Babesia Question

Hello,

I am brand new here. I'm 29 years old and tested positive for Babesia. I'm currently taking Mepron 5 ml suspension 3 times a day and 500 mg of Zithromax once a day. I'm having a really hard time right now. I lost my job because I needed to do flex hours and my boss said no then fired me. I have a daughter who's around 1 years old and I can't take care of her because I am completely incapacitated at the moment. I've been on the medicine for a couple of weeks and there has been no resolve. I recently sent lab work to Igenix to have my blood work further examined for Lyme and other co-infections. Right now, my most disabling symptom is extreme fatigue...I can't get out of bed to even make food without feeling like I'll collapse. I wanted to know if anyone else deals with crippling fatigue and what's the best way to overcome this? How long did it take for you to feel better with medicine? I currently can't drive and I really need encouragement that I will one day get better...I need to be able to work and function at some point and right now I have no hope that I'll be able to do that. Thanks!

Thanks Pete I really appreciate it. Everyone seems so strong and knows so much more than I do. I just went through the rounds of seeing many doctors and no one finding anything. It's really depressing.

A good thing to start now is a journal. Write down how you feel, what you are taking and how much and what you are doing to detox.

Oh yeah, the famous word - detox!!

Here, check this out. www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

Hi Lvg123 - welcome to our community!

Sorry you are feeling so terrible...but I am glad you have a diagnosis and have found this forum.
This forum is a great group of knowledgeable and supportive people. Please ask any questions you have...and come here for support.

Dear lvg123,

So sorry you're feeling so terrible. It's interesting that you've lived with Babesia for 10 years, then suddenly developed the air hunger after the birth of your child. Lots of people have similar stories about their tick borne diseases flaring after tramatic events such as the birth of a child, a car accident, a divorce, or a death in the family. For sure it involves the immune system.

Glad you are on treatment, and glad you are getting tested for Lyme and other co-infections. You're seeing a good LLMD, right? I'm assuming you are since you are on Mepron and zith, and are being tested at Igenex.

Don't stop treatment until you are symptom free for 3 months. That might mean a year or more of treatment. You can stop for a few days to a week if your symptoms get really bad, but get back on when you can.

Are you pulsing the mepron 3 weeks on and 1 week off (staying on zith the entire time)? That's how my doctor has me take it. I think the week long mepron break gives the body a break. Curious if anyone else does it that way.

I am also on Mepron and zith, but only taking 1 tsp twice a day.

You are off to a really good start!! It takes time to see a difference with Babesia. My daughter has/had it too and after her first dose of Malarone (=mepron+proguanil), got really bad plugged up ears. I've never heard of anyone else saying that. My son has/had it too. Neither of them are currently on anything, and my daughter has been home sick for 3 days now with a stomach and headache, and achey hips, and my son is tired all the time. Yikes.

Good luck, and fyi, there is a facebook group called Babesia buddies, if you are into facebook. Bee venom therapy is another option some people are using with success for Babesia. But, if I were you, I'd give the Mepron and Zith a chance.

"also you are on a lot of mepron starndard dosage is 5ml 2x/day. maybe you should back off to that so you don't overload yourself too much?"

According to Dr. M.R. - the dose can be raised to 10 ml twice daily. (total of 20 ml). But, he does say after 1 or 2 months of 5 ml twice daily - if the night sweats or other Babs symptoms aren't improving...then increase.

If you're having trouble with the amount you are on...you might want to go down to 5 ml twice a day...and see if your symptoms are more manageable.
You can always add the third dose back in later.

Krimpet,

Hmmm...I have a 2.1cm nodule on my thyroid, but all my labs have been good. I have air hunger and my heart is all wacko sometimes. My air hunger went from a few times a month to nearly every day in October of 2014.

I just found this post about air hunger and hypothyroidism, which is extremely applicable and very informative!!! Everyone, make sure you read it since it could save you years of suffering if that's your problem.

https://www.facebook.com/ThyroidDiseaseAwareness/posts/585937184755207

I don't know if Babesia toxins are as bad as Lyme, but before I started antibiotics, I was very sick with chronic fatigue. I think maybe you are just too toxic at the moment, maybe the antibiotics are killing too much, and you can't detox fast enough. I had that problem and I had to be on super low doses and go very slow throughout my treatment. I would also see if you have the MTHFR gene and then get with some supplements to help if that is the case because detoxing is very important if you want to feel better. Sorry you are going through this!

Girlie,

I asked my integrative doc if I could still be symptomatic with normal labs. Haven't heard back yet.

Most recent (Nov 2015) FT3 is 3.0 and FT4 is 1.41. I know that I've had these tests in the past, and the numbers weren't that good. They were still in a normal range though.

I was tested and have the HLA DQ and my doctor put me on cholestyramine 4x a day to mop up the mold toxins for about a month.