antibiotic that works against sinusitis but not Bartonella?

That's a little surprising as I found bartonella to be somewhat resistant to azithromycin, and azithromycin only affected it if combined with other abx, but maybe she got an unusually susceptible strain. Bart is usually not affected too much by amoxicillin or cephalosporins, maybe those would be worth a try.

If she got covid, you should be able to get rid of that with atovaquone or nitazoxanide. Atovaquone can hit bart though (but not borrelia). I didn't herx from nitazoxanide, but some others have reported herxes from it. I would avoid tetracyclines if covid is suspected, since tetracyclines are strongly anti-inflammatory which can impair the immune response to viral infections.

Thanks for the replies.
She was even worse on Levofloxacin, which hits Bartonella harder, plus almost all her symptoms fit Bartonella.
I did recommend amoxicillin. But amoxicillin with clavulanate potassium gives me minor Bartonella herxes.


I've also experienced an Bartonella herx solely on Azithromicin. And it makes me wonder if I gave her Bartonella and she has my strain. Or if her mother or father was infected and she was born with it and that caused her EDS. I think I'm responsible because her symptoms started a week, two weeks after we kissed for the first time. After the kiss I was a bit afraid and so I gave her some herbs to take. So either the kiss gave it to her or she already had it and the herbs woke it up. Either way, I feel like it's my fault.

I know there is not much evidence for transmission but the timing is very suspect. At the very least I activated her Bartonella, if it was idle. She was fairly stable for many years but has been going downhill the last year.

Vimzor said...
I know there is not much evidence for transmission but the timing is very suspect. At the very least I activated her Bartonella, if it was idle. She was fairly stable for many years but has been going downhill the last year.

curious to hear what mechanism you think might cause you to activate her dormant infection ?

not sure - a person can certainly herx from taking sida acuta etc - but i think it normally quietens down soon after

before we knew we had bartonella - my partner and i took some sida acuta and cryptolepis etc and felt much much worse for the time we were on it - and subjectively because it took a while for the herx effects to slowly wear off - we thought maybe we had just got worse - but we were keeping a symptoms tracker - and afterwards it showed overall we actually got better while on it - but were also experiencing herx - and then the herx wore off and we were 20-30% better for 3-4weeks before it all crept back to where it was before.
this was not at all obvious at the time subjectively - so i could imagine that without the symptoms tracker a person could just think they got worse from the start of sida onwards

i have read about "bart comming out" after disulfiram - as i understand it the people mean the symptoms they associate with bartonella infection became more prominent after or during disulfiram treatment

one hypothesis is that the overall symptoms picture is a result of interplay between the different microbes and the host immune system - and so suppressing one or more infections - but not another - say with disulfiram - which does not act on bartonella - may dampen the immune disrupting effects of the infections it is active for - but not bartonella - and as a result - more bartonella type symptoms may be felt

its a hypothesis that seems to fit the experiences some people have had - but we don't know if its true

in your case treating bart for a time wouldn't really be expected to do the same thing - and to my knowledge all herbs active for bart like sida, houtty etc are active for lyme also

immune systems are complex things - and certainly stoking the fire with immune stimulants like maybe elderberry, echinacea etc could certainly flare things up for a while - but i have taken all of these and its generally a temporary thing

in any case - if something you and she took caused a flare - temporarily or permanently - i wouldn't consider it your fault - you were undoubtedly trying to help - were probably not supported by the medical system - and having little options but to try and treat yourselves as best you could.
by the very nature of that - there is some trial and error involved - and she would have had an informed choice to partake or not - and in doing so has to take responsibility for the risks incurred - so logically that's not on you.

anyway - i just mean to say i think you are burdening yourself unnecessarily with blame - and you can give yourself some slack here.

Thanks for the link Quin.

I had skimmed that paper before but was focussed on the combinations the at the time and didnt register that disulfiram had some activity for bart.