LymeNet Flash: Should I change Biaxin or give it a little more time.

This is topic Should I change Biaxin or give it a little more time. in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

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Posted by LaurenTurner (Member # 12320) on :

I started taking Biaxin and Omnicef on Tuesday.

The first night I had a scary experience with my heart.

It was beating really hard and fast for about 4 hours and causing major chest pain.

I've also been having a congested feeling in my chest.

Don't know how to explain it other than it feels kind of like I felt when I had bronchitis, but I'm pretty sure it's not that!

I've had this feeling from time to time since being infected.

My question is, does it get better with time or is this not the antibiotic for me?

I'm pretty sure it's the biaxin and not the omnicef....

Before I was dx'ed with LD one of my most scary symptoms was heart palps.

Once in April I had the same thing happen where my heart was beating really fast and hard for a long time.

So could this just be a herx?? I just never know what to do with this dang disease.

What would you do? Give me some advice, please!

If I do get off of biaxin, any suggestions on what I should try next?

I've been on minocin/minocycline with a little bit of herxing but didn't improve afer a month.

I was on doxy and did really good with it.

But my doctor switched me to Zith because it was in the Summer and he was worried about sun sensitiviy.

Zithromax didn't help at all.

Went on doxy a second time and after 2 months had not changes, I didn't even herx while on it.

I'm also taking flagyl...and have never had a problem with it and I'm taking 750 mg. 3 X a week.

Thanks for reading this!

Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :

I'm taking Biaxin, but only on the weekends.

The first thing I'd do is call my LLMD and tell him/her about the chest pain and heart palps. S/he may want to change the med or s/he'll give advice or tell you what to do. S/he'll know what to do. [Smile]

I hope you start feeling better soon. Heart palps is one of the things I always had really badly before I was diagnosed as well. One day it went for 10 minutes or longer and it got so bad I almost fainted because I felt like I couldn't get a breath in with all the palps. I would be very, very scared to have anything longer than what I had then. [Frown]

Even just the 10 minutes was scary.

Posted by HaplyCarlessdave (Member # 413) on :

I don't really know, but I do know that when I had clarithromycin )'biaxin') it was with huge doses of amoxicillin, and that this combi was very good against the Lyme. Before that I had cepharoxime axefil ('ceftin') and doxycycline, though it was eartly in my treatment, and I had no shortage of "issues" from the lyme and the treatment at that point. 'Omnicef' wasn't available then, but I couldn't have iv anyway.
There's a theory about complementation with multiple abx you might want to ask about. (I don't know enough to state it).
DaveS

Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :

Hi Lauren

Biaxin is a Very Good ABX--
It is one of the most effective if not the Most effective single ABX --

It usually takes a short time for the good effects to show --

Your wacky heart beat is usually a sign of Babs-
but not always tho -

Having your crazy heart beat increase after starting ABX is a Good Sign -
No Fun - but still a good sign --

Yes your symptoms will decrease in time-

but there will be flucations in symptoms-
they will get worse and new ones will show up
as old symptoms decrease--

This Is to be expected and is normal -

The trick is to not worry about these fluctions -
I know this is hard to do - but worry
will slow your recovery --

Worry is Stress and not a good thing --

In my recovery there were many times that I thought my heart was going to explode
any second --

I am still here -

Make sure to take your meds on time and
do not miss any doses -
Its Important --

Drink Gallons of warm tea or water every day-
this washes the toxins out of your system -
Not coffee or juice -

Some people Herx within hours of taking
a new ABX - I usually herx in 2 to 4 hours
when starting a new ABX -

But I did not get my First herx till about 4 months into treatment-

I was concerned that I did not herx and just
wished I would herx so I have some sign -

Herxing was not a smart thing to wish for-
I herxed non stop for over a year and was
no fun and Painful -

It takes a long time to get well again-
It has taken me 3 years to get to the
point that I am mostly symptom free -

I got bite 20 yrs ago and have Lyme and Babs-
I was Super sick and just a couple of months
from being dead -
I did it --You can Too

Doxi is a very good ABX -but it has to be taken
in a higher dose for it to be effective
400 to 600mg spread threw the day -

Do not eat ANY Citrus or cranberries
while taking Doxi -even small amounts -

Lemon in a glass of tea is enough to cause
bad reaction - so be careful -

Flagyl- it is very effective and is usually
given after the Bug load has gone down --

One thing that can happen when taking Flagyl
is that it can cause you to get depressed
and Bummed Out - start thinking Wacky stuff-

It even did it to me and I Never get bummed out-

I can not blame my Wackiness on Flagyl --

Make sure to tell you family and friends
about this side effect of Flagyl
so they can keep a eye on you --

Hope this helps you-- Jay--

Posted by ElaineC (Member # 9857) on :

[QUOTE]Originally posted by groovy2:
[QB]
Do not eat ANY Citrus or cranberries
while taking Doxi -even small amounts -

Lemon in a glass of tea is enough to cause
bad reaction - so be careful -

Hi Jay,

I didn't know this about Doxy! Can you explain why citrus is so bad with it?.....I guess that means the old reliable lemon water for herxes is out when on Doxy?

