posted
I'd like to have more information from some of you dealing with Babesia, what are some of your symptons and how are you being treated.
I've currently being treated for Epstein Barr and for last two weeks Lyme. I guess my doctor will begin treating the Babs on next trip since I'm tolerating these meds. o.k. for now.
After researching Babs., it appears to be a very serious condition and in the Malaria family.
I've had chills without fever for a long time but can't differentiate Babs. symptons since I have Lyme, plus the 4 other coinfections..........
Any info. from you will be so appreciated. It would be nice to know what I'm in for........ Thanks, Dalphia
Posts: 97 | From Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Hey there! I'm headed off to bed, but stopped by to post this:
The following signs/symptoms may be present in those infected with Babesiosis: Fatigue* Arthralgias* Myalgia* Drenching sweats* Headaches* Emotional lability* Depression* Dark urine* Splenomegaly* Dizziness* Nausea and vomiting* Cough* Dyspnea* Fever* Chills* Hepatosplenomegaly* Jaundice* Malaise* Shortness of breath* Bleeding tendencies, bruising* Thrombocytopenia* Hemoglobinuria* Hyperesthesia* Pulmonary edema* Encephalopathy* Low to normal range leukocyte counts* Possible elevated levels of dehydrogenase, bilirubin, transaminase* Anorexia*
Approximately 25%- 66% of Babesia patients are known to be co-infected with Lyme disease. These symptoms may continue for long periods of time, decrease, then return. A low Babesiosis titer (IgG) often indicates a chronic infection.
An acute or current infection may show a higher reading on the IgM test initially. There are over 100 species of Babesia in the United States but only ONE or TWO species are currently checked by commercial labs.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
Hey!
Well, my Babesia treament made a huge difference. I was treated with 3 teaspoons of Mepron and 1200 mg Zithromax plus Artemesia daily. It took care of my fevers, hot sweats, night sweats, facial flushing and burning!
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posted
Dalphia, You'll find lots of posts on this if you do a search on "MEPRON BUDDIES".......we had a thread going off and on for some time.
It's good way to keep tabs on different treatment protocols, and interesting to see what works for some, doesn't always work for others......
I'm being treated for Babs for the 3rd time along with Artemisinin and Omnicef and Ketek.......I initially started with Mepron, Zith & Ceftin, & Artemisinin and later Ketek was added and zith dropped.
First time was about 7 months worth, then off one month, took a nosedive, back on for four more months......an 8 week break on all antibiotics and then back on Ketek and Minocycline until re-checking for co-infections through blood work......I knew it was still a problem. It's still present in my blood as of October
Gail
-------------------- Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will ~ Gandhi Posts: 562 | From Wellsville, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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johnnyb
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7645
posted
Doc is testing my for Babesia again, since I've had shortness of breath and related symptoms. Trying some herbal stuff in the meantime. I assume if I test positive, I will go on Mepron....
- JB
Posts: 1197 | From New Jersey | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!! Your post were very helpful. Guess we all experience different things for each infection............wish you all healing and health............I have several of the symptons some of you are experiencing....... again, thanks, Dalphia
Posts: 97 | From Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
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NP40
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6711
posted
quote:Originally posted by Lakota Queen: What are the best test for Babesia & the other co infections? I have an appt. this Tuesday.
Thanks,
Tara
Tara,
Testing for co-infections is unreliable at best. Many doc's will treat based upon symptomology. There's a great deal of crossover of symptoms between lyme, babesia, bartonella, erlichiosis, etc.
Generally speaking, babesia is suspected when you have chest pain, labored breathing, sweats/chills. Normal treatment for babs is zithromax, mepron, and artemisinin. Art is an herb which can be purchased online. The World Health Organization uses it to treat malaria. Babs is protozoan in nature like malaria. Mepron is very expensive and sometimes not easily tolerated. Many LLMD's will use plaquenil in it's place.
Bartonella can be distinguished by swollen glands, pain on the bottom of the feet, emotional instability, possibly fevers and odd rashes or skin manifestations. Levaquin is often used to treat it. Combo's of mino, zithromax and rifampin work as well.
Erlichiosis is treated with doxycycline. Erlichiosis can be fatal so that's why doxycycline is often the first med given to lyme patients. Again, it can mimic lyme symptoms closely, that's why it's so important to have a doc that's lyme literate.
Lyme is supposed to be diagnosed clinically, testing is only supportive in nature.
Posts: 1632 | From Northern Wisconsin | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
Regarding babesia symptoms-does anyone know if by chest pain it is an inflammation of the ribs ie. costrocondritis or is this symptom more related to the heart?
thanks!
