The death of a Lyme patient (possible Disulfiram overdose).

Hi,

So I have been going back and forth between posting this or not for several reasons.
But I felt that maybe we could learn something from it.

Let me start of by offering my deepest condolences to his family.

I also want to say that the doctors who used this "opportunity" to discredit Chronic Lyme should be ashamed of themselves.

I will post the link at the bottom of the post but before I do I want to mention a few things:

1) When you read it, keep this in mind: Per his wife, he took his medications at higher doses than prescribed.

2) Even though the above statement was mentioned once, they shift the focus to Lyme treatment in general being the issue.

3) The entire letter has Chronic Lyme and Chronic Lyme treatment in quotation marks, which is a real low-blow.

4) Not sure how to describe it, but the last paragraph makes me question humanity.

So why post it?
Well it being a hit piece aside, there is something we can learn here:

1) If you notice mental side effects of Disulfiram, don't ignore it (lower the dose or quit, but contact your doctor first). I've been guilty of "toughening" disulfiram out myself.

2) They say there was a interaction between Disulfiram and tinidazole, but I'm not sure if this is accurate considering their own words are: "The presentation and imaging were similar to previous reports of disulfiram toxicity, with notable differences from tinidazole toxicity".

So with all that said, here is the link: https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/s0025-6196(21)00408-0/fulltext

Stay safe everyone.

And once again, my sincere condolences to his family.

Disclaimer: none of this is medical advice, always contact your doctor first.

.

Post Edited (RainyCloud) : 7/5/2021 5:33:52 PM (GMT-6)

As for how long he had been on Lyme treatment, this is the only hint I saw though he may very well have been on other treatments longer.
"Notably, our patient had been hospitalized for peripheral neuropathy shortly after initiating disulfiram 8 months previously."

I don't have the bandwidth to read the actual article, but haven't there been some deaths from most drugs? From the antidepressants doctors prefer to prescribe when patients ask if they might have chronic Lyme? And the Lyrica and gabapentin and nystatin and naltrexone and antibiotics and ivermectin and hormonal contraception and triptans and statins.... Death is a risk of most drugs. Maybe not a significant risk, in most cases, but a risk. I like the description, "A drug is a substance that in the right dose is a medicine and at the wrong dose is a poison."

I understand that the article's message probably was something along the lines of, "What a shame that these Lyme charlatans prescribed this poor person this dangerous drug for a fake disease!" but the premise is fallacious because whatever they would have prescribed for that person instead (to treat whatever "real" disease the person had, in their opinion) also would have carried a small risk of death. What garbage.

Sad indeed.. He may have taken higher doses but 375mg is a fairly common dose theres some small women in the facebook group taking 375-500mg.

Its also sad that Mayo Clinic simply wrote a article to disparage lyme treatment.

Post Edited (skinny_joe) : 7/6/2021 5:46:18 PM (GMT-6)

I think he took more than 375 mg per day, because that was the prescribed dosage, but his wife said he took more than prescribed.