need antibiotic advice please!

Hi!
So I am on low dose of doxy, 100 mg twice a day. The first week I was fine! But by the second week I developed severe heartburn!!! Never had heartburn problems before. I tried everything, taking it with food, not lying down, apple cider vinegar, aleo vera juice, etc.. I want to stop because I am scared of damaging my esophagus. It is so bad it is difficult to swallow.... But doxy is helping my symptoms (well some).

I am waiting to hear back from my GP, who doesn't believe I have Lyme because only 23 igm was present on WB... But he agreed too put my on doxy for 1month. Anyways, hopefully he will agree to switch my antibiotic. Anyone know which one is better on the stomach? I heard minocycline? Is this true? If so how much mg a day should I ask for?

Or is there a better antibiotic? I don't see a LLMD till late July so I really want to be on something in the mean time. Thank you!!!!!

Hi chapelle! No, originally I was not taking it with food. I took the message on the bottle to heart:( I did take your advice and started taking it with food last night and today. So I know I haven't given it much time.

Maybe I should keep trying? I do feel a little bit better today but still hurts to swallow... Will I heal?? So worried I will have GERD for ever after this.... Food keeps getting stuck in my throat.

Also, I wait well over an hour before lying down. But a few nights ago I don't think I took it with enough water and that's when the heartburn began.

Also, I haven't seen a Lyme doctor yet so I don't know if I have any confections. Only 23 igm showed up on labcorp WB. My PCP put me on the doxy for one month even tho he doesn't believe it is Lyme. I have been sick for the past 6 months, dizziness was first symptom. That went away after four months then right after dizziness I started getting vibration feelings, muscle twitches, pins and needles, nausea, fatigue, etc.. Thought I had MS! Had brain MRI and it came back good. Doctors trying to tell me it is anxiety, and I know for a fact it is not anxiety. Didn't even think I had Lyme, it was my PCP who mentioned it sounded like Lyme, but test came back negative so he doesn't think I have it now. ***??? I did research and found out 23 is specific to Lyme....

Wow that sounds awful. I take 400mg of doxycycline daily and I don't tend to get too much heart burn but I do get a lot of nausea at times. I've found that I not only have to take it with food, but I also have to avoid certain foods when I take it. If I take it with any peanut product or anything citrus then I tend to vomit. I've found this with other antibiotics too; that they each have their own food preferences. I wonder if you play around with what you eat with it if you'll see some improvement. I've also found that taking Milk Thistle with it helps me not feel so sick from it, I wonder if that would help you. The directions say that doxy should be taken with plenty of water and I have definitely found this to be true. I'm sure you're already doing this, but I've found the more water I take it with, the better.

Like Chapelle said, it takes time to heal.

I was also thinking about coinfections, Bartonella for instance can cause a lot of stomach issues.

I have a long history of stomach and intestinal problems (about 17 years I think, caused by Lyme) and I have to say that I tolerated Doxy rather well, keeping the advice of my pharmacist in mind.
Also: try to avoid sugar, coffee, alcohol, tomatoes, spicy food, just to avoid irritating your stomach as much as possible.

Thank you tick bite! I am seeing Lyme doctor in CT July 22... I hope I have only had Lyme since the fall, but something is telling me I had it since I was little :( hopefully I am wrong.

Icurse..

IGm 23 showed up right way when I tested after 30 days on Doxy in August 2005, and then again when I retested with my PCP in October 2009, and again when I started with my second LLMD in March 2011.

I grew up hunting, fishing and camping in the wood in northwest RI on the CT border. I had to have been bitten as a kid, but never had any issues I could recall. I didn't notice any serious symptoms right after the bite in 2005, but they could have crept up gradually and I dismissed them. In March of 2008 many neuro issues popped up, than arthritic, before I got to see an LLMD in 2010.

Glad you made an appointment with an LLMD

Godspeed

Yes, ABX got me to about 80% on good days, after three solid years in treatment. But I seem to have hit a wall in the past year and can't find the right stuff to get me fully in remission. Every time we make a change in my protocol I backslide a bit.

Current plan is to stop all ABX this summer and stay on herbals and supplements, and see how it goes. I can live like this if 80% is as good as it gets, and it is what it is. Fatigue, neuropathy, and sore/weak muscles remain. Arthritis and gut issues have pretty much resolved. Brain fog has improved greatly but still fluctuates, or is that from old age??