Diana
Posts: 202 | From vancouver, canada | Registered: Jun 2005
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NP40
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6711
posted
quote:Originally posted by diana: Regarding babesia symptoms-does anyone know if by chest pain it is an inflammation of the ribs ie. costrocondritis or is this symptom more related to the heart?
thanks!
Diana
Diana, there's numerous reasons for chest pain with lyme. Some of the more common would be lyme-induced pericarditis [swelling of the sac around the heart], reflux issues, inflamation of tissue around the chest cavity or ribs, bacteria settling on the nerve that runs across the chest, or heart malfunctions itself.
Our LLMD wasted no time in ordering up a full heart workup for my son when he complained of chest pain, even though he was positive it was babesia. You absolutely must rule out a serious or minor heart condition. Fortunately, my son's heart workup was fine, and the chest pain was eradicated with babs treatment.
Some chronic lyme patients experience heart problems if they have gone for a very long time without adequate treatment. In many, many cases though, it's babesia.
Posts: 1632 | From Northern Wisconsin | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
thanks NP40 for the reply. I am seriously thinking babesia. My chest pain appears to be inflammation of the nerves but I am not 100% positive since periodically my heart will race. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to tolerate mepron-I tried it for 10 days and each time within an hour my stomach went into violent spasms. I have read that the other alternative you mention has a much higher failure rate so I haven't tried it. After 6 months on abx (ketec/tinidizole and levaquin/tinidizole)I would say that I have not made any noticeable improvements.
Diana
Posts: 202 | From vancouver, canada | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Diana, I've also had shortness of breath for many years which doctors contributed to CFS/Fibro. (rheumatologist diagonses), now I find it is Babs. I've had a couple of extensive heart work ups and everything looks find. Of course, anxiety, rapid heart beats, pounding beats, etc. So after almost 14 years I now know what this was from. Isn't that sad????????????
So, do you have Lyme or coinfections, or just the Babesosis which is enough to deal with.
Thank you for your post and interest, I appreciate your's and everyone elses' post to my request.
This think seems bigger than me right now and I'm anxious to get started with the correct treatment for this.
Wishing everyone much success and renewed health. Dalphia (Gaye)
Posts: 97 | From Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Diana, I've also had shortness of breath for many years which doctors contributed to CFS/Fibro. (rheumatologist diagonses), now I find it is Babs. I've had a couple of extensive heart work ups and everything looks find. Of course, anxiety, rapid heart beats, pounding beats, etc. So after almost 14 years I now know what this was from. Isn't that sad????????????
So, do you have Lyme or coinfections, or just the Babesosis which is enough to deal with.
Thank you for your post and interest, I appreciate your's and everyone elses' post to my request.
This think seems bigger than me right now and I'm anxious to get started with the correct treatment for this.
Wishing everyone much success and renewed health. Dalphia (Gaye)
Posts: 97 | From Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Diana, I've also had shortness of breath for many years which doctors contributed to CFS/Fibro. (rheumatologist diagonses), now I find it is Babs. I've had a couple of extensive heart work ups and everything looks find. Of course, anxiety, rapid heart beats, pounding beats, etc. So after almost 14 years I now know what this was from. Isn't that sad????????????
So, do you have Lyme or coinfections, or just the Babesosis which is enough to deal with.
Thank you for your post and interest, I appreciate your's and everyone elses' post to my request.
This think seems bigger than me right now and I'm anxious to get started with the correct treatment for this.
Wishing everyone much success and renewed health. Dalphia (Gaye)
Posts: 97 | From Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2005
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
Two add-ons to all the information people have shared thus far:
One, a mainstream medical specialization for drug-resistant babesia has sprung up in the U.S. over the past year. If your financial situation will allow it, you can either try to find a specialist yourself, or start with the most reputable travel medicine specialist you can find, and get referrals. If they say they haven't heard of it, they aren't plugged in enough.
Don't get into Lyme with the mainstream doctors unless absolutely necessary, which it shouldn't be since you just started treatment on that. Also, be prepared for the unfortunate fact that the babesia doctors often don't take health insurance.
Two, do an extensive Lymenet search on this subject. Try filtering with the names of everyone who writes about this, and every quirky side topic that comes up, because a lot of valuable information only seems to come up if you dig for it.
It turns out that a lot of longtime Lymenet members have developed drug-resistant babesia, mostly because the medications people have taken were prescribed at too low a dose. But it also could be because many available drugs can't really do the job once babesia has become entrenched. There are a number of alternatives being discussed.
As you are researching this on your own, it could pay to focus on global travel medicine. It's this huge network of contacts that involves a wide variety of industries, such as tourism, environmental preservation, religious missionary work, corporate travel, and the media, and each industry has a different approach. Also, while you are researching, start saving your money so that you have a nest egg of about $1000. There are some excellent medications that are only sold abroad, and you never know when you might want to hop on a plane. Yes, it sounds extreme--but if you read through all these Lymenet posts about babesia, you may find this route could be much, much cheaper in the long run.
