It's not as big of a deal as it seems at first as far as infusing and taking care of it.
All that happens is you get your PICC line or Midline put in, which only takes a few minutes. The pain isn't too bad.
The way that the insertion works is probably different with different doctors. With me, I got it put in a few weeks after my LLMD told me that I needed IV therapy once insurance covered it and once we got an in-home health nurse to come to insert it at my LLMD's office.
After it was inserted, I got a test dose to make sure that I responded well to the medicine.
Doing infusions at home by myself is a piece of cake. Once you do it for a few days, you are a pro at it. My infusion lasts an hour, but it doesn't really stop me from doing anything. I usually watch t.v. or take it easy while infusing.
Pros:
-IV antibiotics can pass the blood-brain barrier, helping neurological problems that orals often can't
-It tends to be less harsh on the stomach
-Better absorbtion
-You could get better faster
Cons:
-Risk of infection or getting line wet
-Most insurance companies only cover one month of IV antibiotics.
Let me know if you have any more questions. I would love to help you.
posted
Do the IV antibiotics make you more sick than the orals?
Jenny
-------------------- Never, Never, Never give up! Posts: 395 | From Connecticut | Registered: Nov 2008
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dmc
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5102
posted
Jenny asks
quote:Do the IV antibiotics make you more sick than the orals?
It depends on the antibiotic and the individual person's herx symptoms.
Posts: 2675 | From ct, usa | Registered: Jan 2004
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tdtid
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10276
posted
I'm on IV's as well but I have a port-a-cath. I too take Rocephin and pulse Flagyl and some iv antioxidants. Then I also take several orals abx and mepron.
As far as the herxing, what I found out quite early for me personally is that the herxes in some cases were zipping right through. They didn't last as long but some MIGHT me more intense, but when they only last hours vs days, this was good.
I was on orals only for the first 21 months, so I don't know if that may have made some of this different from what others experience.
I think Mystery Girl summed up the pros and cons well.
Personally, as long as you trust your LLMD, I would go with his or her rocommendation on this one.
Cathy
-------------------- "To Dream The Impossible Dream" Man of La Mancha Posts: 2638 | From New Hampshire | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
It's a choice you should be 100% confident about while making...
I've kinda become the definition of Murphy's Law over the years, so if something is bound to happen it's going to happen to me. I haven't had good luck on oral or IV meds.
The IV meds are really tough on my body. I tend to do some major herxing...
~~~~~~
I posted this in another topic, but feel it fits here too...
IVs are not an easy thing to deal with. I constantly had problems with PICC lines getting clotted, though I was constantly pushing heparin. After my 5th line in 6 months was accidentally cut by my home health nurse, I decided that having a chest port would be a better option.
I thought that I was very well informed when I made the decision, but had no idea that there could be so many complications.
Just over a year after the port was installed, I began to have intense pains in my heart. An operation was done to remove a fibrin sheath, and the doctor found that the line extended 4cm into the right atrium of my heart. Two days after they cut into my groin to remove the fibrin sheath, the doctors cut my chest open once more to replace the port.
I've had my current port since June 30th. On October 3rd, doctors cut my chest back open to stitch the port back down. It was attempting to flip over, and constantly rubbing against the scar tissue, which caused a great deal of inflammation and pain.
The night of the surgery, my incision broke open. There is no lab proof that the site or the port was infected, but there was a good deal of puss, nausea, and fevers for 3 weeks.
In late October, doctors in the ER attempted to draw blood for cultures out of the port. When they could not get blood, I was sent back to my surgeon, and once again had a fibrin sheath removed.
If you weren't counting... I had 5 PICC lines in 6 months, and have had 5 surgeries regarding my chest port since March of 2007.
It would seem to the outside eye that I don't take care of my lines, but I am a complete germaphobe, and my current nurse is way more than competent. My body often rejects peripheral IVs within 6 hours of their placement, and has proven to not stop at anything to do the same to PICCs and Ports. I just begun coumadin therapy to try and maintain the current port.
I have little to no improvement on oral meds, and veiw IV therapy as the only road to a healthy life for me.
Deciding to continue IV therapy is a constant struggle for me. I am currently trying to figure out whether or not medicine has done all it can, and if I shouldn't just take out the IV and try to live as normal and happy a life as I can.
-------------------- Sometimes when I say �Oh, I�m fine� I want someone to look me in the eyes & say �tell the truth�
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I'm on IV Rocephin. 
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