No other combo with ketek did this.

just food for thought. I have chronic lyme and was treated with 8 months iv abx and then put on 600mg leviquin and 800 ketek for 3 months--I now have NASH and higher enzymnes with each test on my liver every 2 months and I have been off antibiotics since May due to my liver disease--fun fun--lyme creeping back symptom by syptom.

the guy handling my liver health is a transplant specialist and very knowlegable and says that ketek is like poison to the liver in some people. He feels that unlike other allergic reactions there are those of us that react with harm to liver cells. He has had 2 cases in which people have been on a 10 day course of this abx and have gone into liver failure with NO previous liver problems.

It is realitively a new antibiotic and I am highly skeptical of it--I am living with liver disease that did not exist 3 years ago--my liver was as pretty as a picture--I am an ultrasound technologist and the difference in appearance of my liver in the last two years since treatment is very scary.

If it is working well for you--great/ If your enzymes continue to climb, if it were me I would request and ultrasound or CT of your liver. I knew better and waited to long and might be looking at a transplant in my future--that is if I could get one with my lyme disease--who knows in the next few years what they will find out about this disease--more pops up every day

I am sorry to read this and also of course scared to death now.

Did your liver enzymes climb gradually? I have mine every 3 weeks, do you think that is enough? (all have been fine).

Is this unique for Ketek, or do other abx like Biaxin have gthe potential for quick liver failure?

Thanks

I just noticed on your other thread that you said you were on 3 times the normal dose of Ketek - do you mean you were taking six Ketek pills a day (instead of the normal 2)? Please clarify if you see this. Thanks.

DLL

Wonder if it is one of those unpredictable responses that some people get with other drugs too. Like the one I had with remeron, which sent my liver enzymes into the stratosphere. They gradually came down, and with the help of milk thistle, are OK now. I did stop taking the drug too.

Of course, it is true that new drugs can be found to have previously unknown side effects when they are used in much larger population than during the clinical trials.

In other posts, I've listed some heavy drug combinations that have saved my life. But I did so 1) knowing the risks, 2) taking handfuls of liver support, 3) staying away from levaquin. I did try levaquin at one point, and experienced severe side effects within two months. Also, 800mg ketek in one dose is too strong for many people. Some see positive results with just 400mg per day.

Here is all the liver support I currently take: phosphatidylcholine/lecithin, Dr. Zhang's hepa formula 2 (active ingredient=schisandra), milk thistle, N-acetyl choline (NAC), broken cell wall chlorella, the vitamin Bs. You can also take alpha lipoic acid.

"Liver and biliary system: abnormal liver function tests: increased transaminases, increased liver enzymes (e.g., ALT, AST) were usually asymptomatic and reversible. ALT elevations above 3 times the upper limit of normal were observed in 1.6%, and 1.7% of patients treated
with KETEK and comparators, respectively. Hepatitis, with or without jaundice, occurred in 0.07% of patients treated with KETEK, and was reversible. (See PRECAUTIONS, General.)'

Writing this with a TERRIBLE headache that has me in tears. Can only handle sooo much. I have been in treatment for 1 1/2 years and am worse. I knew I would have very bad times, but I can count on one hand the number of days that I can call half good. Maybe I am expecting too much too soon. Had this #$%$# disease for 25 years before dx...also Babesia and Erlichiosis. The only thing is I know people who have been ill a very long time and definitely doing better than I am by now.

A depressed and rather desperate