Topic: 4.8 million Bicillin, does it work? rationale?research?
pamoisondelune
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11846
posted
To those people taking 4.8 million units per week of Bicillin: Does it work for you? On what basis does your doctor give it to you--- does he know of any research? My LLMD won't prescribe me 4.8 million Bicillin per week because he says there's no research. He says his office is research-based.
Posts: 1226 | From USA | Registered: May 2007
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posted
I did 4.8 million units of bicillin LA for six full months. I most definitely felt the best while taking the two shots a week. Each shot was 2.4 and were big huge shots.
You need to ice for twenty full minutes so as not to feel the shot. Only one time did I feel it and I'm pretty sure the nurse missed the muscle area that it should have gone into. Thought I'd die.
Anyway while taking bicillin LA my lyme was in check. I am now however taking Rocephin IV since it didn't hit my Central Nervous System symptoms as I had hoped.
Still have myoclonus, tremors,vibrations, etc.,
Hope this helps.
Barb
Posts: 281 | From san francisco | Registered: Jun 2006
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CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
benzathine penicillin is Bicillin!! **************************************
1: N Engl J Med. 1985 Apr 4;312(14):869-74.Links
Successful parenteral penicillin therapy of established Lyme arthritis.
Steere AC, Green J, Schoen RT, Taylor E, Hutchinson GJ, Rahn DW, Malawista SE.
In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial carried out from 1980 to 1982, 20 patients with established Lyme arthritis were assigned treatment with 2.4 million U of intramuscular benzathine penicillin weekly for three weeks (total, 7.2 million U) and 20 patients received saline.
Seven of the 20 penicillin-treated patients (35 per cent) had complete resolution of arthritis soon after the injections and have remained well during a mean follow-up period of 33 months.
In contrast, all 20 patients given placebo continued to have attacks of arthritis (P less than 0.02).
In 1983, of 20 patients treated with intravenous penicillin G, 20 million U a day for 10 days, 11 (55 per cent) had complete resolution of arthritis and have remained well since.
As compared with nonresponders, penicillin-responsive patients in both studies were more likely to have previously received antibiotics for erythema chronicum migrans (P less than 0.02) and less likely to have been given intraarticular corticosteroids during or at the conclusion of parenteral therapy (P less than 0.1).
The Lyme spirochete was not cultured from synovium or joint fluid.
We conclude that established Lyme arthritis can often be treated successfully with parenteral penicillin.
However,
neither
of the regimens that we tested
is uniformly effective,
and further experience will be needed to determine the optimal course of therapy.
PMID: 3883177
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
posted
1: Ann Rheum Dis. 1992 Aug;51(8):1007-8. Links
Long term treatment of chronic Lyme arthritis with benzathine penicillin.
Cimmino MA, Accardo S. Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Universit� di Genova, Genoa, Italy.
The cases are reported of two patients with chronic Lyme arthritis resistant to the recommended antibiotic regimens who were cured by long term treatment with benzathine penicillin.
It is suggested that the sustained therapeutic levels of penicillin were effective either by the inhibition of germ replication or by lysis of the spirochaetes when they were leaving their sanctuaries.
PMID: 1417107
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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CaliforniaLyme
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 7136
Cimmino MA, Moggiana GL, Parisi M, Accardo S. Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Universit� di Genova, Italy.
The efficacy of different therapeutic regimens for Lyme arthritis is reviewed.
The first treatment for Lyme arthritis, intramuscular benzathine penicillin 2.4 million units weekly for 3 weeks, had a success rate of 35%.
Another study employed intravenous penicillin G at a dosage of 20 million units daily for 10 days, which cured 55% of patients.
Intravenous ceftriaxone has been shown to be superior to penicillin with a response rate of 94%.
However, these results have been challenged in recent reports.
Oral doxycycline or amoxicillin in association with probenecid seems to work equally well although neuroborreliosis was more frequent following treatment with amoxicillin.
An anecdotal report indicates the usefullness of long-term benzathine penicillin for chronic Lyme arthritis.
Long-term antibiotic therapy, which is recommended also for Reiter's syndrome, may be useful for eradicating the sanctuaries of Borrelia burgdorferi.
Disease-modifying drugs such as hydroxychloroquine or sulphasalazine, a drug which is commonly used in reactive arthritis following enteric infections, may be of value in Lyme arthritis resistant to antibiotics but have not been tested to date.
The role of intraarticular injections of steroids or synovectomy is still controversial. Antibiotic treatment is the cornerstone of Lyme arthritis treatment. Additional interventions should be studied for patients with Lyme arthritis resistant to antibiotics.
PMID: 8852480
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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35% isn't actually that encouraging -- I wonder what would have happened had they extended the treatment period past 3 weeks.
It's been a little over 3 weeks for me and while I have herxed like mad, I have yet to notice any improvement.
I am only on 2.4 million a week. I was under the impression that that was standard dosage for late stage Lyme.
I am not taking anything else because herxing has been so severe as is.
Perhaps I should consider going up to 4.8? How come you are requesting this dosage in particular?
Posts: 390 | From Oakland, CA | Registered: May 2007
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pamoisondelune
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11846
posted
Hello-- I'm requesting 4.8 million because i've come across at least 4 people on various forums who are taking or have taken that dose. They all say it is physically tolerable. I wondered if the results justify the dose. Thanks for the research ! Merci!
Posts: 1226 | From USA | Registered: May 2007
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-- I wonder what would have happened had they extended the treatment period past 3 weeks.
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