Good question..You know what? I don't think so. The immune system is VITALLY important, but Bartonella is not something the immune system can happily co-exist with. Which is why, with treatment when the bacterial load gets lowered, it's more possible for our immune system to better deal with killing this Bartonella. AIDS or Lyme would add to the load on the immune system which makes it more difficult, which is why treatment is doubly important then.
Without treatment, Bart is known to have an immune-suppressive effect. I can attest to this personally. I was very healthy, had no exposure all my life, we never had cats, then suddenly decided to get a kitten, kitten fell ill and died of her infection, before she died she bit me very deep. I got so incredibly ill and weak, because Bart is such a creepy, insidious little thing, it EVADES the human immune system. I have NEVER been sick like that before. A lot of people say antibiotics weaken the immune system, but once I started treatment, I became SO much more normal again, stronger again, more functional. My doctor explained (and he's a pretty renowned Bart expert and researcher) that even those people who get bitten, but seem to recover quickly or don't get symptoms at all, 99% of the time it HAS NOT GONE and is still in their system and perhaps will manifest at some point in life as a health problem but by then it might be harder to identify the root cause. Yes, our immune system is very important, but we have to help it. Even a SUPER strong person cannot be friends with a murderer or someone who's trying to kill them, the same with our immune system and Bart.
Treatment/ABX helps get Bart under control for a long enough period, until our immune system can eventually overpower and kill it. I don't think they can co-exist. At least, my doctor has discussed it this way. Just requires patience and persistence, and never giving up. And taking immune-boosting supplemental measures while treating. Once the immune system gets the UPPER HAND, yes, a happy, healthy normal life is entirely possible.
Absolutely agree that rifampin shouldn't be taken alone, to avoid resistance. Thanks for the helpful point to be careful not herxing too hard with herbs and abx together! Wishing you such good luck on your rifampin + mino combo! When i was starting Rifampin I had so many doubts - I felt like I wasn't herxing enough, or I wondered if i would ever get better or if Rifampin would help me. Rifampin does eventually help a lot, it happens in stages I think and through various small (and big) herxes.
Post Edited (Dollface29) : 2/15/2018 2:15:28 PM (GMT-7)