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Posted 3/10/2015 1:13 PM (GMT 0)
Could anybody help me understand how long it could take to improve from Bartonella once starting treatment?

I read somewhere online that patients with Bart often see "rapid response and improvement from antibiotics within days of starting".

That's really discouraging to me since I've been on my medication a few days and don't see any improvement.

What were/are all of your experiences? What have you learned from your doctors about this? I'm seeing my doctor next week and will ask all of these questions, but I'm really nervous and freaking out about this and was hoping to hear from others before I see him.
Posted 3/10/2015 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
I treated for 3 months the first time with Rif, Zith and Doxy. Saw little improvement, but Babs sx returned so I went back to a mepron combo protocol.

Two years later treated Bart again, this time with Rif, mino and plaq. Herxed hard or first eight weeks then saw improvements from 50% to 80% after 4 months then plateaued.

There is no secret formula or timeline. What worked for one person may not work for the next. But it will take more than a few days to gauge results.
Posted 3/10/2015 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Tickbite. I'm just feeling discouraged, and really happy that I have my LLMD appt next week. I need him to slap some sense into me I think :)
Posted 3/10/2015 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
Ya for me the symptoms did resolve relatively quickly... But they kind of come back in waves like every 5 or 10 days even when on treatments?  I am now 6 weeks into my bart treatment and like 80-90% of the symptoms are completely resolved.

I am treating bart for the 3rd time... First 2 times I didn't treat it completely and stopped my treatment too early. 

Here is the tricky thing... How long do you treat for bart!!!???  Really! I am hearing 6 months should be a minimum!  It will come back!  Although it won't be as intense or as bad as before (in my case).   I plan on treating for 8-12 months this time I think.   So you have to be careful here as you may have no symptoms and think bart is done like I did a couple times. 

Posted 3/10/2015 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
I recently resolved my Bartonella infection (per Igenex Bart IFA test) after a total of 7 months on antibiotics. I was on clarithro and cipro for 4 months followed by Tinidazole and Zithro for 3 mo.

The PCR antibody levels decreased rapidly after the first month of abx but then plateaued for a while before going negative on the Igenex test. Honestly I have noticed 0 symptom improvement in that time and Bart was arguably my worst infection based on my pre treatment antibody levels. However I still have an active HGA, Rickettsia, and Lyme infection.

If you have multiple infections it's best to not get discouraged if your symptoms are not improving because resolution of one might mean another one gets more prominent. IMO, its important to get tested every 4-6 weeks to make sure your treatment is working. Judging treatment effectiveness by symptoms alone can be a slippery slope.

Also, the length of treatment is going to vary from person to person based on genetics and how long you have been infected. Unfortunately, controlled studies looking at Bartonella infections from tick bites are scarce and it's likely to be more complicated than common infection paths (i.e animal bite/scratch) that result in Cat Scratch Fever.
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