What was the dosage and schedule that worked for you in killing the big beasts? Were you on it daily at a smaller dose or did you do the big dose once a week?
What about other meds like praziquantel, alinia?
Is there a danger of resistance in taking smaller, longer doses ?
Posted by gz (Member # 43818) on :
Hey Jordana
The Dr. K protocol I've used several times runs each med for 17 days. Starts with prazi for 3 or 4 days. Then 17 each of iver+ pyrantel, albendazole, then alinia. It hits the bugs from largest to smallest. It should be available online various places. If you have llmd it's best to do this under their guidance and consent.
I think it helps if you've lessened the load some with herbs beforehand. Daily coffee enemas good to flush bugs from liver and keep the dead stuff moving out.
Maintenance after is really important. My load is way better since my last med cycle. I take ivermectin daily now under the advice of my doc. It's been one of the best meds for me so far.
I've had a lot of success using parasite med combos too, not necessarily following Dr. K method. Albendazole crosses the BBB and may bust Lyme cysts too, it was rough on my system first couple times (and I have no trouble taking large and numerous amounts of meds on a constant basis, so use this one with care). It combines well for me with iver or dec.
Posted by project (Member # 46200) on :
I'm almost done my second round of Dr. K's protocol now.
It seems most people take 12 mgs of Ivermectin per day which for an average person works out to around the 0.2 mg / kg generally recommended dosage for humans (and horses). Dr. K recommends up to 48 mg a day but to me this seems quite high. I think at higher doses Iver can start to cross the BBB which is something you don't want with this drug as it is neurotoxic. So I've stuck to the 12mg dose even though I stopped herxing from it on the second round.
Praziquantel seems to have wildly varying dose recommendations all the way up to 5400 mg / day (3 x 600 mg TID). I took 2400 mg / day in 4 different doses and herxed moderately.
Albenzadole seems to work the best for me. I started with 200mg BID and then did 400 mg BID the second round. I read a study where they used ~1200mg a day for someone my weight (70kg) to treat parasitic bone infections. So I might try 400mg TID next.
Alinia the standard dosage is 500mg BID and this is what I've tried. I don't herx too much from it so I think I will try the Dr. K megadose of 2 x 500mg BID next week to finish this round.
Pyrantel the dosage is I think 750mg or 1000mg. I didn't herx at all, I think it stays in the digestive tract.
I've been doing weekly pulses, so on for around 4 days then off for 2, and I switch to the next med. So much shorter length than Dr. K recommends but it seems to be working. I've had some big symptom improvements since starting this a couple months ago (way less anxiety, day sweats are almost gone). I'm reacting much less to the meds on the second round and have upped the dosage. I'm hoping this is due to reducing the load rather than resistance.
In general I haven't actually seen any parasites. I think for me this stuff is hitting mostly protozoa. I've also been Rifing for Protomyxzoa, Toxoplasmosis and Babs each week and doing liposomal Artemisinin, Mimosa Pudica, and Golden Thread supreme. Also throwing in some Cryptolepsis and Sida on top of things I stopped herxing from like Iver.
Posted by project (Member # 46200) on :
Oh ya, for completeness I should mention that I'm also doing the McDougall's low fat (<15g/day) diet that Dr. Fry recommends for suppressing Proto.
I did a bit of research and it seems that reducing lipids will cause some parasites to encyst:
"Cholesterol starvation initiates encystations. This indicates that cholesterol has a role in pathogenesis as it helps the parasite to remain in trophozoite stage."
So low fat will cause their growth will slow, but I'm not sure if any of the Dr. K meds actually are cyst busters for protozoa. Albenzadole apparently hits worm cysts so maybe. I'm going to try a Tini pulse soon and see what that hits.
So I'm not entirely sure if the low fat diet is ideal when taking antiparasitics. But I am feeling better so I can't really argue with symptom reduction.
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
Jordana, I take iver and the other Dr. K protocol stuff one week at a time but when I started out I took it for the full recommended length per drug. I think it was bilt 2 days, iver/prazi 2 weeks, albenza 2 weeks, alina 2 weeks. I couldn't handle alinia that long though.
I also took lower doses than Dr. K's recommendation. I think I just had 12 mg. of iver per day (worked for me). Everyone is different though. Whatever works for you/your doc.
Are you taking abx too? I wouldn't take parasite meds with abx, but that is just me. These meds are strong.
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
quote:Originally posted by gz:
I've had a lot of success using parasite med combos too, not necessarily following Dr. K method. Albendazole crosses the BBB and may bust Lyme cysts too, it was rough on my system first couple times (and I have no trouble taking large and numerous amounts of meds on a constant basis, so use this one with care). It combines well for me with iver or dec.
GZ, are you taking iver and albenza at the same time?
Posted by bluelyme (Member # 47170) on :
Thanks for the update project .i was wondering how you were fairing . Any gains in energy. .do you think the ap drugs hit borrelia?
Posted by project (Member # 46200) on :
Hey Blue,
My energy has gotten better. I've been doing these bike rides into the mountains around Boulder on the off days from my pulse. Up to places like Flagstaff or Gold Hill which are pretty good climbs. I don't have any post exertion issues from strenuous activity which is reassuring.
Problem is that I can't really get paid to bike into the mountains. I need to go back to work but my herxing is still pretty bad.
I probably feel like 90% well when I stop treatment these days. I just don't know whether it's safe to stop aggressively treating when the meds still provoke a herx. I've been considering maybe switching to mHBOT as it didn't seem to make me herx when I tried it. Then it could hopefully prevent backsliding if I start working again.
Not sure if these meds hit Borrelia or not TBH. They do seem to affect my gut so I think they are antibacterial towards good bacteria to a certain extent.
Posted by gz (Member # 43818) on :
Catgirl, not right now but I've used iver at 12 mg 1-2 times daily along with albendazole 400 mg bid. I've done that a number of times, each time for a length of two weeks.
I think they synergize well. I also like using dec with albendazole. Right now I'm taking a single daily dose of iver and dec along with my abx, and going to be adding herbs back in soon.
Posted by Jordana (Member # 45305) on :
Thanks all; yeah this is the confusing part. Do I take parasite meds while I'm on an abx protocol or stop it? abx kick my butt; when I added art to that it was not good.
I'm not sure if I can get the drugs together to do a rotation. LLMD has agreed to Ivermectin and i can get more through low-broadcast means but the other ones seem a little harder to find.
I found alinia at ADC and one other I think.
The reason I settled on iver too is because it seems almost like a "broad spectrum"antiparasitic. It hits alot of stuff-- except for bugs in the brain. I was also worried about taking too much and having it cross the bbb since it can mess with brain chemistry pretty badly. Killing parasites in my brain...approach with caution.
I think K's dosages are way too high too. Has anyone done the "low and slow" with these to good effect?
Happy to hear you're at 90 percent project!
Posted by project (Member # 46200) on :
Thanks Jordana, the antiparasitics did break me through a plateau and bump me up 10% or so on the days I'm not herxing. I feel almost normal which feels strange.
You can get prazi on Ebay and pyrantel on Amazon.
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :