what was your dose and how often did you take it? I'm prescribed 500 mg every 8 hours..is that typical or does that seem like a lot?
also, what were your herxes like, how long did they last and how often did you get a herx?
any other tips, advice or anything else you want to mention?
thanks!
ps Now I"ll only be taking Flagyl, nothing else...does anyone only take flagyl??
Posted by In19944 (Member # 34272) on :
if that equals 3 a day, that's quite a bit. i think 2 a day at 500 mg is pretty standard when pulsing. but 3 isn't unheard of but that's pushing it i think.
why nothing else? i would think you'd wanna follow the flagyl with another antibiotic, depending on what you are trying to treat.
Posted by Larae30 (Member # 35220) on :
I pulse flagyl, but I take a lot of other things. I don't think it's very common to ONLY take flagyl? You need something to kill the bacteria once flagyl breaks the cysts...
I take doxy, zith, and babesia meds also.
I don't think we're allowed to talk about dosages on the boards, but people can pm you about it! I've talked to people who take 500 a day and people who take 2000 a day...
Flagyl makes me feel HORRIBLE. It makes my symptoms worse, horrible depression, out of it, fatigued etc... It doesn't affect everyone horribly though, so you won't know until you try.
Best of luck!
Posted by Lymedin2010 (Member # 34322) on :
My LLMD does 250 TID (3x day) as his standard initial dose. I don't get a herx, just the lousy typical up and downs, the same ones that people who are not on ABX have.
Posted by BuffyFan (Member # 34679) on :
thanks everyone, my doctor didn't prescribe anything else but qualanine which I can't get because it costs way too much. I still have about 30 days of doxycycline left though...maybe I"ll wait til Monday and call and ask if I should take that too.
oops! I didn't realize we weren't supposed to talk about doses!
Posted by Life+Lyme (Member # 33568) on :
How much worse is IV Flagyl than oral?
Posted by steven (Member # 13101) on :
Be aware. Its a dangerous drug. At least it was for me.
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
How is it a dangerous drug?
Posted by In19944 (Member # 34272) on :
idk how dangerous it is. i personally become very toxic(brown urine, sick,etc..), moved over to plaq...not sure which one i hate more.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
It can knock a big man off his feet! I was started on a SLIVER of a 250mg pill and worked my way up. It can really make you herx to the other side of the world.
Be careful on this drug. If you get really bad neurological symptoms, it could be the drug itself and the damage can be permanent.
Flagyl is one of those necessary evils.
Posted by BuffyFan (Member # 34679) on :
I've read to not have any alcohol. That's not a problem for me, I don't drink. but what about the propylene glycol in my toothpaste? should I still use it....I don't use mouthwash(those are just too irritating for me.)
Posted by BuffyFan (Member # 34679) on :
also I am taking an probiotic its' enzymatic therapy acidolpholus pearls, it's what I could afford for now....do I really need to be on an anti yeast diet? I've never had yeast infections while taking antibiotics and didn't get one while taking doxy
is the anti yeast diet hard to stick to? can someone point me in the right direction to learn more?
thanks
I am also having a hard time swallowing the pills. they are huge and not coated. gets stuck in my throat and makes me immediately puke up all the water I drank to help get it down. ugh. not looking forward to my next dose tomorrow. :'(
Posted by SickofLyme2 (Member # 16544) on :
I started flagyl in small doses, and was supposed to increase it after a week, but the day after I did (day 9) I had some scary heart trouble, so I had to stop. It brought out my bart though - really bad shin pain. START LOW and SLOW (sliver as TuTu said) with flagyl!!
Posted by AlanaSuzanne (Member # 25882) on :
Well I guess I'm in the minority. Took flagyl awhile back (don't ask the what/when/why/who because I don't remember) and I felt really good while I was on it. Go figure.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
I feel better on flagyl too.
Slight herxing about 2-3 days after increasing my dose (I started at 1/4 tablet and increased by 1/4 tablet every few weeks until at the dose prescribed).
I'm already sensitive to alcohol, so avoiding that isn't an issue for me.
BuffyFan,
If swallowing a pill is a problem, try coating the pill with vegetable oil or butter, or (ask pharmacist if safe to crush the pill first!) breaking it up and stuffing it in an empty capsule.
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Hey Lyme too when you say neurological issues on it do you mean numbness and tingling? Like peripheral neuropathy? Or do you mean all neurological symptoms both mental and physical? As most of my symptoms are neurological in nature and when I herx, which I likely will on the flagyl and my mental and neuro symptoms go crazy how will I know? I have only heard of peripheral neuropathy being possibly permenant with this med? Can the other neuro effects be permenant too ie anxiety and depression?
