Need encouragement

After starting Arteminisin, I was feeling pretty good for about a week or two. My naturopath has me on a Mon-Friday schedule for three weeks, then one week off. The day after I stopped for the one week off, my depression and anxiety came back in full force. I don't know if it was a coincidence, or what? I had a REALLY rough week. Started the Arteminisin again on Monday, and I'm still very down this morning. The usual thoughts are back--I'll never find a better job, I'll never find someone to love me, my kids would be better off without me (I now share custody with my ex), etc.

Since starting treatment in Sept. for Babesia, Lyme, Ehrlichia, Mycoplasma, I was going with the hope that treatment would make me feel better. I've been dealing with anxiety and depression, off and on, my whole adult life. I've also likely been infected since I experienced a large, red rash on my leg (diagnosed as a spider bite) more than 25 years ago.

But now, with this new bout of depression, I'm thinking maybe I'm just doomed to never be happy? Maybe I'm just prone to depression, and it has nothing to do with the Lyme/Babesia, etc?

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here--just encouragement, I guess. Anyone dealt with depression/anxiety for many years, then been treated for long-term Lyme and co-infections and had the emotional symptoms disappear? I feel so hopeless. Just tired, hopeless, sad and alone.

And on a side note--does anyone know why the Arteminisin is taken this way? I don't see my naturopath for a couple of weeks, but I planned to ask her then.

Hi there,

I'm on Antiobiotics for Bartonella since July 2013. My symptoms include severe PMS and anxiety. The PMS makes me be depressed, feeling like doing nothing. I've had thoughts of hurting myself in the past, which made me scared actually.
Since I've started treatment I feel slow progression. I initially started on azithromycine and rifampicin, which gave me just a few days of herxing. The PMS improved, was happy again, more fun like I used to be. Then I had to switch to clarithromycine with the rifampicin. This made me go into a bad herx with PMS throwing me off again. It also upset my menstrual cycle. Depression, being nervous, angry. My doctor told me to switch to half the dose for clarithromycin. I felt the difference soon. When I had my last doctor visit, he explained to me that the release of bacterial toxins caused more severe symptoms.
The symptoms are getting better. Depressed feelings are on and off, but not too bad.

So just want to say that the treatment does make you feel worse at times, but slowly improvement is there. I feel the difference also in that the bad moments are not so intense anymore. Just know that it is the bacteria which make you feel depressed. It is not you. Hang in there.