Please help me figure out if/how to pulse Flagyl and doxy!

I hope someone that is an antibiotic guru sees this.

We will bump it until someone with knowledge can tell you.

If it were me, I would ask the llmd's nurse. Nurses know one heck of a lot of stuff that they hear the doctor say all the time.

And pharmacists are super smart about drugs too... maybe give yours a call.

You never know who has lyme or a relative with lyme now days and they information they can give.

Hi 2b2bs!

I like your screen name... and I'm sorry you're here. But it's great that you found us and posted. I'll try to respond to a few specifics in your post below.

2blessed2bstressed said...
The only Lyme doctor in our area (Memphis, TN) is booked out until November 23rd, and infectious disease until August 11th. SO, I'm on my own for awhile.

Make an appt with the Lyme specialist ASAP and ask to get on their waiting list. Call once a week to see if you're name is climbing the list (actually, this is primarily to communicate how seriously you need to get in and to be diligent that they know this and get you in... be sincere and respectful and VERY insistent). I'd also start developing a relationship with a Naturopath MD if you can find a good one in your area. They are generally much more knowledgable and helpful with a holistic approach to health and healing... and can serve you well into the future after this whole lyme experience is "over".

Also, skip the ID doc.. don't waste your time and energy--most of us here can tell you exactly what he/she will say. You could get lucky but most likely it will end up being a fruitless and stress-inducing experience, that you have to pay for. Why bother?

2blessed2bstressed said...
Here's the background: the tick was on for no more than a few hours (scary). Seven days later, I'm sick.

Sorry - but it appears possible/likely infection was a week or two ago?

2blessed2bstressed said...
By Tuesday mid morning I was on 100 mg of Doxy twice a day on a hunch from my doctor it was tick-related.

This is the typical, IDSA/CDC-recommended dosing, which may/may not be effective for YOU.

2blessed2bstressed said...
No rash, and in a WIERD part of the country for Lyme. I haven't been anywhere else recently, and the antibodies were not yet showing Lyme resistance, so it's definitely a new infection.

We no longer have "rules to live by" for lyme that can make us feel safe from the likelihood of infection. More and more, there is no "weird part of the country for Lyme" unless you live in a bubble. Most people who contract the Bb microbe do NOT produce a rash, studies have shown.

2blessed2bstressed said...
Good news seems to be so far that: a) The blood exam shows ONLY Lyme with no co-infections

What lab work did you have done? What were the tests called and which labs processed the samples?

2blessed2bstressed said...
b) Caught it super early;

YES!!

2blessed2bstressed said...
c) No sign of joint pain at any time;

Awesome, but you still need to ensure an appropriate response to the infection, which we can help with

2blessed2bstressed said...
d) I'm a teacher, so I have ample time to rest and focus on health without missing my job;

Another awesome advantage in your favor!

2blessed2bstressed said...
e) Symptoms went away in about five days, except fogginess, temp sensitivity, and some fatigue.

What were your initial symptoms? The fogginess and fatigue could be from yeast/fungal overgrowth which occurs because the antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria and the good bacteria is what keeps yeast/fungus in check. I'd immediately start on a very good probiotic (go to a health food store, look in the refrigerated section and find a fresh, MULTI-STRAINED probiotic. Garden of Life is a good brand... start with low doses and work up to at least 100 billion/day or 400billion/day if you definitely have a yeast/fungal overgrowth.

Also, if you already have a yeast/fungal overgrowth--or even if you don't, you will do well to take an anti fungal while you're on antibiotics. There are natural antifungals that are effective in prevention and maintenance but they usually aren't effective against an existing overgrowth. You definitely want to prevent an overgrowth and or nip one in the bud ASAP. They can complicate treatment and also overburden your immune system when it should be focused on the microbial issue.

Ask an MD to write an Rx for PURE Nystatin POWDER 500,000. There is more info about the powder in this thread but let me know if you have questions. This "New to Lyme?" thread also a great place to start to learn more about lyme & co and treatment:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=1606610&g=3644275#m3644275

2blessed2bstressed said...
My doctor has given me ample supply of Doxy. I all but demanded she get me on something to affect biofilms and pass the BBB, so she reluctantly wrote for Flagyl (42 - 500 mg tabs, no refills). This brings me to my questions:
1) How long should I take the doxy, and how many 500mg Flagyl pills should I take each day.

