posted
Just curious. I mean ID drs have to have SOME success, right? Perhaps I'm trying to find some hope in this nightmare that things just might end up okay without the need for long-term antibiotics. What about if the antibiotics start 3 months after being infected? Same result? Different? What are the statistics?
Posts: 7 | From Stamford, CT | Registered: Sep 2010
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posted
I don't know if anyone has actual statistics.... but yes, some people are lucky and recover...
but how many are later diagnosed with FM, Lupus, RA, MS, ALS ??
If you only take 28 days of abx, then you'd better have started on the meds within the first few days of the bite. Even then, it could be too late to recover in one month .. "permanently" recover.
Lyme can disseminate in 24 hours.
--voicing my experience and opinion
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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janet thomas
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7122
posted
I once asked a well known and respected LLMD what he would do if he found an attached tick on his child. This is in NY.
His answer-6 weeks of doxy, minimum.
-------------------- I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice but only my personal experience and opinion. Posts: 2001 | From NJ | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
My mom had a bullseye rash and got treatment right away. She doesn't remember how long but doesn't even think it was 28 days.
That was 6 years ago and she is fine so far. Even I have never heard her complain of anything that I found suspicious.
Posts: 984 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Knowing what I know now, though, I wouldn't trust 28 days of doxy at low doses.
Posts: 984 | From US | Registered: Dec 2007
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sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
My aunt took antibiotics for about 3 weeks and was completely cured. She started treatment within 2 days after being bitten.
I think after a few months it is dissiminated and you would likely need longer treatment. I know someone that started treatment 4 months after becoming ill and was cured in 6 months.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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onbam
Unregistered
posted
Early study by a man who is now one of the chief Lyme denialists (Steere) showing that 10-20 days of 200 mg/day doxycycline failed in 75% of cases. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1313637 This for me really drives home the necessity of longer-term, aggressive treatment more than anything.
It seems the majority are failed by it. I'd do whatever it takes to get enough to treat for 3 months after the disappearance of all symptoms.
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posted
I had two weeks early on. The symptoms temporarily abated but the infection came back with a vengeance over the next few months.
Posts: 107 | From new jersey | Registered: Dec 2009
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TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
My understanding is that there is no way to know if someone is cured.
There are some strains that cause a bullseye rash but not disease. This makes many of the early studies where the rash has been used as the sole criteria for having lyme disease, bogus. If you had a bullseye rash from a non disease causing borrelia, abx or not, you won't be sick. Sooooo, many of the results and assumptions that are in play currently are based solely on the bullseye rash as proof of lyme disease. Statistics mean nothing unless they knew whether the strain was capable of causing disease.
When threatened with abx or any other killing agent (rife, herbs etc.), borrelia can transform into cysts which resist abx and other killing agents. It is thought that cysts can co-exist with the host (us) for a decade maybe more without eliciting symptoms. It can come out when survival conditons are favorable (immune system down). Each cyst is capable of producing 5 live spirochetes.
Whether one can keep the infection at bay likely depends on many variables. How many and which co-infections were passed at the time if the bite, health at the time of the bite, genetics and I'm sure there are many other factors.
Given the persistence of borrelia, the horrific nature of the illness and the difficulty and cost of trying to treat when really sick why take a chance?
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