I'm always afraid to start a new protocol... I get anxiety - not that it'll make me worse (okay, maybe some of the anxiety is becauseof that, but I'm used to feeling bad), but that it'll make my heart symptoms worse. I have pretty bad heart symptoms including low blood pressure, chronic tachycardia, and palpitations. And I am always afraid to take anything that might make those symptoms worse as my heart symptoms are the one thing that gives me really bad depression and fear.
I'm supposed to start Factive today! I've never been on it before. I know I have to watch out for tendon problems... I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried about how it'll make me feel or if it'll cause more heart problems, etc.
How did you all do with Factive??? I'd like to hear about some of your experiences with it.
I am supposed to pulse it with Tindamax. Factive for 7 days and then Tindamax for 7 days.
Anyway, would love to hear your experiences with it and how Factive was for you. Which symptoms did it help and which symptoms did it make worse, etc.?
Thanks!
Posted by joysie (Member # 11063) on :
Factive is fine for me. I believe it has reduced some of my CNS symptoms and increased my general energy. I am personally afraid to start Tindamax!!! Kris
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
Thanks, Joysie. I'm afraid to start any new protocol!!!! LOL.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
Factive did wonders for me. I was afraid too, as I had a really rough time with some other meds.
Of course, the progress I made with other meds may be why I responded so well to Factive, so who knows?
I've done several pulses of Factive, a few 1 week pulses and 1 one month pulse. I'm now taking it every other week along with other orals.
I did Herx with Factive, but not as strongly as with other meds. So it was effective but bearable for me.
Good luck.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
@Joysie,
I recently began Tindamax and it was brutal for me. I am supposed to be taking it on my weeks off from Factive. The first week as bad but tolerable.
The 2nd week knocked me down pretty hard and I'm not over it yet more than a week since my last dose. If I take it again, I'll do a baby dose but may shelve it for now.
I think it was working, but too well!
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
Wonko, I am so glad to hear Factive was so great for you. I really hope it helps me as well. I do think Bartonella or Bartonella-like is a big issue for me...
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
I felt better on Factive. Unfortunately my insurance will not pay for it.
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
Yeah, unfortunately Factive is really expensive. I only got 14 pills and that was $25!!!! Posted by merrygirl (Member # 12041) on :
factive did absolutely nothing to me
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
I'm into my second pulse of 5 days on Factive and 5 days off. When I first started it, I had slid downhill terribly due to having to go off all abx, because of one problem after another. The Factive right away helped with the neuro sxs; my balance was better, etc. And I didn't have much of a herx.
Now it's harder to tell, because I am still getting over a brutal herx from Coartem. But the Factive seems fine so far, and it has helped.
Oh, and I paid $50 (co-pay!) for 20 pills.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
What other meds have worked well for you? I seem to respond most to (what I think are) Bart meds. I've been pulsing zith for a long time and still feel that it's working on me.
I was on Bactrim and had a huge response, but had to stop because I was Herxing non-stop. Same thing happened with plaquenil.
I've also been on mino for a long time, but feel it's done far less for me.
Of course it may do nothing or it may be too much for you, but I hope you have similar success with Factive. It is was got me well enough to resume full time work. It got me past the worst of the fatigue and really improved my quality of life.
And yes, my copay is also $50! As I wrote before on another thread, the way my insurance works is it's $50 per Factive Rx regardless of how many pills are in the Rx. So I ask my LLMD to write out the Rx in bigger amounts. I've been getting 30 pills per refill, so it's not too bad.
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
Wonko, I cannot be on Zith because my stomach doesn't agree with it. But when I was on it, I did feel better overall. Bactrim I did like, but it made me herx BIG time (like you said also)!!!! Plaquenil I was on for a while and didn't notice any herx with it or anything.
Mino I've been on for a really long time and don't like it. I don't think it really does anything for me. It did in the beginning, but the thing it caused me was severe neck pain. Before I was ever on it, I never had a stiff neck or the pain it gave me after I started taking Mino. And ever since Mino, I've had neck pain constantly. The Mino obviously did SOMETHING to cause the neck pain.... moved the bugs around or something. But that's the reason for my hating Mino so much.
Wow, Wonko, I am really going to have to do that too. Tell my doc to fill the prescription with a bigger amount of pills.
Posted by Wonko (Member # 18318) on :
Disturbed,
I know we're neighbors, perhaps we're seeing the same doc given the similar trajectory of out treatments?
Plaquenil caused me to have a lot of night sweats that I don't get on other meds or off treatment. I'm sure I have Lyme and Bart (or Bart-like), but my doc thinks I may have babs too, though I tested neg for that.
I'm thinking of backing off Mino. Though I feel like it doesn't do anything, I've been hesitant to stop "just in case" but I've been on it for nearly a year now and haven't noticed Herx's from it for about 1/2 that time...
Good luck.
Posted by Mathias (Member # 5298) on :
Factive was a wonder drug for me. Put me on the course to recovery. I was on it for 3 months, then pulsed 14 days a month for quite some time after that. If you are coinfected with bart or myco I highly recommend it.
Posted by knshore (Member # 13451) on :
I took factive for a long time and it wasn't a big deal. It didn't really do too much for me, but I have much worse babs and lyme sx than I do bart.
I don't think I actually even herxed on it; if I did, it was nothing to remember! Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
How is factive different from Levaquin? Anyone?
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
Myco - all I've read is that Factive is a newer drug and a teir above Levaquin.
Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
Is factive really newer than Levaquin? I didn't know that. Would love any feedback because I am supposed to start Levaquin shortly.
Posted by map1131 (Member # 2022) on :
So Factive is more expensive than Levaquin? Levaquin is so expensive even after my insurance. $50 for 30?
Mathais, what dosage did you start? Did you increase along the way?
Pam
Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
Anyone know why Factive might be more effective than Levaquin?
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