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NP40
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6711
posted
quote:Originally posted by diana: thanks NP40 for the reply. I am seriously thinking babesia. My chest pain appears to be inflammation of the nerves but I am not 100% positive since periodically my heart will race. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to tolerate mepron-I tried it for 10 days and each time within an hour my stomach went into violent spasms. I have read that the other alternative you mention has a much higher failure rate so I haven't tried it. After 6 months on abx (ketec/tinidizole and levaquin/tinidizole)I would say that I have not made any noticeable improvements.
Diana
Malarone is a good alternative to mepron as is plaquenil, however, I would definitely use artemisinin along with it. That combo can get after the babs and the chances of developing babs resistance treatment are greatly reduced.
After 6 months with little or no improvement you may want to seriously consider doing babs treatment. Co-infections will often hinder any improvement unless treated. With chest pain, heart racing, babs may certainly be your problem.
Ketek is a strong abx which should have helped reduce some overall bacterial load, even though there's no real noticeable improvement. Levaquin is for bartonella. A couple of 10 day dosages of mepron will do nothing for babs. My son did 3 months of zithromax/mepron/art, and zith/plaquenil/art. He showed noticeable improvement after about a month, though we switched the mep to plaq because he didn't tolerate the mep very well either.
This is only my opinion, and the opinion of our LLMD, but he rarely gives a cyst buster [flagyl/tini, etc.] until much later in treatment, when bacterial load has been cut way down. It holds down the herx's and he uses it as mop-up basically. I'm sure many here have had better luck with it earlier in treatment, but we didn't. It sure helped towards the end of treatment though.
Everyone is different, and treatment has to be tailored. Perhaps, you just haven't found the right combo yet ? Secondly, I'm a firm believer that supplementation is an important part of the process. Detoxifying is an important part of the process.
Posts: 1632 | From Northern Wisconsin | Registered: Jan 2005
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thanks for your advice. I thought Malarone was derived from Mepron which would mean I likely could not tolerate it either and I was not aware of plaquenil being used for babesia-is it used on it's own?
I herxed very badly on ketec initially (I have gone undiagnosed for 18 years) and I also herxed on levaquin but I am not seeing any improvement in between the herxes which is why I am thinking babs. I tested positive for bartonella and riketsia (Canadian testing), negative elisa for borrelia, indeterminate Igenex for borrelia and negative Igenex for Babesia.
Diana
Posts: 202 | From vancouver, canada | Registered: Jun 2005
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NP40
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6711
posted
quote:Originally posted by diana: NP40,
thanks for your advice. I thought Malarone was derived from Mepron which would mean I likely could not tolerate it either and I was not aware of plaquenil being used for babesia-is it used on it's own?
I herxed very badly on ketec initially (I have gone undiagnosed for 18 years) and I also herxed on levaquin but I am not seeing any improvement in between the herxes which is why I am thinking babs. I tested positive for bartonella and riketsia (Canadian testing), negative elisa for borrelia, indeterminate Igenex for borrelia and negative Igenex for Babesia.
Diana
Malarone and mep do have crossover of ingredients. I would take plaquenil with art though. In fact, artemisinin would be part of any treatment I'd take for babs. It definitely worked in our situation. Plaquenil also helps the abx penetrate deeper as well.
Thanks for posting this, it helps to clear a lot of things up. First of all, being infected for that long, it may take a long time to see noticeable improvement. The keets have had years to play and roam around in your system and eradicating them will not be easy, nor done quickly.
Having been ill this long, I'd be surprised if you didn't have babesia. Lyme and co-infections are clinical diagnosis, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about test results, especially trying to get positive results after this length of time.
By your own admission you herxed on ketek and levaquin. Perhaps, you want to mix and match abx's so the Bb doesn't become acclimated to any one abx.
After my son's initial IV rocephin, we then IV'd zithromax and then included mepron/art. We then switched to plaquenil in place of mep. After the IV was pulled he did ceftin, biaxin, and numerous other abx's to stay one step ahead of the keets. He herxed on every one of them.
You should certainly discuss this with your doc, and perhaps you'll both agree that babs treatment is in order.
Posts: 1632 | From Northern Wisconsin | Registered: Jan 2005
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
Hi, again. It's worth doing a Google on plaquenil, chloroquine, and malaria as part of your research. Also, I believe malarone is taken as a malaria preventative in tropical countries, as is doxycycline. Mepron is a much stronger version, which is taken more for the treatment of malaria.
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