I think to be safe, you should stick with an antimicrobial regimen for at least a couple of months. Generally, our lyme & co treatment goal is to reduce the microbial load and get the immune system dominant over them, and reduce symptoms as much as possible.

The best indicator of how well we are doing with this by evaluation of our symptoms. Testing is generally horribly inaccurate for diagnosis AND progress. So only time will tell if several wks on abx is sufficient. You can also get started with herbal antimicrobials and at some point transition off the abx or continue with both. Herbal antimicrobials are great and can help provide good back up when you're off abx and many here use them all on their own. A lot of us have implemented both pharmaceuticals AND herbal antimicrobials.

2blessed2bstressed said...
2) Should I begin to "pulse" doxy and Flagyl, even though doxy does not do through the BBB?

I'm curious what others say about pulsing but I think it's a good idea to pulse at this point. I think the general understanding is that you pulse both at the same time, don't alternate otherwise the spirochete never feels it's safe to come out from hiding and into the bloodstream, which is the purpose of pulsing.

2blessed2bstressed said...
3) If so, how long should I stay on the present regimen total since illness began until I start.

Not sure I'm following this question--I might have answered it in my response to #1.
4) General wisdom based on my situation????

If you have to develop a reaction to being infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the microbe that causes Lyme Disease, you have an ideal situation in front of you where you can control the prolific spreading of the microbe throughout your body before it does too much damage. AND you're not fighting a bunch of debilitating symptoms. And your body isn't completely run down, overloaded with toxins so much that half of your energy is spent just trying to get it to function and get toxins out of it. The key here is to stay ahead of that game and make the new tuple of months count.

Interested in what others have to say. Don't hesitate to continue to ask questions and please, check out the entire "New to Lyme?" thread. Keep in mind that a lot of info discussed in this forum is primarily about chronic lyme and may/may not apply to you. But there is a ton of experience and knowledge here that I have no doubt will help you make progress and avoid the "chronic" experience. You're in a great place.

-p

Welcome to our community, 2blessed2bstressed!

You really should bump up the doxy to 200 mg twice daily.

Here are guidelines for reference - scroll down to Page 18 for antibiotic dosages.

www.lymenet.org/BurrGuide200810.pdf

Regarding testing - The testing is not reliable/accurate for Lyme disease. It's even worse for the co-infections. A negative test isn't worth the paper it's written on. It's very early to get a positive test result - the body hasn't had much time to build an immune response.
But, it's good that you caught it early...it seems when it's caught early...often people will get well with just lyme antibiotics...not sure why that is.

Since you have symptoms - treatment should continue until you are symptom free for 4-8 weeks. So, if you're symptom free in a week - then stay on meds an additional 4 weeks minimum.
You can also refer to the link I pasted above. I would take the doxy daily...and maybe pulse the Flagyl - there are different pulsing regimens. I would do 4 days on, 3 days off.

Flagyl dosage should be 500 mg twice daily - on the days you're taking it.


Make sure you are taking probiotics daily...but a few hours away from the antibiotics.

Can you get more doxy?

Also, you should be actively detoxing - multiple methods daily:

Here's a few of the ones I do:

- drink 8 glasses of water daily
- Squeez fresh organic lemon juice in some glasses (and drink with a straw to protect the tooth enamel)
- warm epsom salt baths - daily if possible
- dry brush skin before the baths
- take a liver support supplement - like Milk Thistle extract
- light exercise
- Take alka seltzer gold

Here's a link to more detox ideas:


www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html


Do what you can to knock it out now...before it becomes chronic. i can't emphasize this enough.

Someone asked:

This is day fourteen since initial symptoms and day ten since being on the doxy. (Day three NO symptoms.)

Still not sure about how to figure out if/when to pulse. It seems strange to go one or more days without any abxs but I'm conditioned to think this way (Head says, "You're sick? Take antibiotics and get better, then you stop.") This is a tough idea to wrap my head around...