any advice would be welcome...

My dr. said that the correct dosage is 200 mg doxy 2x day (400mg per day total). But you are also on herbs so that may be different. I did not feel tired. I felt expired. There is no word for how debilitated I was. You should also be on a good probiotic and detox is a must. If you really want to know if it is too late for doxy or not and feel like you have $800 extra have him order LTT Elispot through Igenex. That will tell you if it has gotten into your cells. My Ehrlichia is inside my cells. Good luck!

Hi Pearl of Peace!
Welcome to our community!! I'm so glad you found us!

First of all, if you got laid off because you told your boss that you were sick - no matter what you have - you can get your job back, plus lost wages. You should speak to a lawyer to find out more details, but what your boss did was actually illegal.

Please read through our "New to Lyme? Start here!" thread that sits at the top of the forum. It's packed with all kind of important information that will help you along the way to regaining your health. Symptoms lists (as Lyme is rarely the only infection that is passed), detoxing instructions and tips, plus a lot more!

The probiotics that you bought at the grocery store wont' be enough - unless they were in a refrigerated section. You will be taking a very high dose of abx (antibiotics) and will need something more powerful. You will need to take 30,000 - 50,000 units a day while you are on the abx, or you can use kefir, which has more strains of the healthy bacteria and healthy yeasts as well.

about the best news I have to offer is that you are not alone. We are all here to help you find the answers you need to heal well.

Pearl there are places online that will ship you refrigerated probiotics. If you email me I will tell you where to get them. Hope you get a new job soon! That is just terrible!

Ames, The doxy made me sick to my stomach too. My Dr. said to make sure to take it after I eat even though typically it should be taken on an empty stomach. I guess better to take it with food than not at all. As long as I take it after I eat it's not as bad.

Lymebabe, what do you mean by this: LTT Elispot through Igenex. That will tell you if it has gotten into your cells.

Pearl, good luck with it all, especially the job search.

Ames777 said...
Traveller, can you explain what 30,000 to 50,000 units per day means? I'm still figuring all of this out, too, and the probiotics that were recommended to me just say 1 billion CFUs on the label (and they did not come from the refrigerated section).

The doxy is making me really sick to my stomach, so I am assuming I need a better probiotic.

First of all, I would agree with what Pearl said - eating, or eating more just before you take the Doxy will likely help the most. If you are still experiencing nausea, I would highly suggest sipping ginger tea or using ginger in capsules. Ginger will also help with pain/inflammation, especially when used in combination with turmeric and bromelaine or boswellin.

As for what I mean when I say "units" when I refer to probiotics - CFU means "colony forming units", so I shorten it to "units" - sorry!

I use too many shortcuts sometimes!! I catch myself writing abx instead of antibiotics no matter who I'm talking with now too!! LOL!! Sorry!!!

Lymebabe - do you mean Infectolabs? I know they do the LTT Elispot

Infectolab in Augsburg, Germany is the lab my son's Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Bart, Babs, etc tests were done. His Anaplasmosis was a 10, so I'd say his is in the blood for sure.

@Chapelle--is Doxy the only abx your LLMD has you on?

Although I've made a tremendous imrovement in only four weeks....time will tell if I will need additional meds

I am sorry - here I am telling you stay positive and then I myself am worried - LOL. I have had a very good attitude about all of this, I just get that bout of nervousness every once in a while hoping I am on the right track! So we are on the same path basically, I am one week ahead of you! The reason why my doc only put me on one antibiotic is because I caught it early and was very healthy beforehand. She is hoping the doxy is enough, bc if I can beat Lyme alone with the doxy and supplements and diet, that's better than introducing another antibiotic to my system!! And she doesn't suspect any coinfections (although she has a slight concern about bartonella). That concern is why I was so worried, bc if I do have Bart, then I do need to be on an antiviral medicine in addition to the doxy. But at this point, 2 days later, I don't think that is the case. The doxycycline three times a day has honestly gotten rid of nearly all of my symptoms - and I am only on week four. But I have also already been on nutritionals for a week, which I am sure has helped, and the anti-lyme diet. All I have left now is muscle twitching and an all over "sharp" body ache. I am doing everything in my power to beat this thing!!!

you asked about if most take more than one antibiotic at a time - most chronic lyme patients seem to. I am not too familiar with the specific treatments when dealing with late stage lyme. And of course if you have a co-infection, you will definitely need another antibiotic/antiviral agent.

are you handling the doxy better with food now? Take it one step at a time, and keep a daily journal of your symptoms.

I will write more later on, and try to help you with the questions. my next appointment is the week after yours - so lets keep in touch!! =)

Chapelle,
It does seem like we're on a similar path. I've got a few months more of being sick, and you're a week ahead of me on treatment, but our symptoms sound similar. I've got the sharp pains too...especially in my finger joints which really is bad since all the jobs I'm qualified for require me to use my hands. I've also got some muscle twitching, some vision issues and the headaches and foggy feeling I mentioned in my earlier post. I have done better with the doxy when I eat enough, but I feel like I'm eating all the time which isn't very good for my weight loss goals, but I guess it's better than feeling nauseous all the time.
I am like you, I try to stay positive, but have bouts of anxiety and fear about whether I'm on the right track with this. I had the option to choose between two lyme docs and am hoping that I made the correct choice. I mainly picked because the insurance I had with my last job was accepted by one and not the other. I feel pretty good about my choice though. From what I understand she and her husband work as a team and they are more aggressive in their approach than the other doc. She is hopeful that we caught it early enough that we can beat it without long term treatment and without any other antibiotics. She mentioned co-infections at my last visit, but didn't really go into much since it was the first appt. I'm expecting her to talk more about that this time. Do they usually test for them or just go by symptoms...or do you know?
Is there a book or something outlining the Lyme diet? I try to eat healthy, but I'm not sure if my version of healthy matches with what I should be eating.
I think we should keep in touch too. It would be good to have someone else to "talk" to who is on a similar path.
hang in there