Question for Chapelle

Hi - I'm hoping you'll be on the forum tonight or tomorrow.

I saw that in Nov, 2013 you first had nerve and muscle symptoms,and went on doxy in Feb 2014. Then you went on bactrim ds and zithro500.
Would you be willing to give me more detailed information about your protocol?
I'm wondering how long you were on doxy, and when you switched to bactrim and zithro...or did you add them to the doxy.
Does the bactrim and zithro address your bart?
I'm currently on doxy and starting to question my choice...as I also suspect I have bartonella.

Thanks

Sorry I missed this! Ok - I will be happy to address your questions! Just give me some time, I will write back tonight (I am on vacation at the moment)!

Ok, so here we go

I started doxy on Feb 8th - my Dr slowly increased the dose bc I was herxing on just doxy 100mg twice a day. So she increased it to 100mg three times a day after four weeks, and then 200mg twice a day after four weeks. So that brings us to May. That is when she put me on zithromax 250mg twice a day. Then in June is when she took me off doxy and put me on Bactrim DS. I experienced improvement every time she changed my protocol. I remained on the same treatment into July because I started Grapefruit Seed extract and was herxing from that - she likes to take it easy on me, which is a good thing. I will be seeing her July 24th - so we will see what she decides to do. Doxy worked wonders for me, and she firmly believes it got rid of the Lyme, but she switched it to Bactrim, bc Bactrim and zithromax are a better combo for Bartonella, and she was right, bc my Bartonella symptoms resolved once I was on that treatment plan (rib pain, foot pain went away). I had to come off doxy anyway because my skin couldn't handle it. Although I was covered from head to toe with light clothing and was wearing a sunhat, my hands were getting severely burned. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions, I don't mind at all, ok!? I am on vacation, but still check in when I can!!

Hi Girlie... In Canada Bactrim DS is know as Septra DS. It is a combination of 2 abx that work on the folate synthesis.

septra/bactrim is a sulfur drug - so as long as you are not allergic to sulfur, yes, it is safe. It does fall into the category of drugs that can cause ototoxicity though (ex hearing loss, tinnitus) - but I already have a hearing impairment, and I am ok. Only certain individuals are susceptible.

I don't have any vibration issues, or any issue with regards to the brain. i was lucky that way - lyme hit other parts of my body, such as my bladder, my stomach and such. Yes, I did have severe nerve pain, but that's been gone for a few months.

I would say I am currently 95% better (took a setback because I got sick last week, otherwise before I got sick I was 98%)

my apologies - I jumped the gun on that one. Now that I think about it, I forgot that you haven't been on doxy for very long. I was on doxy for 4 months before I switched over, and most of my lyme symptoms were gone by that point. Bactrim does not have much coverage for Lyme, it is more for bartonella. But zithromax will definitely target the spirochetes, which is why I am on both.

If your doctor highly suspects Bartonella, then maybe you can switch to Zithromax now and then add Bactrim later on. I wouldn't go on two antibiotics at the same time. its too much of an overload. Then you have one more option -

the three top drugs for lyme from what i understand are doxy, amoxicillin, and a cephalasporin. I now recall what happened with me - my dr actually wanted to originally switch doxy to Ceftin (a cephalesporin) - but I am allergic to cephalesporins, so that's why we had to skip it over. In time, however, she discovered I did have Bart, which is why she chose the bactrim and zithromax combo, but I honestly think you should speak to your dr about possibly taking Ceftin.

so in the end, if i were you, i would go btwn either zithro or ceftin. good luck!! let me know what your Dr says!!

I have nothing against mino. Just basing it on what my dr said. She hasn't had much success with mino so she doesn't prescribe it. If the right drug is chosen then u won't have a setback. Have u made any improvements while on doxy?

Ok. Lots of luck to u!!!