their own mind. I would just say, if you usually get liver enzyme tests once a month, why not be extra careful and get them every week or two while on Ketek?
Jill
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
I had tremendous improvement on Ketek. Below is the link to the FDA advisory. They are recommending close monitoring by your physician.
It is never a good idea to stop abx without first talking to your doctor about it...unless you are having an allergic reaction or some other potential deadly reaction. As others have said, you can get your liver enzymes checked regularly.
It is one of the best drugs I've used. It turned my Lyme symptoms around when paired with omnicef, got rid of a lot of household bugs that took hold when Lyme turned me into the world's worst housekeeper, and also helped with bartonella when paired with rifampin.
I always took lots of liver support: schizandra, Dr. Zhang's Hepa Formula 2, milk thistle, NAC, selenium, phosphatidylcholine, zinc/copper, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid.
Posted by dontlikeliver (Member # 4749) on :
Jill,
I only asked because my LLMD said he's only had one patient who had 'real' liver problems on Ketek, and he's had thousands of patients on Ketek, and this patient had been self-medicating with 'a bunch of herbs'(I think he meant raw-type herbs, not ready made formula type) alongside the Ketek.