I posted on here a month ago about rifampin and how crappy I was feeling and read many other posts that said to stick with it.
Well I did and I almost feel back to normal! It was one hard month -- the hardest I had in a long time, but I feel 80% back to me. So for all you rifampin users, there is hope. The bad stuff will disappear.
Still have the damn twitching and joint aches, but feel good other than that. Go back to LLMD next week so here's hoping I can continue and my liver enzymes aren't off.
I have been doing rifampin 2x a day, but I read on here that it's better to take rifampin all at once. Is that true?
I am also taking Biaxin 2 x a day.
Posted by Wolfed Out (Member # 23727) on :
Yeah, you want to take Rifampin in a double dose. That is instead of 1 300mg capsule twice daily, take 2 300mg capsules ONCE daily.
It's very likely you're going to herx again from the higher dose, but it won't be very bad because you've already started on a lower dosage.
Not sure about Biaxin, but there's speculation that Azithromycin has a synergistic effect that makes Rifampin more effective when taken together.
I take Rifampin 2 hours after I've eaten, and 1 hour before dinner. Then I take Flagyl and Azithromycin with my meal.
Been on Rifampin for 5-6 months. Don't know when I'm coming off, but my Bart symptoms been gone since like month two!
Posted by cleo (Member # 6646) on :
Thanks I needed this today. Week 2 of rifampin. Rifampin and doxy, my llmd appt. is Dec.1 maybe I should switch to zith. How much zith is the usual dose. 250 daily or 500...anyone know?
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
Yes...how much is the dose of Zith.
I took Rifampin with Biaxin too. Doc prescribed 300mg 2x / day but I took 600 1x / day.
Brought out some crazy symptoms at first, but then started to improve. Unfortunately had to stop due to high liver counts.
I'm going to ask to switch to Zith as well as, while the Biaxin works, there is a moderate interation between Rifampin and Biaxin. I guess the combo can raise the concentration of Rifampin in the blood and lower the concentration of Biaxin. This can affect liver counts (like it affected mine.)
I guess Zith doesn't do this.
I just started Bactrim DS last night with my Biaxin and will add Rifabutin (related to Rifampin) next week.
Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :
I agree with everything posted!! My experiences, too. Just stopped it after six months. The one thing I don't know is how long people take it for. Did I treat for long enough? My symptoms seem to have cleared up after about 2-3 months.
Posted by Haley (Member # 22008) on :
I'm really interested in Rifampin results. It's my next plan of attack.
Ladeedah - when you say 2 x a day, I'm assuming that is 2 x 300mg. Which symptoms did it hit for you? Did it help brain fog?
How about you Tracy? Which symptoms seem better?
My big problem when I tried this last time was that I couldn't sleep at all. Did you have that problem?
Wolfed out. You have been on Rifampin 5 to 6 months? Is that everyday 600 mg? That's a lot of Rifampin.
Posted by lyme in Putnam (Member # 11561) on :