Sounds like I'm not on enough amox 2000mg/day + 150 billion micro probiotic. I was on only 200mg Doxy for the last 6 weeks with 50 billion micro probiotic. this semmed to be helping. I don't understand since the doc said bart was an issue also in addition to lyme and I have bart symptoms why he would take me off the doxy and put me on amox. <----previous sentence edited from first thought to make appropriate to post lol.
Doxy indications are lyme and bart amoung a hundred other things so again why would the doc take me off when i was just starting to feel decent. grrrrr. I hope one of you kind folks can give me some insight on the logic here. Should I stay on doxy as well or just stop the amox and go back on doxy.
Some of the above was taken from my previous post from yesterday. I thought the title to this new post is more indicative of my concerns.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
Stay on the meds your LLMD prescribed.
As far as I know doxy is not for bart anyway. I know it never touched mine. I took Levaquin for bartonella, and I took it with the amoxy.
I think TF had a good point about why the doxy for only a couple months .... erlichia .... in your other post.
Posted by average joe (Member # 26091) on :
Thanks sixgoofykids. I am frustrated right now because the bart symptoms are often what keeps me from being able to function. Soles of feet feel like someone was hitting them with a baseball bat. Leg muscles week, all joints in legs and feet painfull. Of course there are many other symptoms I have but I attributed the above to bart. Is this not correct. I realize that folks on here are not docs but there definately is a wealth of knowledge.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
Soles of feet hurting is usually attributed to bart, BUT it can be a sluggish lymphatic system. Buhner recommends red root tincture for lymph. It's a good remedy, but start slowly!! It kicked my butt the first time I used it. I had bart but never had sore feet.
The rest of your symptoms can be Lyme.
You would like his book, Healing Lyme. He's a master herbalist and is not against abx, so his herbs work well along with your pharmaceutical protocols.
Posted by average joe (Member # 26091) on :
OK I guess I'll give the amox a try. It's only been a few days so once I get over the herx thats certain to come maybe I'll sneak in a higher dose. Shhh. lol. I am not a small guy (not a huge one either)and just want to make sure I have an effective dose going. Is the probenecid a probiotic?. As for the bart, I just checked and it looks like the z-max will work on that.
Posted by BackinStOlaf (Member # 23725) on :
Zith works for bart but not on its own usually..it can hit it but won't get rid of it- it is usually given with something else
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
First your doc went after ehrlichia (and lyme), and now he is going after lyme. This is absolutely normal.
My doc treated each of my diseases separately. First lyme, then bart, then babesiosis.
It has been over 5 years now since I completed my lyme treatment and I am still symptom-free, enjoying my life.
So, there is nothing for you to be worrying about. Follow your doc's instructions. Otherwise, you are endangering yourself.
People whose doctors treat all 3 diseases at once have a rough row to hoe. That approach is not necessary. Your doc is doing well. Don't second guess him.
You will need patience with this disease. Treatment is not done in a month or 2. Think 1 year or more.
Lyme treatment is like this: stay on one med until you are feeling good, then switch to the next med which will make you feel bad.
That's just the way it is. If you are feeling good on a med, the doc knows it is not killing anything anymore. So then it is time to go after another disease or change meds to see if there is still more of the same disease to treat.
When you report that you started to feel worse after the med change, the doctor knows that the new med is killing germs. The result of killing is toxins in the body from the dead germs. Toxins make us feel lousy.
Lyme is crafty. It can adapt to various meds. So, the doc will have to change the lyme meds from time to time or add another med to maintain the killing.
Just because you are feeling good does not mean you are making progress with the disease. That's what you have to keep in mind.
You will have to get used to this. Just when you are feeling good, they switch meds on you. I remember my girlfriend figuring out this pattern and dreading seeing the lyme doc for her next appt because she was feeling good, so she figured the doc would change her meds. (She got rid of her diseases, too, by the way.)
When my doc started going after babesiosis, the new meds made me really feel bad. But, over time, I started to feel better. But, we are talking a few months.
That is the pattern you will be following. That's why they say 2 steps forward and 1 back.
Let the doc treat lyme first. Then, you can request that he treat bartonella next. But, your doc will make the decision.
Both lyme and babesiosis compromise the immune system, so the docs often go after these 2 first. It is so that the immune system does not get totally destroyed by these diseases. Bart does not do this, so your doc may save bart treatment until last.
Perhaps at future appointments, when the doc says he is switching your meds, you could ask him, "What disease will these new meds be going after?"
This could really help you understand what is behind each treatment decision. Then, you would feel better about what is happening.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Probenecid is not a probiotic. It is a drug that keeps the amoxi from being filtered out of your blood. This way, the amoxi stays in your system longer.
Drugs have a half-life. The half-life tells you how long it takes the body to filter out half of the med. Probenecid prolongs the half-life of amoxi so that you always have a killing dose in your blood.
If the dosage goes too low, it will just stop the lyme from multiplying, but it will not kill it. (Called a bacteriostatic dose rather than a bactericidal dose.)
Probiotics put good bacteria back in your stomach and intestines.
Posted by average joe (Member # 26091) on :
As always many thanks to everyone for their input. TF and sixgoofykids especially. TF, I think you should go to med school, become a doc and give us another resource ). You apparently have a complete handle on this lyme crap. I still don't understand why such a low dose amox with no mention of increasing it. Any thoughts?? Also how do you know when you are cured??
Posted by average joe (Member # 26091) on :
Oops sorry TF that was supposed to be a smiley up there. I don't know what that thing is
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
Your doctor probably just isn't telling you all the future plans, but just telling you what you need to know now.
You are cured when you feel better, when you have no symptoms, usually for two months.
Posted by LightAtTheEnd (Member # 24065) on :
I had 3 days recently when I felt 99% like my old self again, with all kinds of energy. Then I realized that I had never felt that way in the 14 months before that since I've been sick.
You will recognize feeling well when you start to feel that way, and then it starts happening every day.
The first 2 months of being sick, I didn't realize what was wrong or that all my symptoms were symptoms, and related. It was only another month until I had gotten so used to the assorted pains and fatigue to the point where it felt "normal," not comfortable but the way I felt every day, and for a while I questioned how sick I was because I couldn't remember what I felt like before.
But you'll recognize it when it happens.
Posted by jo1 (Member # 27570) on :
quote:Originally posted by TF: Probenecid is not a probiotic. It is a drug that keeps the amoxi from being filtered out of your blood. This way, the amoxi stays in your system longer.
Drugs have a half-life. The half-life tells you how long it takes the body to filter out half of the med. Probenecid prolongs the half-life of amoxi so that you always have a killing dose in your blood.
If the dosage goes too low, it will just stop the lyme from multiplying, but it will not kill it. (Called a bacteriostatic dose rather than a bactericidal dose.)
Probiotics put good bacteria back in your stomach and intestines.
Posted by jo1 (Member # 27570) on :
I would like to know if you can recommend a good Lymes doctor in Maryland. thank you
Posted by average joe (Member # 26091) on :
jo1 You can consider yourself lucky that you live in MD. There are a number of good Lyme docs there. Go to the seeking a doc section and post your last. One of the kind folks on here will PM you a list.
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
). You apparently have a complete handle on this lyme crap. I still don't understand why such a low dose amox with no mention of increasing it. Any thoughts?? Also how do you know when you are cured??