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Mepron/Zithromax Herxing (Babesia)

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Posted 10/8/2012 4:50 PM (GMT -5)
Does anyone have any experience on this drug combo to treat Babesia. It has been a week since I've been on the combo. I'm also on doxycycline 400mg a day. My main symptom has always been chronic headaches/head pressure. The last few days have been awful. I feel tired and fatigued. I'm out of breath going up the stairs. Also, at night when I take the Zithromax with the Mepron I feel worse. It feels like my blood pressure almost goes up and I get a little shaky too. Last night I kept getting weird sensations while falling asleep. I can't quite explain it. Is this normal herxing? I just feel blah. What's interesting is that I tested full blown positive for Babesia, but according to my LLMD I don't have the classic symptoms except for the head pressure. I have had zero sweats, fevers, chills. It's so weird.
Posted 10/9/2012 9:38 AM (GMT -5)
you know it is so hard for me to tell if it is the lyme or the medicine that makes me feel worse. If you google mepron you will see it has lots of side affects, it can make people depressed etc. I did not notice a big difference with that combination than the doxy/mepron combination but that is just me.
Posted 10/9/2012 4:53 PM (GMT -5)
I don't have classic symptoms..just FATIGUE!
But I tested positive for babesia duncani, so I know I have it.

I get tired walking upstairs...and my thighs hurt.

Are you taking mepron 2x/day with zith? Get worse around week 4-5, least you will know its working
Posted 10/9/2012 7:26 PM (GMT -5)
I had that feeling the entire time on Mepron. It was worse when I took Zithromax with it than when I did it with another med. Watch your liver enzymes on Mepron. I had a very drastic increase. It may not have been from Mepron itself, but you definitely need to keep an eye on that.
Posted 10/9/2012 10:28 PM (GMT -5)
I take 1 tsp of Mepron in the morning and 200 mg of doxy, resveratrol, samento, garlic, vitamin D, vitamin C, Ginko around 12 noon, then 1tsp of Mepron, 200mg of doxy, and 600mg of Zithromax with dinner. The LLMD is checking my liver enzymes every 3 weeks. I just wish these headaches and pressure would just go away. So many weird little symptoms that come and go. Now the soles of my feet are starting to hurt every morning (which I think is Bart) and that never happened until I started the Mepron/zith. I'm going to ask my doctor about artemisia to add... has anyone had any experience with the head pressure? When did it start to go away?

Thanks everyone
Posted 10/25/2012 7:20 AM (GMT -5)
You are describing my experience exactly. I tested pos for babs. Only sx I had was some air hunger. No sweats etc. have been On zith/Mepron for just under 4 months and I feel horrible. Plus, after a month on this treatment I ended up getti g Bart sx! Feet burning etc. never had that before. Next month I'm taking a mepron break. I can't deal w it. I'll hit Lyme and Bart hard and hopefully get rid of those and them go back to babs if needed. I may take artemisia to keep babs at bay in the meantime. Sigh. Depressing!
Posted 2/19/2013 5:49 AM (GMT -5)
How long is one supposed to take Mepron/zithromax combination? I've been taking them for 6 weeks and feel exhausted, depressed and have increased burning pain. Does anyone know the average length of treatment and whether the horrible side effects or herx (not sure which) gets better with time on meds.
Thanks for any info....
Lola
Posted 2/19/2013 6:05 AM (GMT -5)
A lot of Lyme-literate doctors recommend taking Mepron for a minimum of 4-5 months so that it has a chance to work throughout the entire life cycle of your red blood cells. I didn't make it that long unfortunately.

For me, the herxing effects take a long time to subside. Especially on things that target babesia. I've been taking artemisinin for 4 weeks (pulsed only 3 days at a time) and I have been horrendously herxing the entire time. On other meds like Rifampin, bactrim etc. severe herxing only lasts 1-2 weeks for me before I return to my baseline level.
Posted 2/19/2013 6:16 AM (GMT -5)
How do you know if the symptoms are herxing or side effects?
Posted 2/19/2013 1:22 PM (GMT -5)
I've been on the same combo --- but added artemesia then had a bad reaction to that. So I just resumed the mepron/zith

For about 1 1/2 mos I had the head pressure and the head stuff like unstable dizzy feeling.  I did add Jernigans neuro-antitox formula-cns/pns. that seemed to clear some things up.

My sleep has even gotten better now.  I just have some PNS issues and stamina to work out.

Some folks ask about how long to be on mepron/zith --- some patients I've heard a long time. My LLMD recently told me they are finding babesia resistance to mepron -- which is so depressing. What is next! Is there any hope.

Well I do keep digging. I am hoping to find some herbal treatment that would replace artemesia.  I think artemesia helps some folks but it sure scared the heck out of me affecting my blood work andheart.

Posted 2/19/2013 3:16 PM (GMT -5)
Hmmm...it's concerning that so many of you tested positive for Babs, but didn't show typical symptoms of air hunger and sweating. My LLMD said that the Babs testing is even more unreliable than Lyme testing, so I haven't been tested for it yet. She said that she diagnoses the co-infections clinically.I guess I need to ask her about that.
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