I had a friend turn yellow while treating with mepron and zith. Her liver couldn't handle it. She had to stop treatment until the liver enzymes returned to normal. She then went on to successfully treat her diseases.
Posted by seekhelp (Member # 15067) on :
My bilirubin has been high for 10+ years. No doc cares.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
Depends on many factors.
Hubby's bilirubin has been high for the most part for the last 2 or 3 years. It does fluctuate some according to treatment. His total bilirubin is high, but the main factor is the elevated indirect bilirubin. For him this indicates that something -- we think bartonella or BLO or mycoplasma -- is killing off his red blood cells. His red blood cell count and hematocrit are both slightly low as well -- they go up when the bilirubin comes down.
Some docs will say to stop meds for a couple of weeks and retest or others might reduce meds and retest or maybe just continue what you are doing and retest.
Babesia treatment may also cause this.
What meds are you on?
Do you have any symptoms from this -- hubby has nausea and when his numbers go higher he has more dry heaves and actual vomiting.
When hubby's numbers are the worst he also has elevated urobilinogen on his urine analysis. The bilirubin spills over into the urine and is excreted that way.
Elevated direct bilirubin can of course indicate gallstones.
Bea Seibert
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
My son had high liver enzymes consistently throughout treatment and his LLMd did not make him stop..he eventually got well and all labs are normal now.
Posted by liesandmorelies (Member # 15323) on :
My bilirubin runs high. My LLMD has never stopped my treatment though. He thinks I may have Gilbert's which is a benign condition. There are many people with Lyme that have high bilirubin levels.
Your LLMD will know if you should stop your abx or not. I would recommend supporting your liver with supplements in the meantime and as long as you are on abx.
Good luck and try not to worry. It has been suggested that stress can raise your levels too.