Posted by h8lyme (Member # 11765) on :

I have been on doxy for a few months and haven't had any negative effects from eating citrus fruits. My pharmacist never told me anything about them being negative nor my doctor. Are you sure its not just you? [confused]

Posted by LaurenTurner (Member # 12320) on :

Jay, that was very helpful. Thanks!!

I think Biaxin is definitely killing some bugs.

Within just a few hours of my first dose, I started feeling much worse.

I had gone to the grocery store and felt like I could fall over any minute and I was dizzy. [dizzy]

I had lots of heart symptoms even before being diagnosed. I think there must be a lot of bugs hanging out around my heart. [Mad]

This morning I feel like I've been hit by a truck- I'm sore all over.

I guess most of these worse symptoms are a good sign.

Thanks again for all that you said.

Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :

I've had the same thing...my chest hurts...kindof upper sternum.

I've been adding artemesia with the Biaxin. Maybe I'm getting a Babs double whammy herx.

Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :

Hi All

Citrus and doxi will cause you to become
Photo Toxic -Google it --
the Pictures of what can happen will
Freek You Out- it did me -

Citrus causes the doxi to get absorbed better-
and be stronger -
( not necessarily a bad thing )

If your doc will only give you 200mg a day
of doxi then eating citrus MAY not cause
you problems -and could help -

But if you are taking High doses of doxi already
you do not want to have this effect -

I have been threw the Photo Toxic effect
and You Do Not want to take a chance
of this happening to you -
It was HORRIBLE -- Im Serious --

I am Not surprised that your pharmistist did
not say anything to you about this -

From my experience with pharmacist's most
of them are nothing more than bottle fillers-
-- Scary --

I have been Lucky enough to have what
has to be one of the Best pharmacists
in the US taking care of me--

His name is Chris Johnson and his pharmacy
is called MedSavers here in Austin TX--

He is so Knowledgeable and Helpful that
he puts ALL other pharmacies to shame -
Serious Shame --

Chris runs MedSavers so well that he has
been written about in Bunches of News paper-
Magazine articals and TV programs -

Medsavers is like what you envision
when you think about the Good Old Days -

when people Cared about Doing a Good Job
and treating Customers like You ARE Important-

Chris is Now a Good Friend of mine for Life -
I Really like people like him -

Chris sells Only Generic medicines -
and Sells them VERY Cheap -

I asked how he can sell his meds so cheap-

He told me that he Makes a Good Profit-
and that other pharmacies and med companies
are Just Ripping You Off --Shameful--

Here is a Example -

For Doxi I Was paying 50 cents each and
had to buy 300 to 500 at Once to
get this price

If I bought less than300
the price was $1.08 each-

(Albertsons pharmacy it was the cheapest
I could find in Austin at the time) --

Chris sell the EXACT Same Doxi for 20 cents-
Any amount -

Everything he sells is priced like this-

and when his Cost goes down he passes
the savings on to you -

Chris and his 4 employees are on a First Name
bases with Everyone of his customers -

Chris Knows from memory what meds you are
taking - - Amazing -

( Before I got sick I had a memory almost
as good as Chris's - Now I Lucky if I can
remember what I was just doing --
I sure miss my memory )

Chris chooses his employees Carefully
and it shows --

MedSavers can sell to people in Texas--
he will mail you your meds -

He charges $3 extra for this
and it includes postage I think -

Below is a link to MedSavers

I have written a bunch about
Citrus and Doxi in the past-

Do a search on me and include
the word citrus or Sun in the search

Hope this helps -- Jay --

click here

Posted by pamoisondelune (Member # 11846) on :

Before you go on Biaxin, you are supposed to have an EKG, to make sure (i think) that it won't cause your heart to beat too slowly.

Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :

Keep using it I would for at least 3 months then switch to another.

Posted by GardenLymer (Member # 6008) on :

Biaxin was a life saver for me - being allergic to many abx, this was one my system tolerated very well, and was on it for a very long time. That said, remember - usually whatever your symptom's were before TX - are the symptoms that will temp increase when herxing. If you stick w/ it, they will usually decrese after a while.

Mine increased for a few months, then much improvement. Now, very rarely get heart palps; and when I do, they are so brief compared to begining TX. Remember - Lyme is in your heart. I would give it alittle longer. (But of course check w/ your LLMD)

Unfortunatly, there is no way to avoid herxes - just try to detox as best as possible - till you find yourself on the other side of this symptom.

My heart palps were always worse when trying to go to sleep - often was afraid to finally go to sleep, that I might have a heart attack. Of course this never happened.

I tried to calm myself when in the middle of them - if you become too freaked out by them, it can lead (at least in my case) to panic attacks - which I found to be much worse than the heart palps. I tried to think of it this way...Before TX - when I got them - the bugs were killing me; when I was on TX and got them - it meant that I was killing them!