Does mepron work at all without a macrolide antibiotic (azith, biaxin, etc)?

My twin boys are being treated by Dr. J in CT for bart, babs and lyme. They have been treating babs for the past 8 months with Mepron and artemisinin. One has also been taking azithromycin with it but my other boy can't tolerate it and takes omnicef instead.

I have been bothered by the fact that I have heard Mepron works best with a macrolide abx and my one son is not taking this type of abx. He still has night sweats almost every night (so does the other son, but not quite as bad). Dr. J admitted that it works better with a macrolide so I am wondering if we are just giving Mepron needlessly to my little 4 year old. I asked to try biaxin with it and we tried it but the taste was so bad he would not drink it. So we are back to the omnicef.

Does anyone direct me to the science behind the claim that mepron becomes ineffective without a macrolide? Is there a study?

An additional worry is that both of my sons are now on rifampin to treat bartonella. I have read that rifampin can cut the effectiveness of mepron by 40%. So, that is another reason I am concerned that we are just giving this toxic stuff to my boy needlessly.

I have a call with Dr. J in a couple of weeks and am wondering if I should propose dropping the Mepron. Any ideas or thoughts on this?

Thanks,

tickbattler

Hi ticker,

Thanks for the input. It helps to hear you took Rifampin along with Mepron and that it was a good combo. Was your other antibiotic a macrolide?

I did call Dr. J about going back on the omnicef when my son wouldn't take the biaxin so he recommended going back on it. He doesn't seem to be too concerned about the Mepron without a macrolide but I'd like to review that data on this if it exists.

Dr. J had warned me about the taste issue with biaxin and I'm not sure if there is much they can do to flavor it. I will check with the pharmacy one more time. It was my proposal to try the biaxin instead of the omnicef.

Thanks. Hope you are doing well!

tickbattler

I found this old post and thought I'd reply to give an update! I did end up getting the biaxin flavored, and with some bribery (one M&M) was able to get him to start taking it.

The addition of a macrolide with the Mepron was very significant for my son! His night sweats started decreasing after about a month of this combo and just recently he has had a stretch of about 18 nights in a row with no sweats! I feel that we are finally making progress with his babesia.

tickbattler