Transitioning from oral abx to IV or going natural

Hi All, I've been on high-dose pharma abx for ten months: Amox, Azithro, Atovoquone-Plaquenil, all to try to beat back borrelia, ehrlichia, and babesia (positive tests). I am literally sick of the meds. My GI tract is inflammed and painful and not working well despite over 100 billion probiotics every day. I am not much better than I was when I started except for some diminution of arthralgias and no joint swelling. My headaches are near constant. I'm also taking grapefruit seed extract, Calcium, Magnesium, and multiple B vitamins. My question is: where do I go from here? Do I try IV abx and if I do, will my GI system worsen? Or can I stop all pharma abx and try naturopathic meds and alternative treatments. My Lyme doc is focused on pharmaceuticals so I need to go elsewhere for alternative treatments. Thanks in advance!

Post Edited By Moderator (Lynnwood) : 4/3/2013 2:02:11 PM (GMT-6)

Burd,

If you change over to IV ABX you will bypass the GI tract. In most cases this should prevent GI distress because you would be bypassing it alltogether, because you would be infusing it directly into the blood. It would still be possible in some cases to experience nausea if you are allergic to the ABX itself.

My daughter started out with ABX for 14 months. She felt better and then went off of them, and she started to relapse a few months later. She then was treated with an approach without ABX and she got well and stayed well. It is certainly possible to get well without ABX in my opinion. I am certainly not against the use of antibiotics, but my opinion is that if they become counterproductive, it may be time for a change.

Don

There have been many of these conversations floating around the forum lately. I started one myself. It's really hard to know what the right thing to do is. We all want to get rid of these diseases but the process can be very difficult to endure. In my own experience, I've been on both abx and herbs (I'm currently on abx) and I can tell you that the herbal route was so much easier on my system!! I wasn't as sick as some people on here so it was easier for me to chance the herbals for a bit. I didn't feel like I regressed on the herbals at all. But I also didn't get rid of one of my most noticeable symptoms either. My current LLMD pushed me to go back on abx to try to nip this thing in the bud once and for all. But I have to tell you I'm not enjoying it at all. I feel like I'm poisoning myself and my symptoms have not improved and the one has even been worse. The problem is I don't know if it's a die-off reaction or what.

I'm going to try to hang on until at least the summer then go herbal. I've said it before and I will say it again: I would much rather stay on herbs for the REST OF MY LIFE than to deal with these abx much longer. That's how much of a difference I noticed in the healing process.

If you do decide to go the herbal route, please post your experience! It's always good for everyone to get a glimpse of both sides of the coin so-to-speak! Good luck!