Posted 1/23/2018 5:13 AM (GMT 0)
I know this is an older thread, but I'm just chiming in with my experience in case it's useful:
I'm currently on Rifampin 900 mg daily with Clarithromycin (1000 mg a day). Just started the 900, before this was on 600 mg Rifampin for 2 weeks, and before that 300 mg Rif. Have been on Clarithromycin before that for around 4 months, which helped me get functional again and helped a LOT with surface symptoms.
I have Bartonella and am being treated by a Bartonella specialist in Maryland, but never had Lyme or any other co-infection, I know I'm lucky in that respect. But Bart is so insistent and hard to get rid of, and is absolute murder when undiagnosed. I struggled for half a year without knowing what was killing me inside. I will say - my symptoms have majorly improved since taking antibiotics. Was undiagnosed for 6 months, then tested positive for Bart antibodies through Galaxy Diagnostics. Got this from a deep bite from my kitten (who died 10 days later, she had severe Bartonellosis.)
I think getting rid of a Bartonella infection is analogous to peeling an onion - there are many layers of this infection to be gotten rid of- so the symptoms reflect those layers. My "uppermost" symptoms were vague joint pain and swelling, temperature fluctuations, sparking/electrical zapping in feet, circulation/vascular issues and headaches, but the deeper symptoms started with beginning Rifampin - deep INNER knee joint pain and elbow pain, tinnitus, severe headaches, eyelid/eyeball pain.
As I go deeper in treatment and amp up the dosage of antibiotics - specifically rifampin - the herxes seem to go deeper. Newer, deeper symptoms emerge, and then get better, until I'm pain free. But when I stop taking rifampin during a brief break (when it gets too much), the symptoms come back after a few days.
I have to be on Rifampin (900 mg) for 3 or 4 months, then 2 months on Rifabutin, to nuke this horrible disease once and for all (fingers crossed.) Taking Clarithro 1000 mg throughout this, to avoid bacterial resistance. Determined to incinerate Bartonella!