is it comparable to doxy. i need to switch to something else unfortunately and i was wondering if amox in a high dose is potent enough...especially to handle business in the brain area.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
I don't believe Amoxy crosses the blood-brain barrier, but I could be wrong. Omnicef is supposed to, and Omnicef is supposed to be pretty easy to handle.
Posted by MarsyNY (Member # 7766) on :
Panic,
I have found that the amoxicillin has helped immensely with my neuro problems. Some doctors use probencid in combination with the Amoxy and say it gets to the brain better that way. YOu could ask Michelle I know that has been a backbone treatment for her.
I have never taken Doxy so I cannot do the comparison. I did not expect the amoxicillin to work as well as it did. ( i had one bad month but did discover it was a reaction to the inactive ingredients)
Still not sure what crosses whos bbb....
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
Hi Panic,
Yes, I had an experience like yours. Started on doxy, 400mg/day, and had a profound calming effect from that. But did not want to stay on doxy due to the side effects, for me.
So, I am now on amoxy working up to 7.5g/day. I have been on amoxy 3-4g/day since late July, and I can tell you that for me, amoxy also works effectively for neuro symptoms, just slower.
Whereas doxy gave me a profound change within 10 days -- it really killed something off -- amoxy also has that effect, but spread out over these six months.
the first llmd that I saw said that many of his lyme patients saw improvement after 5-6 months on amoxy (at 3g/day), and to be patient. I have to admit that I did see a significant improvement recently, at around six months.
I am also seeing an improvement after just recently going up to 6-7+ g/day amoxy.
You also should check out the other modalities discussed here on lymenet -- saunas help, and so do the Buhner herbs (get his book, Healing Lyme). It really is a whole lifestyle change, giving up sugar and alcohol, going on a yeast-free diet, but compared to suffering with untreated lyme, you will be happy with the results. Good luck and keep us posted!
and to answer your question, yes, the idea is that at high enough doses -- like 7g/day, amoxy to some extent crosses the bbb. So do the Buhner herbs like andrographis, which has helped me.
I herxed alot when I first too andrographis -- I could only take one-half a capsule to start. Now I take six capsules/day without an effect. Given how much better I feel, I interpret that to mean that there is just less of Bb to kill off, so less herxing from the Andrographis.
Posted by MarsyNY (Member # 7766) on :
Vermont,
Thanks for posting this I was wondering how you were doing upping the amoxicillin.
I must get Buhners book, Im overdue on that one. WoW, the andrographis sounds like it has helped alot of people. Which one are you using?
Posted by ESG (Member # 4816) on :
I was on 12 amoxi a day, either 4 AM-4 Lunch-4 PM or 6 in AM and 6 in PM, plus 1 Probenicid each time I took amoxi. It helped me.
However, the best I ever felt was on doxy, 200 mg in AM and 200 mg in PM: I felt a big improvement when they put me back on doxy. Then they added Tindamax and I felt even better. So that is my favorite combo.
ESG
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
Hi Marsy! Yes, you really should get Buhner's book and read it, it is pretty impressive. He has put together alot of evidence to support his herbal protocol, and it is well-researched and has lots of suggestions.
I think the buhner-recommended herbs and supplements have really helped me, along with all the amoxy. I only got the book six weeks ago, but had read about his protocol on the web, so was taking a little andrographis, resveratrol, and cats claw already since the fall. But -- get the book, because it has so much more information on lyme, the effects, dosage, timing, etc.
I am taking Nature's Way standardized Andrographis, (10% standardized, as recommended by buhner), about six/day. WHen I first started Andrographis, just one capsule would kick my butt, in the way all abx (doxy, amoxy, zith) did during the first week. It felt indistinguishable from an abx herx.
Now I take 6 capsules/day without feeling any effect from andrographis, which I am hopefully interpreting as that there are just less 'chetes to kill off. So for me, andrographis has had the same kind of "arc" in terms of subjective feeling as all antibiotics have. Herx, and then feel better.. (Sorry to hijack the thread!)
ESG-- what dosage amoxy were you taking, 12 of the 500mg/day?