Taking A Short Break From Antibiotics

 

Hi Guys,

I updated my doctor on my progress by phone the other day. I've been on Biaxin and Plaquenil since mid-November. I asked what he thought about taking a short break from the meds - that I was hoping I could confuse the bacteria by drawing it out of hiding and then kill more of it. He said I could take a 1-4 week break but to keep him updated as I go.

So... here goes! Day 1.

I am planning on a lot of detox.

Has anyone else taken a break? Do you think it helped?

Heather took a break from ABX after about 6 hellish months, then she went back onto them again. She felt a lot better when she was off of them. We used that time to treat for parasites and to get rid of her joint pain and neuropathy. It was one of the best moves that we ever made.

I would encourage anybody to take a break from them if you need to.

Don

I'm the opposite. I'm on many abx in high doses and have been for almost a year. When I'm off new symptoms come, my liver enzymes skyrocket and I have unconscious seizures and massive never ending headaches.

Toby has been on Doxycycline for about 3 weeks now, but he is thinking he will stop when he finishes the bottle..a months worth of pills. He was feeling better when he was treated with the Erchonia Laser- which was before starting the antibiotic - but started having side effects with the Doxy . It was like backtracking. We don't know if that was a good sign or not. His doctor said it is up to him whether he wanted to continue for another month. Personally, I would like to see how he does without the pills. I have always been wary of medications so I will, unless absolutely necessary, look for alternative methods of healing if possible.

bluebyyou, I'm 32 ad hobble as well! My arthritic pains have increased drastically. What you brought up is interesting, taking a break to "sneak up" on the spirochetes...it's genius! Do you think this works when switching abx too? I'm very curious. I hope it works for you! How long will your break be, have you decided yet?

Marie, have you been tested for MTHFR? I've learned that with this mutation it can be very difficult to detox. I just started treatment a few days ago (I'm heterozygous for C), but my LLMD says I could have more energy within a month...fingers crossed!!

Shabbychic- I was on azithromyicin & rifampin for 3 months. My LLMD switched me over to ceftin and one other, but insurance has a hold on the other one (can't remember the name right now, it starts with a T). I forgot to call my LLMD yesterday to ask if I should continue rifampin (I have some left), with the ceftin until my other Rx comes through. Any thoughts? I have plenty of rifampin left, and I want to be as proactive as possible! :)

Hi Lymer,

I have read that we are supposed to have a few weeks of being med-free before trying a new abx. I think it's along the same lines of sneaking up on the bacteria. It makes sense - if the bacteria have all curled into cysts, how would a new anitibiotic be able to kill them off? We'd think the antibiotic was ineffective.

I'm not sure how long the break will be. I'll aim for a week and see how things are going.

I wish I knew all this stuff before!

How do you treat your arthritis? Motrin doesn't do anything for me. The only things that seem to help is trying to stay active and very hot detox baths. That just takes the edge off, though.

bluebyyou,

I would like to make another suggestion. I would not approach the issue of a "short break from antibiotics" as a necessary evil. I would instead look at it as an opportunity to accomplish something else that may have been overlooked. You could work on yeast, parasites, new and enhanced detoxing techniques, heavy metal chelation, etc. You could also work on super-fortifying your body with minerals, and load up on probiotics from fermented foods. My advice is to take this time to explore avenues of healing that may have been overlooked. We took that approach in Heather's case, and we saw a lot of positive results almost immediately.

Don