Treatment duration for Bart

So, I recently just finished up 4.5 months of Babesia treatment with Malarone/Azithromyicin after having a positive igM for Babesia Microti via MDL labs. Given the life cycle of a RBC is 120 days I followed the protocol up to 135 days just to be sure on the advice of my LLMD.

I’m now moving to treating Bartonella with Doxy/Bactrim DS as a precaution since my last Igenix testing showed positive igM positive for Bartonella Vinsonii and Bartonella Spp(genus) and they consider a positive test to be at least 2 of the 5 strains (the others being elizabethae, Quintana, and Henselae). Henselae is what made me significantly ill when I first got sick with Lyme and after being properly diagnosed via a new LLMD and Igenix lab testing I cleared it up with 2 months of Rifampin/Minocycline and was symptom free for about 7 months until this January. My LLMD wanted me to do 3 months on the Rifampin but my body could no longer tolerate it.

My question for the forum is, what is the LLMD recommended time frame for antibiotic treatment for Bartonella? I have been on Azithromyicin for 4 months already so i’m sure that has chipped away at it but for these purposes let’s assume I’m starting from Day 1 since combo antibiotics are the standard treatment.

I am basically 99% symptom free right now (I am fairly confident that now it is the antibiotic side effects from treating for most of the past 18-24 months). I am doing this more out of precaution than anything - my wife is pregnant and due with our first child next February and I refuse to be dealing with any of this when that time comes if I can help it. My LLMD and I had come up with the plan to switch to this combo after the Babesia protocol was finished (bactrim DS I have never used before) but unfortunately my LLMD is now unavailable due to his own medical issues and I don’t know when he’ll be returning. Thus, I was unable to discuss the duration specifics with him as my appointment last week was cancelled.

Finally, in addition to looking for the standard duration, does anyone pulse this combo after a certain amount of time? Thanks!

Girlie said...
Congratulations on doing so well !


I think the minimum time for bart treatment is 4-6 months. But many (most?) people need to treat longer.

I have been pulsing my abx since going to the J clinic...that is how 'they' do it there. But, they give you a combination of more than 2 meds to pulse.


Question: You mentioned your wife being pregnant....will you be testing the baby's cord when born?
(that's the best way to test a newborn for lyme)

(lyme is thought to be passed on via sexual contact and also inutero)

Thank you! We conceived the baby via In Vitro but have no plans to test the cord - I will keep it in mind though. How do you go about getting a test of the cord done?

I have been negative for lyme via every possible test I could have (Igenix, MDL, standard western blot, ELISA, C6 peptide) for well over a year now so I am fairly confident that we are safe but I’ll keep it in mind.

When you say 4-6 months, is this basically following the same theory as Babesia treatment revolving around RBC lifespan (ie, RBC life cycle is 120 days average so you should treat for a minimum of 120 days/4 months)?

Ok so 4-6 months how many times. A day for the herbs I do 2-3 times a day

Girlie, if I may ask, what kind of pulsing regiment do they have you on (or have you used in the past) for Bart - Abxs and durations.

I’ve used many Antibiotics since my symptoms first appeared in Oct 2017 including Doxy/Zith/Tindamax and mino/Rifampin. My gut can only take so much more but I do always have excellent responses to antibiotic treatment as long as I can tolerate the med (Rifampin and Mepron are the only 2 as of now I know I can’t take anymore). I intend to be done with abx for good after this last precautionary round for Bart and just use maintenance herbs after.

Quin have you tried any herbals? I just finished nine months of treating but do still feel some Bart pains. I’m now moving to six months of Cowden Herbs.

That’s good you don’t get any pain. I’ve never smelled it on me. Maybe try a full herbal protocol to knock it out?

Quin - with Buhner - just buy the tinctures separately and start one at a time.

Artemisinin is for Babesia.


I also don’t get any smell with Bart.

4.5 days in and I don’t think my body can tolerate the Bactrim DS at twice a day - felt so horrible that I considered going to the ER due to low BP and weakness, it’s unlikely I can continue. Has anyone tried Bactrim DS at 1x/day plus doxy?

no one can claim they are 'bug free' unless you've had an expert look at your blood under a microscope and see nothing for 6-12 months. barring this we're all just guessing based upon how long we took something or whether we have any symptoms.

people keep relapsing because they aren't bug free. i did two separate 1 year focused babesia treatment using the tier 1 meds (and then some) and i still have babesia floating around in my blood.

i did 2 years of heavy bart treatment and i'm one score away from being the worst infection.

bartonella is a major b*tch to get rid of, if you can at all. i think it takes persistence and time and by time i'm talking years for some.

Quin said...

Solaris719 said...
4.5 days in and I don’t think my body can tolerate the Bactrim DS at twice a day - felt so horrible that I considered going to the ER due to low BP and weakness, it’s unlikely I can continue. Has anyone tried Bactrim DS at 1x/day plus doxy?

The sodium loss from bactrim can be a real problem. I took 1x bactrim (not DS) and got a surprisingly strong herx from it, but the low dose didn't seem to affect my blood pressure too much. See these past threads about bactrim:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=4141794
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=4136852

Thank you, that was very helpful. I definitely had electrolyte loss and am not willing to go back on that stuff. I am debating whether to switch to herbs or resuming the doxy and asking the LLMD to couple it with zith since I know that helps and gives me no side effects except diarrhea.