Tetracycline and Diflucan for Bartonella, anyone try this?

My LLMD, based out of Orange, CT, switched me to a new protocol this week after being unable to tolerate Rifampin (Plus Mino) even at reduced dosages. He said he knows a Doctor whom he trusts who cured himself of Bart using this protocol but I can’t remember what the name of the Doctor is.

The protocol is Tetracycline 500mg twice a day and Diflucan 150mg once a day 2 weeks on 2 weeks off. Not sure of the duration. Assuming it’s until symptoms are gone.

I have neuro Bart (my symptoms are POTS, anxiety, fatigue, and malaise mostly). I asked my LLMD how Tetra (which according to most does cross the BBB but not as well as Doxy or Mino) plus an anti-fungal would work on Bart and he said this other doctor who cured himself believes that since Diflucan is an ”Azole“ drug it may have an effect on Bart. He also stated this doctor prescribes this protocol to many of his patients for Bart.

Googling for info reveals that Diflucan crosses the BBB and is a cytochrome P450 inhibitor (whereas Rifampin is an inducer) which may affect the division of endothelial cells and others (thus preventing Bart from using the host cell to protect itself or to reproduce) and also slows down the liver’s processing. This of course makes Diflucan very harsh on the liver and requires frequent monitoring of the enzymes plus the need to pulse. Tetra’s effect as a bacteriostatic antibiotic on Bart and Lyme are well known.

My question is has anyone tried this protocol (or have heard of it at least) and if so, how did it work for you? I’m putting a lot of faith in my doctor with this, otherwise plan C will be to try Levaquin.

Tetracycline plus diflucan isn’t a duo I’ve heard of to treat bart.

Not sure I’d want to take diflucan for two weeks straight - because it’s hard on the liver.

Have you tried Rifabutin?
I have read some posts from members who found it easier to tolerate than Rifampin .
For me that wasn’t the case.

I wouldn’t take the fluoroquinolone unless it was last resort... with all the black box warnings - I think there’s 3 or 4 now.

Bactrim was one that I was concerned about.
I believe it’s banned in the UK
There’s a website dedicated to harms it has done.

Brian Deere - I think that’s who started it.

The risk of Stevens Johnson syndrome is what worried me. Of course I googled it...

I was prescribed it and after a few days I got some strange lesions show up on my skin.
I stopped taking it...

Having said that - many people have good results using it for Lyme and co’s paired with a second antibiotic/antimalarial.

I’m surprised the diflucan is being prescribed for bart

Bactrim DS crashes my blood pressure - can’t take it. Rifampin and Mino got me to remission last year after 8 weeks (couldn’t tolerate Rif after that). Tried Rifampin twice in the past 4 weeks and each time it put me in the hospital - won’t touch Rifampin or any of its variants ever again. Doxy seems to make my Bart symptoms worse - it’s completely ineffective for me against it. Mino I can tolerate. I know Levaquin has a black box warning for tendon damage but I’m willing to try it if need be. What other black box warnings does it have in the USA? Biaxin I’ve never tried but it doesn’t cross the BBB and it also interacts with my clonazepam. Not worried about the QT interval issue with macrolides since I’ve taken Zith many times for extended durations.

Basically I’m down to almost last resort drugs since i need one For Bart that crosses BBB and that I can tolerate. This combo of tetra and diflucan surprised me since Diflucan is not indicated for Bart but I trust my LLMD (And he trusts the other LLMD who uses this combo) and the Tetra is easy so far. Guess I’ll find out and let you all know - first step is making it through 2 weeks and Then checking liver enzymes.

ElizKA26 said...
Yeah, it seems everyone reacts differently. Doxy is like the first line of defense and I did very poorly on it.

I've heard people unable to tolerate Rifampin, and it was kind of weak for me.

Rifabutin is quite different.
I had taken Rifampin for many months (a year?) and then over a year after that went on Rifabutin and the herxes were crazy - finally got a fever!

Well, the basic idea here is to take minocycline or tetracycline to kill any active bartonella, but you've also got to take something that will disturb the dormant bartonella so that it will come out. Two drugs that are really effective at doing this are valproate and disulfiram, but both can have unpleasant neurologic effects. I found that malarone also did this somewhat, but it's expensive and it lowered my folate too much. I have not heard of diflucan being used for this purpose.

Rifabutin inhibits CYP3A4 and can stress your adrenals. It's not as bad as rifampin, but there's still a risk.

bluelyme said...
one member tooty used this protocol. he added bvt and both meds . progress on symptoms and in the microscope was slow but steady . i used zhang hh2 / allicin combo to get thru the double cell wall and penetrate bbb. in fact just ordered some more . rife is also effective if kept up with replication rate and herbs or meds are added.

Do you know how long it took that user to make progress? I’ve been symptom free before and need to progress as fast as Safely possible since I have my first child due at the end of February

What’s bbt? I’m not familiar with hh2 or allicin either - are there any herbs to add to the protocol?

I’m currently not taking any herbs as I did not want to interfere with anything or possibly put more stress on the liver. I’m willing to listen though. I have A-bart (never tried before), houttonyia and sida acuta (taken many times), and JK on hand.

Are all those abx safe for the baby?

“ Searching the forums it seems like a few users have used this protocol and that it may be from a Dr. P in Connecticut? Would make sense since both I and my LLMD are in Connecticut.“

I know a Dr P from Connecticut who uses tetracycline but never heard that he pairs diflucan with it.

astroman said...
I used Dif for candida overgrowth. The herx paralleled the symptoms and both resolved.

Didnt know this works for bart.

How long did you take Diflucan and how long did it take for your symptoms to resolve?

Solaris719 said...

Girlie said...
Are all those abx safe for the baby?

I’m the dad

Lol - never mind then.

I think the doctor you are thinking of is dr. S.P. in Wilton, CT. I know he uses tetra and diflucan, but I didn't know it was for bart. I've heard a common combo he uses is tetra, alinia, diflucan, and liposomal OoO. He also had to shut his practice down for a few years because he got bart really bad apparently. I wish he would talk about it a little more.

This study from April 2019 indicates that Clotrimazole has an effect on growing bart and a good effect on stationary bart. Clotrimazole is used in over the counter athletes foot cream.

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/8/2/50/htm

OoO is oil of oregano. I think it is available without a prescription from hopkinton drug compounding pharmacy. Alinia is a broad spectrum anti-parasitic. It has some effect on viruses and people suspect lyme, bart, and maybe babs, but I don't know if I've ever seen a study that it works on those things.