Thanks insomniaaa!
My treatment has been like this (sorry if this gets long, hope it will be helpful
:
when i first got symptoms, I self treated for 5 days with Azithro 500 mg. Helped, but didn't cure it. Symptoms relapsed in a week. I suffered 8-9 months undiagnosed symptoms with no abx.
Then, after blood report came back positive, I began proper treatment under Bart doctor.
First instructed to take Clarithro/Biaxin 500 mg twice daily, no other abx. I was VERY symptomatic at the time, and had an extreme gut reaction to Clarithro. Decided I couldn't take it, told my doc give up on me I'll just take herbs, I was despairing of treatment, told my doc I can't do the antibiotics, it's killing my gut.
He told me, relax, it's a herx, the Clarithro is killing the Bart in the gut first. He told me to take just 500 mg for a week, then slowly amp up to 1000 mg a day. He was absolutely right. I did that and had no gut issues at all since, and could take Clarithro with ease. Did that for I think around 3 months, and many of my symptoms decreased to where I was functional again, other symptoms suddenly appeared that I never had before (like burning in soles of feet) but the really DEEP inner symptoms were still very much there, like in my joints.
Next, I was told to add Rifampin 300 mg once daily for 2 weeks (along with Clarithro 1000 throughout), half hour before breakfast on empty stomach. Did this, got slight head-cold feeling, slight fatigue, but no other major symptom. Then, added Rifampin 600 mg two weeks later. Seemed to be improving knee pain, then I (foolishly) went off all ABX for a month because I got scared I was developing a yeast infection (because of weird, sudden excessive sneezing and fatigue etc). WRONG! It was not yeast. It was a herx. (Which was what my doctor told me.) I suffered the sneeze fits for a month without ABX and lots of probiotics and saurkraut etc, no improvement in the sneezing, and increasing joint aches. Re-started rifampin 600 mg, with Clarithro, all sneezing stopped and cleared, has not come back. It was a herx.
Then, added 900 mg rifampin after a month on the 600 mg. Massive herx immediately upon taking it the first 5 days, severe half-hour long headache (in EXACTLY the places in the left eye where I had problems), and SEVERE knee joint pain to the point I couldn't walk. I thought my knees were broken. Got MRI of knees, showed swelling but no problem in the knees themselves. A couple more days in, the intense pain became a milder sensation of inflammation, and then got better. It was a herx.
Now, I'm on the 900 mg Rifampin with the 1000 mg Clarithro and knee pain goes away every time I take the 900 mg. But if I miss it for even a day, I get the joint inflammation again, but milder than before.
So I know the rifampin is kicking Bart. I have no trouble taking rifampin now, I need it and depend on it making me better, it helps tremendously. Next step in my protocol is taking Rifampin 1200 mg with Clarithro 1000 mg continued.
My body weight is 120 lbs right now and I'm 5'6, so for my body weight this is a LOT, but it's helping me. I'm taking lots of probiotics to counter 2 hours after or before any abx.
It's a tough protocol, and Bart is tough to get rid of, and I really think it can be done! Slow, steady and persistent seems to kill Bart, these abx NUKE the Bart slowly, and help our immune systems deal with the bacterial load better.