Do you continue to treat for Bart H. until all marks are gone?
How does one know they are "cured" of Bart H.?
When treating, is it common for more marks to surface versus diminish?
My child's marks have been consistently present--never fading--and with treatment have actually exploded to covering a much larger area than prior to treatment. If the treatment is working, shouldn't the marks be vanishing?
(My child says the Bart is trying to escape and that's why she is getting more and more marks!)
What is a "good/average" amount of time to treat Bart where one should be presumably "cured"? What's its life cycle?
Can Bart H. be completely eradicated or is it similar to Lyme in that it can only be put into remission?
posted
My bart marks are still there. Mine, too, if anything, are getting larger and more prominent. Maybe somebody else can help you here.
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posted
Mine come and go but are getting less and lighter in color. Have been treating Bart for five months now.
Posts: 123 | From Montana | Registered: May 2009
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does everyone get these marks? i dont have them. have a neg test - but wonder if i have bart (due to a lot of pysch and eye issues) or just babs and lyme
-------------------- Bit in March 2005. Posts: 58 | From Jersey | Registered: May 2008
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cactus
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7347
posted
My bart marks went away with treatment, but mine were a bit odd because they did not appear until I started bart treatment based on clinical symptoms.
Once we began treating - the stretch mark type rash appeared, but it did go away as we continued treatment.
It faded slowly, and now I can't see it at all.
But - I still have bart issues, and in fact have just re-treated bart treatment after being off of all systemic abx for 6 mos.
Not everyone who has bart will have the rash, PinchMe, so like so many TBDs it can be a clinical diagnosis.
Unfortunately, I don't think that we can use the marks as a guide for when treatment should stop.
-------------------- �Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?� - A.A. Milne Posts: 1987 | From No. VA | Registered: May 2005
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2roads
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4409
posted
You can't.
My daughter did not have them, but did have a PCR biopsy of Bart in her stomach...go figure.
Posts: 2214 | From West Chester, PA | Registered: Aug 2003
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I didn't have the marks, but I am PCR positive too for 2 kinds of bart....
Posts: 116 | From Ann Arbor, MI | Registered: Nov 2007
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Okay, so hopefully they will start fading and eventually disappear as treatment continues?
Hopefully them spreading to now cover her entire legs is the infection leaving the deeper tissues and coming to the surface?
Do we continue treating until the marks are gone or until other Bart symptoms are relieved--not sure what, other than the marks, are Bart versus Lyme?
My daughter's symptoms could be mostly Bart or Lyme at this point, so when does one know when to stop Bart treatment and just concentrate on Lyme--i.e., what is the minimum treatment for Bart to start thinking it has possibly been eradicated/put into remission? 5 months? 8 months? An average minimum?
She's been in treatment for Lyme now for 5.5 months and Bart for almost 4. LLMD doesn't think Babs is an issue at this time.
Thanks for your help.
Posts: 648 | From northeast | Registered: Feb 2009
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posted
She is on minocycline, zith, rifampin and about to start plaquenil.
Her rash has never faded or gone away. It started as faint lines that could easily be mistaken as imprints from her clothes/pants. It has spread and now covers most of her upper legs and is starting to show up in her torso area as well.
She was very self conscious over the summer because they were very visible when wearing a bathing suit at the pool.
:-(
Posts: 648 | From northeast | Registered: Feb 2009
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I am also curious how long it takes for the bart to be in remission. I know everyone is different, but what has been everyone's experience??
I've been on my bart combo for almost 3 months and the herxes have just started to let up a bit. I'll do it as long as it takes, but would like some kind of idea. \
MomwithHope, I hope your daughter feels better soon and that she can enjoy wearing her bathing suit next summer without worrying about having a rash!!
-------------------- dar Posts: 95 | From michigan | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
I'm bringing this back to page one for one last try at additional responses just in case some other knowledgeable people may have initially missed it.
Thanks!
Posts: 648 | From northeast | Registered: Feb 2009
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CD57
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11749
posted
I thought the lifecycle was about 3 days? I know I can feel it creeping back in that fast, if bart is what it truly is. It's the same constellation of symtptoms anyway. What are your daughter's?
I treated it with 9 months Rifampin/doxy and the 4 months of Levaquin/mino. Didn't work and I think the meds should have been changed up faster. Some LLMDs will only use Levaquin a short time.
Posts: 3528 | From US | Registered: Apr 2007
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So if the lifecycle is only 3 days, why does treatment for Bart have to last so long? I know that's the million dollar question, right?
Is it that the Bart is just too resilient and isn't being treated properly? Or does it still go back to the Lyme being too overpowering so treatment for Bart can't work?
I read somewhere that Lyme has to be treated a minimum of 8 months because of its slow lifecycle--not sure what its lifecycle is--but then obviously continued until symptom abatement of 2 months.
So basically in an ideal situation, if symptoms have been gone for 2 months and total treatment has been for a minimum of 8 months, then the patient should be in Lyme remission--haven't heard that happen much, but that's my processing of the 8-month therapy theory. I know it's too simplistic, but I'm just trying to figure out when to say enough already in regard to treating with abdx.
So if Bart's lifecycle is only 3 days, what would be the "ideal" minimum of treatment? I think I read that 5 months was the minimum, but I've tried to cram so much info into my brain over the past months that I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly, which is why I'm asking again.
I suppose this is all fairly useless info since there doesn't seem to be a true minimum or ideal, but I guess I'm wondering how long to treat without seeing symptom abatement without risking having stopped too soon and then having to have her start all over again. Does that make sense?
I suppose I will just have to continue on, see how she does, and make the decision to stop when everything truly seems to have plateaued--or better yet, she'll get into remission before we even need to address that.
Thanks again!
Posts: 648 | From northeast | Registered: Feb 2009
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