Biaxin Dosage?

Hi folks,

I'm being treated for Lyme, Bartonella and Babesia.  I'm currently taking Malarone for the Babesia and after 5 weeks am finally starting to tolerate the full dose. 

At my last LLMD appt last week, my doc switched me from Levaquin (which I had no problems with) to Biaxin 500 mg 2 x a day.  I am only to do this for a month and then I'm on to Zith.

My problem is this... the Biaxin is totally kicking my butt!  After talking to a handful of people who have used Biaxin, I found that their dosage was 250 mg 2 x a day.  At 500 mg at one time, I feel like I can hardly function.  The fatigue is instantaneous, the depression is oppressive, and I can hardly hold my head up.  No other symptoms other than that.  No breathing problems or itching or anything that might indicate an allergic reaction.

Has anyone been prescribed this high of a dose and done well?  After a week of it, I could not bring myself to take second dose yesterday and don't think I can today either.  Just looking for a little validation regarding this dose before I bother my LLMD's office about it.

Thanks,

-C

Thanks phsinvent!

It sure hit me like a ton of bricks last week and over this past weekend. Today is only day 6 on the Biaxin and 24 more to go! :) Probably by that time I'll be used to it and then when I switch to Zith I'll start all over again. He wants me to take the Zith for a couple of months with Flagyl and wants me back on Diflucan daily for 2 months. (bad sinus yeast problems) He felt there was a little contraindiction with the Biaxin/Diflucan combo but assured me I would be revisiting the Biaxin.

Thanks for responding! I feel better now, but still dreading that second dose this afternoon!

-C

Hi Celestia, welcome to the board!

I am sorry you are dealing with the "triple threat" of tick-borne illnesses.  When you have co-infections, the symptoms of all infections can be more severe.  How long were you sick before getting diagnosed?  How long hve you been getting treated?

I am curious why your doctor is switching meds so often.  It my understanding that the typical dose of Biaxin prescribed for Lyme is 1000 mg daily.  This is the dose I took.  Some doctors prescribe Plaquenil with it to help it work more efficiently.  What dose of Malarone are you taking?

Are you familiar with the Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction (herx)?  Often, when people who have Lyme take antibiotics their symptoms get worse or they get new ones.  When the antibiotics kill the bacteria, toxins are released making them feel worse.  It can be scary when it happens, but it is a sign the antibiotics are working.  Although this reaction can vary individually, many people experience this at the beginning of treatment and every three to four weeks.  

During treatment, it is good to document your symptoms daily.  One way to do this is to list the three main symptoms you have each day with a numerical rating of their severity from 1-10.  Over time when you review this, you can see when your herxes occur and how you are responding to the meds.

Do everything you can to strengthen your immune system--eat healthy, drink a lot of water, detox, take appropriate supplements and high quality acidophilus, and exercise whenever you are able.

It is also important to learn as much as possible.  I recommend reading Dr. Joseph Burrascano's 2005 Diagnostic Hints and Treatment Guidelines For Lyme and Other Tick Borne Illnesses at http://www.ilads.org/burrascano_0905.html  He is one of the top Lyme doctors in the country, and many Lyme doctors follow his protocols.  He also lists diet, supplement, and exercise recommendations.  I also recommend the book "Everything You Need To Know about Lyme Disease Second Edition" by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner and "The Lyme Disease Solution" by Kenneth B. Singleton MD.  

Hi Ticker and thanks for the welcome! Oh and I'm intimately familiar with "herxing".

My high exposure to ticks and tick bites goes back to 1996 through 2001. My medical records indicate 1997 is most likely when I became ill. Dx with Fibro/CFS in 2005, but refused to give up on the reason why I had fibro/cfs. With the help of a lot of good people with a lot of good info I finally was able to connect the dots going back to my multiple tick bites and joint issues. I have only been in treatment for a couple of months. My LLMD first started me on Levaquin for Bart and Malarone for Babs and Diflucan for yeast. I ran out of Levaquin before my second appt and the bottle had no refills so I called in and asked did I need a refill on Levaquin or what? I was told to switch to Biaxin. A week later at my appt I mentioned to him how much better my sinus/yeast problems were on Diflucan after 10 days continuously so he decided he wanted to have me on Diflucan daily and not once a week. Apparently he didn't care for the contraindiction of Biaxin with Diflucan so told me to finish it and then go on to Zith and Diflucan, Flagyl and Malarone. I take 500 mg of Malarone 2 times a day. That was tough for me getting up to that dose but I'm there and not having the initial difficulties I was.

I have to admit, the Biaxin does seem to have cleared my brain fog a little bit. But there is a little bit of an emotional roller coaster that goes along with it.

My LLMD is a big fan of Burrascano and Schaller. So many books to read... so little time and brain to read them! If the brain fog continues lifting... who knows, I may be able to finish the half dozen or so books I've started and never finished!

Keep your fingers crossed!

I am on my 2nd round of 2000mg Biaxin daily with Plaquenil and just added Spectracef. I've only taken Biaxin in combination with Plaquenil.

I had a very hard time tolerating Rifampin like you describe with Biaxin.

I hope you improve on your tolerance of Biaxin.

saxmar

 

Hi Celestia, I take 1000mg daily and I do tolerate it well....as for the metallic taste, isn't that the pits

Celestia - I'm on Biaxin 250mg x 2 a day and I kept forgetting things more than I usually do and this brain fog or whatever you call it, was pretty bad so I think I skipped couple doses like I only took it once a day or none cause I just don't know when I took what or I don't know, I just didn't remember till it's too late and yeah . . .

Also, my urinary symptoms and headache got real worse and I'm still not so good but my headaches aren't as intense and my pain isn't as bad in my bladder. I didn't detox by the way but I'm going to and I'm trying to bring Dr. Zhang's protocol into my treatment plan.

I also did a Heavy Metal Test that's on Evenbetternow site and it showed up for Cadmium and I'm asking my nurse what it all means.