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Sorry forgot to break this up
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i had one doc give me flagyl, not for lyme, and he gave me 500 YES 500 per day!! OMG!!
my vision blurred, i was vomiting, had severe headache. bp went skyhigh through the roof. i was too stupid to realize it was the med!!
i was driving once and started seeing all kinds of hallucinations, shadows, etc.
i was lucky i didn't die!! i reduced the dosage and finished it in two weeks, but man it was tough.
it's nothing to play with, but it DOES work...
Posted by BuffyFan (Member # 34679) on :
randibear, that's scary! I took both doses yesterday and one today...so far, nothing. Did the side effects happen immediately for you?
Razzle, thanks for the oil/butter idea! I"ll try that first!
I wonder if I should back off and cut the tablet and then increase?? I don't know!!
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
no actually i can't remember. i think it was a day or two later. dang, wish i could remember. i just remember the driving part. wham, all of a sudden too. scared the b-crap out of me.
from what i understand your body builds up a drug and then it hits a certain level and then that's when stuff happens.
i'd do what the doc says but definitely look out for side effects. course it effects everyone differently and as the doc says "you're my little zebra"....
meaning the old expression "look for horses not zebras"...
Posted by In19944 (Member # 34272) on :
it works. but it's also easy to get toxic so stay detoxing constantly and stay alkalized...lemon water and alka seltzer gold.
i was at 1000 mg/day and by day 4 or 5 i'd start to herx, badly. i would say don't force it and cut the tablets if you have to. don't push yourself too hard.
hope you are taking another antibiotic in conjunction. doxy is really cheap.
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Ok but does anyone know it the mental side effects such as anxiety and depression or the hallucinations could be permenant? I will def watch for neuropathy and am taking vit b
Can it damage the eyes or cause permenant headacheS or spaciness or anything like that ? And how common is it for the side effects to become permenant ?
Hey randibear when you were hallucinating on it was it from die off or a side effect? How long we're you on it?
And did this go away once stopped
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
oh yeah once i stopped everything stopped. had no residual effects at all.
i was only on it for about two weeks and that was cause i didn't have a llmd at the time and this one doc gave it to me for diverticulitis. would not renew the prescription.
all herx adn side effects from drugs, knock on wood, have stopped when i quit the drugs. even levaquin and the muscle pain. i've been fortunate that way.
you might want to go to askapatient and look up drugs, like flagyl and all. they have some excellent material on there.
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
But has anyone who has taken this ever had permenant side effects like anxiety, depression, hallucinations and confusion?
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Anyone?
Posted by BuffyFan (Member # 34679) on :
Razzle, thanks again for the idea of coating the pill with oil. I never would have thought of that. it totally worked! the pill slid real easy down my throat!
thanks again! Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Ok so just to test it out I took a 250 mg pill of flagyl at 5:30 and now I feel A bit out of it as if my head is really think and not connected to my body, also now have head pressure , eyes feel a bit off and ears feel plugged and feel tired but what is worrying me a bit is one side of my face feels a bit numb.
Could only one pill really cause numbness as a side effect or would this more likely be the flagyl possibly hitting some cysts in my brain?
Can a herx include a flair in all the neuro type symptoms that I have had before including the facial numbness, eyes off and feeling out of it?
When someone herxes can all the symptoms flair including the neuro ones like mentioned above?
I would assume it would but just want to make sure?
Please give me some advice on this
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Please give me some advice on this, thanks
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
Anyone?
Posted by Lymedin2010 (Member # 34322) on :
Maya, wish I can give you a definitive answer, but it's tough to say.
Most people who start out with Bells are mitigated by ABX treatment. �Interesting that you are developing it.
If I had to venture a guess I would say that you have caused the spirochetes to become more active before they start cysting or slowing down (depending on bactericidal vs bacteriostatic ABX).
When I first got sick I only had head and neck pressures, which at times lead to shortness of breath and heart palps. �After IV Rocephin treatment on the very first day, I felt twitches all over my body and had limb jerks. �This is something that never happened to me before starting treatment. �So the hidden spiros were becoming more active.
I would imagine when they first get hit and as ABX levels build up, one would experience a herx and more activity. �If you look at BB on a slide as it converts to a cyst, it exhibits more movement and squirms with greater surface contact. �
The cumulative effect of thousands of BB�encysting could fire off neurons and trigger muscles. �The death of BB and coinfections can also release toxins that have an effect on the aforementioned.
Within 2 weeks of ABX treatment (for me) levels tapered off and the BB became more sluggish and/or more cysts developed. �This was true with IV Rocephin and also true with my Doxy/Biaxin treatment. �This is NOT the case with my Amoxi/Flagyl treatment and I believe it has to do with the short half life of Amoxi (61.3min) and with probenecid 4-6hrs.
Posted by Maya12 (Member # 36392) on :
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