when i read the babesia and bartonella symptom lists, i always see the symptoms like fevers, headache etc.
i only sweat when i take abx. i'm currently not on abx and i have had very strong sweatings when i was on rocephin. i feel that my co infection symptoms are more in the background of lyme but i could be totally wrong.
anyone here could help me? i think it's not easy to rule them out by the symptoms
Posts: 159 | From Germany | Registered: Nov 2010
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I think "whack-a-mole". As one infection is treated and knocked down, others pop up into the forefront (show symptoms).
This is how my tretment went. As symptoms showed themselves, they were treated. This is the logic behind re-testing at various points during treatment as well.
Helpful? I don't think you're "totally wrong".
Posts: 797 | From New York | Registered: Feb 2008
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
I agree that it is not easy to rule out coinfections based on symptoms alone. That's why my lyme doc tested me for cos through Igenex. It's a lot of money, but in my case it was well worth it.
Igenex came back positive for babesiosis and bartonella.
I really didn't think I had symptoms of either of these diseases. I got pretty much symptom free just by treating lyme disease. But, any time I stopped treating it, within 2 weeks I was as sick as I was at the very beginning. This went on for 2 years while I was treating with a doctor who did not think coinfections were an issue.
So, I changed doctors, got tested for cos, and then got treated for the 2 I had. When I began to treat babesiosis, you could say that "all hell broke loose." I got these unbelievable flares every weekend like clockwork.
Adding artemesinin cut the flares down to nearly nothing. Then, we tracked my progress by looking for flares. Eventually the 7-day flares became 14 day flares and finally no more flares at all. That was how I knew I was finished treating babesiosis.
My doc said that babs has a 7-day cycle and a 14-day cycle. I experienced both.
With bartonella, nothing happened during treatment.
So, with each disease, the course is different. Many of my friends have had the coinfections rear their ugly heads as they beat down their lyme disease. It just wasn't that way with me.
So, for anyone who relapses quickly after a long course of lyme treatment, think coinfection. Burrascano says that is a sign of an untreated coinfection and I experienced it.
These are the different ways I have found to uncover them. Treat and see how you react. Stop treating lyme when you are feeling well and see if you relapse quickly. If it is a lyme relapse, it will take at least a month because lyme is a slow-growing bacteria. But, if it is a coinfection, it will happen much more quickly than that.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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TF, are the Igenex tests for babesiosis and bartonella considered accurate? Or are they hit and miss just like the Lyme one?
Posts: 100 | From USA | Registered: Sep 2010
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Burrascano says they are unreliable, just like lyme tests. If you get a positive, that is conclusive. But, if you get a negative, that can't be relied on. Here's what he says:
"Diagnostic tests are insensitive and problematic. There are at least thirteen, and possibly as many as two dozen Babesia forms found in ticks, yet we can currently only test for B. microti and WA-1 with our serologic and nuclear tests. Standard blood smears reportedly are reliable for only the first two weeks of infection, thus are not useful for diagnosing later infections and milder ones including carrier states where the germ load is too low to be detected. Therefore, multiple diagnostic test methods are available and each have their own benefits and limitations and often several tests must be done. Be prepared to treat based on clinical presentation, even with negative tests." (page 23)
And, regarding bart testing:
"Because standard Bartonella testing, either by serology or PCR, may not pick up this BLO, the blood test is very insensitive. Therefore, the diagnosis is a clinical one, based on the above points. Also, suspect infection with BLO in extensively treated Lyme patients who still are encephalitic, and who never had been treated with a significant course of specific treatment." (page 24)
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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