What can I do to prevent/limit side effects/complications of rocephin.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
If your doc does not prescribe actigall then I would take ox bile supplements -- hubby orders his from VitaCost. Might also be a good idea to take oral lecithin as well.
2nd issue would be candida -- even with IV's this can be an issue. Oregon grape root tincture works well for hubby.
Bea Seibert
Posted by nybasketball212 (Member # 28309) on :
Side effects to IV Rocephin are pretty rare, I've never really heard of anyone having an issue with it. However, Actigall is definitely something that helps.
Posted by BHealthyNow (Member # 22537) on :
I started itching shortly after doing my IV Push. We stopped because of the itching. I would definitely take something to support the gallbladder.
Posted by lymeboy (Member # 24769) on :
Protect the gall bladder, for reasons stated above. I had an IV with no side effects for 3 months. I would have done better with a cyst buster, I think. see if you can get that. Specifically, Flagyl. Seems to work wonders for people.
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
Today marks day 28 Rocephin treatment for my son. He had to take a 5 day break at days 19 through 24 due to blood test results. I think I see some improvements. Even he said he thought he felt improvements... Now THAT's an impovement!
LLMD checks blood 1x a week. Stopped treatment day 19 because:
His White Blood Count(WBC) & Absolute neutrophil count(ANC) went down(below an acceptable level)...
and liver enzymes were up (AST, ALT & GGT).
If you could find a way to support these areas BEFORE YOU START TREATMENT, I would think you would be ahead of the game.
His LLMD had him stop treatment for a few days until she got the next labs back - then started him back up on a lower dose. Waiting to see what this week's labs tell us.
I'm not going to list all the supplements from Dr. B's guidelines that we are taking... let's just say a lot.
Things we have added (or paid more attention to) since the blood tests were wacko:
Started taking Waiora's Natural Cellular Defense (a friend gave us this to try) LLMD approved trying it. Ingredients = Sodium Aluminosilicate zeolite (clinoptilolite) Using coconut oil more Epsom salt + Hydrogen Peroxide footbaths Green tea with olive leaf extract (1 a day) Drinking more water and water with lemon Caster Oil Packs http://www.diagnose-me.com/treat/T350155.html Went to see a ND for muscle testing... treating parasites with her mixture (starting tomorrow - also ran this by LLMD) Teasel Root
Had blood drawn today... hoping levels stayed up so he can keep treating!
Posted by momofthree (Member # 19490) on :
I am going on 11 months of IV Rocephin and no problems but tons of improvement. Before I started the IV my WBC count was really low, 2.3ish. I checked my counts every week and they were just bouncing all over the place but never normal.
Last month it finally hit 4.0!! Rough ride on all the herxing and symptoms but now more good days than bad ones.
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
Woo hoo!!! Glad to hear that momofthree! When did you start to notice improvement? My son is discouraged... he is expecting instant results and it is so difficult to keep him in the marathon.
2.3??? That's way lower than my son was when they stopped him. Maybe kids have different levels of tolerance? Do you know what your ANC was at that time?
My son's LLMD conferred with Dr J. (CT) when his WBC was 3.2 and the ANC went below 1,000 (958) and he suggested to pull him off the IV for a few days. Started him back on 1/2 dose. Today, his WBC was 4.1 (yipee!) and not sure on ANC -- llmd was thrilled and asked what we did to get it back up.
I gave her the list (above) and we both think the Waiora, Natural Cellular Defense played a big part... but could be a combo of all of the above!
Back up to full dose split in 2 treatments per day.
Posted by lymie tony z (Member # 5130) on :
When I went on ceftriaxone(generic I believe for rocephin), many moon phases ago,
I developed some sort of lung problem which I believe must be another of the spirochete's defense mechanisms.
The reason being is that the pneumonia duck could'nt call it that and the bronchitis doc could'nt call it that either!???
This was at Fairview....of course they never wanted to consider a TBD offshoot of some kind!
The hospital labs were woefully inadequate to properly test all the ramifications of my infections....and I believe the doctor I had at the time of the incident of my first relapse due to inadequate six months of doxy and ammoxy....of course ustilized kuest labs. Who we all know are woefully inadequate in testing for enough species of lyme disease alone....much less anything I probably picked up durring my tours of duty in the Western Pacific Islands all connected to the Combat Operations we engaged in durring the Vietnam conflict!
