posted
My doc started me on 50 mg on minocyline, every other day. My symtoms are severe, will that do anything, or is that too low dosage? I started this past week,. My joints are cracking like crazy now, I feel like I have the flu. when do they start you on IV (my doc said I would need it eventually) jenin
Posts: 455 | From Maryland | Registered: Jul 2007
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beachcomber
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5320
posted
Jenin:
I started mino at 25 mgs every other day, trying to work up to 200 mgs a day. I never got to full dose. Mino can be a tough Rx for many. I was pretty dizzy and had terrible head pressure while on it. I eventually had to stop taking it.
Vermont_Lymie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9780
posted
Yes, it does work at the levels that you are taking now!
Mino stays in the body for a long time, so even taking it as you are, you are slightly increasing your body's levels of it each additional time you take it.
That is, the half-life is very long, up to 22 hours. I take 50mg every THREE days, and I have been herxing from that for over 6 weeks now. I tried it every two days but could not tolerate the effects, either herxing or side-effects. So, I am taking quite a bit less than you.
After 6 weeks, I feel it is helping. I am not sure if I will ever build up to more mino though. I may start IV in the fall too. Best wishes.
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posted
when do you start feeling better on this stuff? how long does your herx last, how long do your good days last. jenin
Posts: 455 | From Maryland | Registered: Jul 2007
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Vermont_Lymie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9780
posted
Hi Jen,
Hang in there! Lyme treatment takes alot of patience. More than we have sometime -- you need to go through it to get to the other side.
Personally, after about 5 weeks of taking mino (only 50mg every 3 days), I felt relatively certain that it was helping me. I have also been taking other oral abx for the past year, so my bacterial load is probably reduced. But the mino seems to hit something that all that amoxy did not.
I have been taking mino since mid-June (so that is about 7 weeks). The herxing was pretty intense for the first month for me. Now, when I take mino, it does not have an intense effect.
Once I tried to bump it up to the level you are taking -- 50mg every two days. The result was 2 days of headaches and feeling awful! This is powerful stuff if you have lyme disease.
Be sure to detox; drink lots of lemon water, and take a binder if you can. My llmd suggested Welchol, which I take mid-day away from everything else and it seems to help.
If you find that 50mg/every two days of mino is too much, and you are feeling too awful, please speak with your doctor about cutting back! I highly recommend 50mg every three days, it made mino tolerable for me. I will try increasing it again at some point, but not until I can function with it.....(gotta work too).
I have had more and more good days after a year of lyme treatment. But treatment is a bit of a roller coaster, and I had some horrendously difficult times too, esp during babs treatment with malarone. I was lucky in feeling better very early in treatment, after years of untreated lyme and other tick borne diseases. Hope you feel better soon! Take care.
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