posted
My doc has not figured out my coinfections.
He just ran another IGenex on me and my titers have not gone down after six months plus on doxy, so he is switching me to azithromycin. He's also adding in Spiranil (teasel). So I will be taking azithromycin, Spiranil, Samento, Banderol, and another herbal one called Biotox Elim.
He thinks maybe Bartonella but not Babesia. I tested negative on coinfection tests but aren't they about as reliable as Lyme tests?
-------------------- Went through five years of hell because an IDSA doc ignored a CDC-positive Western blot in 2009. Started Lyme treatment in early 2014. Trying to wrap my foggy brain around the intricacies of this disease. I also have Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Posts: 30 | From NY | Registered: Jul 2012
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5355
posted
Yes, unfortunately there are more strains of bartonella and babesia than the tests are designed to pick up. Some labs are better than others, but still probably some strains are yet to be discovered. As a result, people can have the disease and test negative. Sometimes symptoms can help shed some light, but again there is some overlap.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Treatment with doxy alone is lousy lyme treatment. You need at least 2 dissimilar antibiotics to kill lyme.
Lyme is smart enough to know how to evade just one antibiotic. So, for example, in the presence of doxy it turns into the cyst form which doxy cannot kill.
Treatment with azith alone will be no better. It is called monotherapy when the patient is on only one antibiotic at a time. The other things you have named are not antibiotics.
Sounds to me like you need a better lyme doctor. And, you would do well to read and STUDY the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines found here:
See page 12, "Combination Therapy" for Dr. Burrascano's explanation of the need to have the patient take at least 2 antibiotics simultaneously to defeat lyme disease.
Also, in the last few years, Dr. Burrascano has said at lyme conferences that if a person has had lyme for at least a year, then they definitely have coinfections 100% of the time.
The coinfections work together to help the lyme remain in the body. So, the best lyme doctors automatically treat all lyme patients for lyme, babesiosis, and bartonella. These are known as "the big 3" since they are present in nearly every lyme patient who has been sick at least 1 year.
As you will read in Burrascano, the coinfection tests leave a lot to be desired since they cannot test for all of the strains that exist, plus other shortcomings.
I suggest you study the symptoms of babs and bart and make a list of any that you have. See pages 22-27. And, a short summary is available at page 26.
Be very thoughtful and observant of your symptoms to help come up with your coinfection diagnosis.
Sometimes, however, until you have gotten rid of the lyme, the coinfections do not manifest.
There is just no substitute for an educated patient when it comes to this disease. It will save you time and money and help you get to wellness a lot sooner.
I had undiagnosed lyme disease for at least 10 years before a doctor thought to test me for lyme. Still, by switching to a doctor who followed the Burrascano protocol (high-dose combinations of antibiotics, treating all coinfections, etc.) I was able to get rid of this horrible disease.
I have been cured of lyme, babs, and bart for over 9 years now. I stick around LymeNet just to help others evaluate their treatment and get to the doctors who are getting people well.
This is what I have learned in my 13 years of being involved with this disease: Many doctors treat lyme disease, but only a very few know enough to get rid of it for a person. Your job is to find one of these few doctors.
Wish you the best. I will be glad to help you any way I can.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Hey Tf have a question for you. I read dr. Bs guidelines but I'm at sort of a stand still. I used to take 400mg of doxy a day with
other things but since I only have one symptom left that happens to be neuro my LLMD switched me to minocycline
which she said is better on many different levels...however... I cannot tolerate more than 200mg of mino every time I try to
increase it I get incredibly dizzy so my LLMD said just stay at 200mg. Curios if I should switch back to doxy because I can handle higher dosages. I also take bactrim ds and tindazole
-------------------- T. Brown
CDC Lyme Positive Co infections? Who knows... Bands 18+ 30+39+41+45+58+66+ IGG 23+39+41+IGM Posts: 351 | From Boston MA | Registered: Oct 2013
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posted
TF, as always, I learn lots from reading what you post. But one difference here from what Dr B says - I was bitten in 1981 and I believe I have only Lyme, no co's, so not every Lyme patient has co-infections. Maybe more so now because perhaps the ticks have more in them now.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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posted
This is interesting. I'm not sure how long I've had Lyme, but suspect at least 2 years. I was tested with no co infections or other tick borne illnesses. I'm not sure how many co infections do exist (maybe someone can educate me) but my blood work just showed CDC positive for Lyme. I was also super low on my CD 57.
Posts: 1 | From USA | Registered: Jul 2014
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