My questions are: How reliable are the Igenix tests. In other words, if babesia showed as it did (barely) is that in of itself a definitive diagnosis? I have heard from some people that my doc is sort of enamored of cutting edge stuff,the latest being coinfections. He was sure from day one when I walked into his office that my CNS inflammation was caused by ehlichia,even though these sort of symptoms are entirely in the realm of Lyme.( but perhaps not usual in early lyme?)

If in fact I DO have babesia, since I can't tolerate the Mepron and the Artemisinin sends me to brain fire hell, what do I do next? Is there really no other way but to go "through the Fire" wth the artemisinin? Because if that is the case, I guess I could do that with enough sedatives, but I would probably be a zombie during the process, and who knows how long that would take? That encephalopathy is my worst nightmare. i have never been more frightened than when those symptoms intensified. Not to mention pain...

Sometimes I wonder if my doc knows what he's doing. I am troubled to say that i think I'm losing faith in him. I am going to seek a second opinion next week. perhaps I need to see a heavyweight. Right now i feel lost and really scared.

Unfortunately, there isn't a one size fits all protocol for Lyme, much less for Lyme with co-infections.

If you are herxing on the meds, it makes it likely that you have the infection. As far as whether the babesia needs to be treated first or not, nobody really knows. That is the opinion of some doctors, because of studies showing that babesia suppresses the immune system, and those co-infected have a harder case.

On the other hand, some Lymies got well before babesia was even known to be a common co-infection.

If you were taking zithromax with the Mepron, you were still treating the Lyme at the same time.

Some people have actual allergies to artemesia, so you do want to be careful of that. Maybe check what the allergic symptoms are.

If you do have babesia, there are other protocols for treating it. Look in Dr. B's protocol. Some I believe have also used Bactrim with some success, but you would have to check on that one.

As far as pushing through a herx, there are lots of opinions on that, but the bottom line is, what can you tolerate? Plus, severe herxing can cause damage, so you don't want the inflammation to get too out of hand.

MY theory is... cause I KNOW you are sitting there waiting to hear it ... HA!

Anyhow...

If you feel bad.. and you take meds and feel worse...

Something is happening.

The trick is to keep killing the "stuff" that makes you feel bad ... and not kill yourself in the meantime.

Here at my place of residence we believe....

"Treatment is always considered more successful if we don't kill ourselves in the process."

My other theory is...

"You can't stuff 50 pounds of garbage into a 20 pound sack without having a stinking mess."

By continuing to take meds that are killing more and more bacteria with each dose....

And overloading your internal trash cans with the drug residue and waste products from the die off of living organisms...

SOMETHING is going to colapse.

PLEASE....

Let it not be you.

May I suggest...

Keep trying.. use lower doses or different meds to help yourself.

You will still be killing off the bad guys... and it will save your body from feeling like it was run over by a herd of buffalo who were all wearing high heels.

May I also ask...

Is it POSSIBLE that this a re-exposure and you had Lyme a longer time than one month?

Something to think about.

I hope you feel better soon!

There is NO test 100% reliable. It doesnt matter what type. If you look under Off Topic I posted a story about a poor man who was told he had HIV (he doesnt). His wedding was called off because of the false test results.

Thanks for your response. Thanks to everyone else as well. In answer to your query about this being a possible reexposure, while I suppose anything could be true, my lyme doc says he doesn't think so, as the Igenex tests were barely in the positive, which to his way of thinking meant that i had indeed caught a first exposure on the early side.

By the way, it's now been three and a half months since I got the bite. But yes, I started treating about one month afterwards. At this point, I'm not discounting anything, including a re-exposure. As far as needing to herx, I figured that's the case, but I can see the need to regulate the herxing. I'm still treating with the colloidal silver drip, but for the moment at least, I'm giving the artemisinin a break. I'm also still on a low dose of the Zithromax, which I was taking in conjunction with the Mepron, then with the Art. Not sure if I should continue with the zith at this point without something else. At any rate, i am seeing a different llmd next week to get a perspective.

Boy, I guess I was pretty naive a few months ago when I thought I would just surf through a couple of months of doxy and be on my merry way.(!) Half the time I've been in denial, often telling myself (secretly,) that i've been misdiagnosed, that the weird symptoms are from the meds themselves (well, Some of them were, ie yellow vision,) that I would just wake up well in a week or two. Now that I'm about to hit the 4 month mark I've been educated and sobered up. As a measure of how seriously I'm now taking this, I have even given up my precious morning coffee!! Thanks to everyone on these boards who has helped me to understand what I am going through. With each answered question , it seems to ellicit a host of new ones. What a strange and eery land Lyme is!

quote:

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Originally posted by Tincup:
Quick note before I head off the board...

MY theory is... cause I KNOW you are sitting there waiting to hear it ... HA!

Anyhow...

If you feel bad.. and you take meds and feel worse...

Something is happening.

The trick is to keep killing the "stuff" that makes you feel bad ... and not kill yourself in the meantime.

Here at my place of residence we believe....

"Treatment is always considered more successful if we don't kill ourselves in the process."

My other theory is...

"You can't stuff 50 pounds of garbage into a 20 pound sack without having a stinking mess."

By continuing to take meds that are killing more and more bacteria with each dose....

And overloading your internal trash cans with the drug residue and waste products from the die off of living organisms...

SOMETHING is going to colapse.

PLEASE....

Let it not be you.

May I suggest...

Keep trying.. use lower doses or different meds to help yourself.

You will still be killing off the bad guys... and it will save your body from feeling like it was run over by a herd of buffalo who were all wearing high heels.

May I also ask...

Is it POSSIBLE that this a re-exposure and you had Lyme a longer time than one month?

Something to think about.

I hope you feel better soon!

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