Could also have been some species I picked up in Pennsylvania while stationed at NAS Willow Grove, PA.
Anyway...why not avoid the IV issues all together and try the IM PENICILLIN weekly or whatever is recommended....
I've always done better on those shots in my butt with these diseases....they just make it difficult for me to stay out of the ole "Donut Hole" my insurance medicare part D has me running into due to the 800 plus dollar ammount for the BiCillin shots at a rate of 40 or so I believe I need to get spirochete free....
But then there's the Babesia issues or the Bartonella "LIKE" (formerly known as cat scratch fever) of years ago....amazingly mutated by a natural selective process or the good ole USA biological chemists messing around with a potential bioweapon....
a whole lot less headaches....just a wallet ache! Even though the IM shots still metabolize in the gut....I had much less problems of any sort when using them and much much improvement...
I followed up with some difluken....but could'nt get near enough of that either....so...I have... relapsed again....
or so it would seem....I can't get to my LLMD until after my usual major six month flare up.... so I'm going to have to rely on some orals I can get through a different source....
OH WELL....I do remember using the old wives tale 1 part clorox and four parts water for the really white and total coating of my mouth back then....
I've since deduced that whenever I would get any further ceftriaxone treatments IV I would either be on an oral for the lungs like Rifampin or a fleuroquinalone(even though the tendonitis can be a big problem).
As I sit and think about it.....whenever a duck gave me a one time shot of an abx to treat tuberculosis("streptomycin")I hardly got out the door when I began getting a very (over my whole body) red rash and itched until the antidotal shot took affect....
Could have been sick with a lot of these bugs way back in the early seventies...like I try and tell the VA....course....they're never willing to listen....
The last Idiot duck I had diagnosed me first with and auto immune deficiantcy and when I went to the complaint department....my "HEADS UP" patient status first appeared in my VA records...
Subsequently removed and a diagnosis of HIV was ficticiously submitted by the Florida VA Idiot Duck instead!
so good luck and God Bless.... YFIChrist AMZ Sr
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
I just adjusted my sig where I show my son's treatment --he is taking the generic for Rocephin --Ceftriaxone.
Sounds like you've been dealing with this quite a long time, lyme tony! You made me chuckle when you said... a whole lot less headaches....just a wallet ache!
I am looking forward to the less headaches... and possibly the wallet will ache less then! LOL.
Posted by wildfire (Member # 28418) on :
Thanks everyone for sharing your experience and wisdom. Looks like I have alot of information to sift through. As I learn more I have alot more questions. Linda (wife of husband with neuropsychological lyme)
Posted by Maradona (Member # 24552) on :
For all people who have good veins it is less expensive to do rocephin if you do it yourself.
You need peripheral catheter 22-24 G( in Europe 1 box 100 caths 4-8 Euros,they are not expensive in USA to),sterile normal saline of 20ml box of 50-100 less then 10 Euro(this is cheap in USA to.
You can buy a bag of 250 ml IV of normal saline that is 3-5 $ dealmed New Jersey and keep in the cold and take 20ml every day to mix 2 Gr of rocrphin.
Rocephin a box of 10 vials each 1 gr in Europe Austrian made is7-15 Euro ,Slovenian less then 10 Euro.
Heparin I don,t use because i poke myself everyday and after bolus of rocephin is done I take it off,but if you use heparin you can leave catheter in the arm or leg for 5-7 days just inject 1/3 to 1/10 of ampule of heparin after you are done with rocephin .
So just have this materials insert peripheral catheter in vein and lock the opening for IV bag, use the bolus opening on top of catheter to push rocephin.
You can save the fortune in this way.
Posted by Dawn in VA (Member # 9693) on :
Maradona, that was an eye-opening post.
Question though- I thought that frequent use of Rocephin (and some other IV drugs) were very caustic to smaller veins, hence PICC and central lines that are placed in the larger ones.
Posted by 2young2die (Member # 25434) on :
I had a horrible rash reaction to ceftriaxone. It took weeks to slowly increase the dosage and I took benedryl and zyrtek along with topical benedryl. It was worth it however.
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