Currently some LLMD's have found success with cycling antibiotic treatments with short(1 month) periods with no antibiotics, which allows the spirochete to re-emerge from the cyst and cell-wall deficient forms and then starting the abx up again, killing the spirochetes.
For folks that are doing this or have used this approach, what duration has your LLMD used? I am hearing 1.0-1.5 months( off/on) from my LLMD, but that is too long for me to be off abx initially. I am wondering if folks have seen success with shorter cycles. Thoughts..
Is there a formal name for this technique? How long did you have to continue this technique for resolution?
As a comparison, I know of excellent results using this technique with the cyst forming "Acanthamoeba" amoeba. After a year of cycling( 1 week on, then one week off) the infection was resolved.
Thanks for your help with this, efsd25
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
My doc had me stop meds for one week to get the lyme out of the cyst form. Then, he hit it with amoxi and flagyl. Worked great.
That was the one and only time he had me stop meds. Other than that, it was continuous meds.
It worked for me. Over 5 years since completing treatment and still symptom-free, enjoying my life.
Prior to getting to this doc, if I stopped meds, in 2 weeks I would be a basket case.
Posted by stork (Member # 24167) on :
this is called "pulse therapy" generally, although many doctor's have different approaches to it, also some have different approaches for different drugs.
my llmd (well known) uses a 6 week on, 2 weeks off method. says those who take this approach get better months earlier and are less susceptible to relapse than those who don't
Posted by sickpuppy (Member # 23846) on :
I bet we have the same doc Stork. 6 weeks on, and then 2 week break. Still no relief for me though.
Posted by Tammy N. (Member # 26835) on :
I'm interested in this approach. I've discussed it with my new LLMD. She said before doing this we have to make sure the germ load is not too high. It makes sense to beat it down pretty good, then let them come out to play, then whack them good. This is how Dr. Burrascano cured himself.
Posted by LightAtTheEnd (Member # 24065) on :
I had to stop abx for 8 days to fight candida. I felt good until Lyme symptoms returned on Day 7. No way to be sure whether that was from cysts opening up or not.
I was also on Fluconazole (Diflucan) and GSE at that time. When I restarted with only one antibiotic instead of two, I felt good the first week, and then I had a bad 2-week herx. I was definitely killing a lot more than I had been before.
When I first took 3 months of Ceftin for Lyme, my symptoms gradually improved, but they came back full strength 2 days after I stopped the drug.
I don't know whether that means the cysts can open up in 2-7 days off abx, or if it was just coincidence that a flare cycle came around at that time. I have read that it's supposed to take longer than that. (And this thread is suggesting 4-6 weeks, not one.)
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
My now famous lyme doc says they will come out of cyst form within days of stopping meds. That's why he had me stop meds for only a week.
Light, I believe that is what you experienced twice. Not coincidence.
Posted by efsd25 (Member # 2272) on :
In his published paper(Int. Microbio, Vol 7, 2004), Norwegian researcher, O. Brorson, used a 14 day incubation period "growing" B. burgdorferi cysts to test the effectiveness of metronidazole and later tinidazole against the cyst form of this bacteria.
[ 08-18-2010, 01:07 AM: Message edited by: efsd25 ]
Posted by nellers78 (Member # 26774) on :
My LLMD wants me only off for 5 days when I have a herx. And I can tell, just for myself, that even going 5 days brings my Lyme symptoms back. I do feel better the first couple days back on the antibiotic, and then I herx again. Seems like a lot of trial and error with this disease.
Posted by TN Kim (Member # 26729) on :
I agree that there must be lots of trial and error with pulsing because my LLMD has me pulsing
my main abx for 3 weeks then doing Tindamax alone for 3 weeks then alternating that schedule.
Does anyone really know what works?
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
Is there any risk though with stopping and starting, i.e., resistance to the abx that were stopped making them less effective when restarting or even worse creating a potential allergic reaction to them?
Thought I read that somewhere, but hopefully I'm remembering incorrectly.............