Progress Update and Flagyl (Metronidazole) Herx?

So I've officially been on treatment for 16 months now and it's been quite the roller-coaster of highs and lows. I'll do my best to keep this brief, but I just wanted to update you all and ask a couple of questions.

So in March of 2015 I began a treatment protocol that gradually built to:
Plaquenil 1 daily
Artesunate 2 Mondays & Thursdays
Azithromycin 1 daily
Minocycline 1 tablet in am, 2 pm
Pyrimethamine 25mg twice a day
Sulfadiazine 250mg caps twice a day

I generally tolerated everything quite well (apart from a slight increase in symptoms initially) and kept up with my detoxing, clean diet, supplements etc as best as I could. By August of last year I was feeling AMAZING - I climbed a freakin' mountain. Literally. I danced at the top out of pure joy and almost cried with happiness. It was incredible to feel like a "normal person" again after 6 long years of suffering. The joint pain had been eliminated almost entirely, as had the sore throats/swollen glands. I rarely had headaches, I slept through the night, and the ‘brain fog’ had lifted. I had the energy to enjoy life again and it was THE BEST THING EVER.

However...this sadly wasn't to last. By late September of 2015 (whilst still on the same medication regime), I began to feel some joint pain creeping back in. Then a few more headaches. And sadly I was no longer waking feeling energised and ready to take on the day. I hadn't had a nap since April and suddenly my bed and the couch seemed to be calling me for daytime naps again. It was so crushing after the experiences I'd had mid-year, having seen the light at the end of the tunnel and having it gradually fade away again.

When I saw my doctor, he agreed it was time to change things up. Based on my symptoms at the time, he believed Babesia had been eradicated and Bartonella was about 80% gone. I was excited to start my new medications, and hoped they would have a similar (and lasting!) effect to the first course of treatment.
So I then stopped the Pyrimethamine, Sulfadiazine and Azithromycin and added in:
Penicillin (Cilicaine VK 500mg) 2 capsules every 8 hours (so 3 times a day - morning, late afternoon and before bed)
Probenecid 500mg twice a day

Then a month later began pulsing Tinidazole for 5 days every 3 weeks. I was beginning to feel a little better prior to the Tinidazole, but every time I started the 5 days I began having vivid nightmares and night sweats again. When I mentioned this to my doctor in February, he admitted that my symptoms sounded very much like Babesia rearing its head again, so I stopped the Tinidazole and began taking:
Nitazoxanide 500mg twice a day

The Nitazoxanide was pretty awful for me. I took it for the two months prescribed, but just felt lousy the whole time basically - sore joints, headaches, fatigue etc. The night sweats and vivid dreams stopped though...I still don't know if that was a herx or just more of the same symptoms building up again since September the previous year...

So, about 2 or 3 months ago I started taking Flagyl (Metronidazole) in place of Tinidazole. And that brings us up to the current day (at last! Sorry that was so long!). I pulse Flagyl for 1 week in every 4 and oh my goodness, this HAS to be a herx (I think?!). The night sweats have been so horrible!! Especially for it being the middle of winter in Australia! I sometimes wake up 3-4 times a night, absolutely soaked in sweat. I then throw the covers off, but it's only 5 degrees (celsius), so immediately start shivering and need to get back under the blankets...It's not just when I'm taking the Flagyl either, it can be the 'on' days or the 'off' days.

Anyone else had any experience with Flagyl or with night sweats as a herx? Because I also had this reaction on Tinidazole, I strongly suspect it may be a herx...but I would welcome your input/opinions on this! I'm seeing my doctor next week, so I'll be interested to hear his thoughts about it. I'm so over changing my PJs, sheets and pillow slips. I'm also really tired and sore

Thanks for reading all that! And thanks in advance for your replies! I'm eternally grateful for this community.

The alinia and tinadazole affected me harshly too.. i think it is hitting some protozoan...

I had to stop taking the Flagyl. Yes, although the soaking night sweats were not new to me, I got them again with the Flagyl along with horrible headaches. I've already posted on here thinking the Flagyl herxes were causing me to have anger problems that were scaring me.

However a good solid month post Flagyl and every once in a while I'll fly off the handle in anger anyway. I have not had the night sweats since, though.

I'm going to say that others here have told me, find your detoxing aids that work best for you and keep up with them regularly.

Sorry for the delay in updating/replying to this thread, things kind of went from bad to worse in the week I wrote my initial post. I have been feeling extremely low and just not myself. I'm normally a very motivated and passionate/upbeat person, but lately I just feel...flat. Bleak. Like I don't know how I can keep going.

Anyway, I went to see my doctor on the 19th so I thought I'd let you know his thoughts/what I am trying now. He said that my symptoms were still classic Babesia (nightmares and drenching night sweats, plus sharp pains in my neck/base of my skull) and unfortunately all I've been doing with the Tinidazole and Flagyl is aggravating the Babesia bugs (but not attacking them!). He thinks I have a resistant form of Babesia and that my initial progress may have been the killing off of Bartonella...as interestingly I very rarely have headaches these days (used to be a very common symptom of mine, so I'm crossing my fingers they were Bartonella headaches and that the first few months of treatment were enough to kill those bugs off).

He also said that we still can't get at the Lyme while Babesia is around, and decided to start me on Dapsone, which apparently Dr Horowitz refers to as "the big gun" for treating resistant Babesia. This made me really nervous initially, as I am the first of my Dr's patients to be treated with this drug and apparently it can be pretty brutal. I am gradually increasing my dose to 100mg per day and am required to have fortnightly blood tests, and to take 2mg of folinic acid per day (4 doses). I'm currently on 50mg Dapsone per day and the nightmares and night sweats have continued throughout the past week, as well as increasing pains in my leg muscles and a general feeling of malaise (and irritability - is this a symptom of Babesia?).

I am just praying that this works. I've done a lot of reading online about Dapsone since my appointment, and although it's early days in the use of the drug with Lyme + co, I feel like my symptoms fit those of the patients in the trials almost exactly. *Fingers crossed*

Post Edited (Reicheru) : 9/8/2016 10:33:22 PM (GMT-6)