posted
After a month I really thought we were in the clear, but looks like hubby is allergic to malarone after all. Today is day 33 I think -- he has taken a total of 80 malarone pills. We started with 1 pill every other day and then increased to 1 pill daily, then 2, then 3 and he has been on 4 pills daily for 11 days now.
With the mepron 7 years ago he got the rash on day 10 and he was only taking it every other day so that was his 5th dose I think.
Hubby woke up this morning with hives around his waist, in his armpits, on the backs of his shoulders, and in the groin area. Some random hives on his back and forearms as well. Sent him out to get some benadryl, but it looks like this is the end of the line with this med.
Today is day 4 of his first round of IV clindamycin with oral quinine. He was already feeling miserable without the complication of the malarone allergy. Constant headaches, dizzyness and just generally feeling sick. Some hyperaccusis and hearing issues to worry about as well.
Plan is to continue with the clindamycin and quinine. I had been planning to have him continue with the malarone during his 10 day breaks in between quinine cycles -- but now need to come up with an alternative plan. Guess I need to get my herb orders done ASAP.
posted
I had an intolerable herx with Quinine and IV Clindamycin. I've been on IV Clindamycin for over a year now, so I knew it wasn't the clindy. But the combination was definitely hitting something!
I didn't know if it was an allergic reaction, or a herx. My LLMD thought it was a herx, which was corroborated by bloodwork. I had a rash of red bumps on my legs only, was weak and lethargic, achy and felt like the flu.
Just in case it's not the Malarone, but the Quinine.
Posts: 964 | From san diego | Registered: Oct 2009
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Thanks for the input. Hubby has taken very low dose quinine and clindamycin for 4 months 3 different times in the past. But then again the dose could make a difference.
The low dose treatment just made him feel better and he never herxed. Have definitely come to the conclusion that babs meds which are only bacteriostatic make you feel better but if they are bacteriocidal then you herx and feel really bad.
We are actually a little confused because by the time hubby got to the drugstore he could feel the hives shrinking before he even took any benadryl. With the mepron in the past once the hives started they just continued spreading and his whole body was covered with red welts within 24 hours.
We are going to stop the malarone for a few days and then re-evaluate.
Hubby normally never has skin issues so something is going on but we just don't know what is causing it. No changes in diet, supplements or laundry detergent etc. Really think it must be med related.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
More confused than ever -- hives completely gone by midafternoon. If it had been the malarone I would have expected it take longer due to the long half life of that drug.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
Interesting Bea. Hives don't usually go away that quickly.
When I started Clindamycin I developed an itchy rash. It started out as small red raised bumps on my torso then spread all over, everywhere except my face. After about 10 days the rash faded on my extremities but got worse on my torso. I had these huge red raised patches about the size of my palm. The skin felt burned there. Then after a couple days the patches turned purple, then faded to petechia, then cleared. It was weird.
My doctor had no explanation for it. It certainly wasn't an allergy. I think it has to be related to an infection because it happened again when I started Clinda over the summer. Only the rash wasn't as bad this time.
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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Just a long shot, grasping for anything here, does Steve drink his weight in ounces of filtered water each day?
Has he tried Welchol to bind biotoxins so they don't reabsorb from gut?
How does he detox?
Hugs!
Posts: 124 | From Maryland, USA | Registered: Jan 2010
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BoxerMom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25251
posted
I developed tons of allergies when my Babesia was at its worst. Food, environmental allergies, supplements...
I never got hives. My usual reaction was swelling of the mucus membranes in my sinuses. Once, I had an anaphylactic reaction.
Often, something would be OK for a while, then I'd become allergic to it. After I'd cut it out for a while, I could resume it, but I had to watch the frequency.
I don't know if regular antihistamines would have prevented my allergic reactions. After several years, they just went away.
I had some allergies return with Babesia treatment, but they were never severe.
I completely agree about the bacteriostatic vs. bactericidal dosing with Babesia. I have to be herxing to be getting well. Otherwise, it's a holding pattern. I feel better, but relapse when I quit the meds.
posted
Of course you should do what you feel is best, but I can't help but mention how many times I've ever heard hives breakouts during Babs treatment.
Some kept pressing on, others took a short break and resumed treatment.
Good luck to the hubby.
P.S. I'm having my own little issue getting to the soul of Babesia myself. I wish it were just hives, then I'd feel less worried. My skin loses its density when I try to treat it.
Posts: 829 | From MD | Registered: Dec 2009
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posted
This is so weird. Today was a repeat of yesterday. Hubby's hives showed up between 6 and 8:00 a.m. Started going away after his morning dose of lumbrokinase and his IV Clindamycin.
We have decided that to a large extent the hives seem to be following the lymph system. He must be getting dehydrated overnight or the toxins are settling due to decreased bloodflow.
He stopped his malarone yesterday and we will hold that for a few more days. Still not sure if that is the real problem or not.
Hubby drinks lots of distilled water and apple juice and V8 juice. The one time he tried cholestyramine it caused his liver enzymes to become elevated.
If I can talk him into it I think I will try to get hubby to take an epsom salts bath today.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Bea, When I was having the terrible herx reaction, I took an epsom salts/hydrogen preoxide bath, to try and get out the toxins. Bad Idea! It exacerbated the problem and the rash-like bumps stared to itch, and they became more pronounced.
Something I take for detoxing,that I love, is apple pectin. It doesn't have any of the yucky side-effects, and you don't have to be so careful of timing with abx.
I hope you can figure out what might be causing the rash. Is he having any other symptoms, along with the allergic reaction? Does benadryl resolve the rash? When I had the herx from he**, benadryl didn't have much of an effect.
Posts: 964 | From san diego | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
No hives today. Not sure if the epsom salt and baking soda bath helped or not. Hubby said the bath made him feel bad and he had a hard time getting to sleep last night.
Or maybe it was the red root -- increased that from 3 droppers 2 times per day to 4 droppers 2 times per day. Or it could have been adding dandelion root to his supplements -- had stopped milk thistle while on malarone.
Hubby only took one 25 mg benadryl each yesterday and the day before. He doesn't like that med -- causes anxiety instead of making him sleepy. Not really sure it was doing anything anyway.
Hubby is still battling nausea and bad headaches from the quinine and clindamycin. Only 4 more days to go on this 10 day cycle. And then he gets a break from those meds. Will probably give him cryptolepis while off the quinine.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Haley
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 22008
posted
Is he taking any Babs tinctures that have lomatium? I think one is called cryptoplus. Even the people in the ER couldn't believe the rash I got from this. It took a while to figure this out.
That's interesting about the bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal(sp). I always felt better on mepron but no herx. Is that medicine bacteriostatic?
Posts: 2232 | From USA | Registered: Aug 2009
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