7 day flare up what is it?

I'm getting head inflammation/pressure/spaciness flareup's every Thursday in the PM timeframe pretty much like clockwork. I was Igenex lab confirmed with Lyme and Babesia Duncani. I always thought this was the Babs but my LLMD recently said he thinks I might have the Babs under control and is going after a potential Bart infection so I'm on Cipro/Rifampin.

I've been on the new regimen probably 10 days. My chest issues have gotten better (but are by no means gone) but the head thingy still persists without change in severity thus far.

I'm wondering is this Babs, Bart or Lyme? I always thought Babs but I've been treating it for almost 10 months and i've made progress but it will not go away. The best I felt was when on Cefdinir/Tinidazole and neither of these are an anti-malarial so I'm more confused. Thanks.

I stopped the Cefdinir/Tinidazole for 2 reasons one I seemed to of plateaued on it and the Cefdinir was causing a chronic sore throat and groin pain. I learned this after I stopped it. I was thinking maybe Doxy/Tinidazole since Doxy is the most effective at crossing the blood brain barrier and since I'm having head issues maybe that would be a good thing.

I'm just getting tired of switching abx regimens and not getting anywhere near a symptom free state. I'd like to incorporate more herbs and non-abx if possible but my doctor doesn't seem to consider too many herbs.

Being that you are paying the doctor, it seems reasonable for you to present a researched position on any particular herbs you might want to take.

I really hope you'll consider Japanese Knotweed. Because it penetrates the blood brain barrier, it can "extend the reach" of antimicrobials.

You already know it's highly anti-inflammatory.

I so regret not taking Japanese Knotweed when I was on abx and I told my LLMD as much during my last appointment with him. He discouraged me from taking herbs when I was on abx and I honestly think that made my journey much longer than it had to be.

Also, what are you doing to strengthen your immune system? That's another way to win against the bugs and the benefits are long-term.

You are taking some good stuff Rikky1 and I'm sure they all help.

However, taking stuff that directly supports the immune system might be even more helpful:

www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system

Most Americans are deficient in Vit D and Lymies even more so. I hope your doc has been monitoring your level. The Vitamin D Council considers 50 to be optimal.

www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/testing-for-vitamin-d/

Many of us take antioxidants (Vit C, Vit E, Selenium, etc) for immune health. There are herbs that can also help such as Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng) as well as mushrooms (Cordyceps, Chaga, etc.)

The probiotics you take are obviously great for your immune health since a large percentage of the immune system resides in the gut.

You probably know that healthy people are walking around with asymptomatic infections. The difference between them and us is that their immune systems are keeping things in check.

Rebuilding the immune system is a vital aspect of healing.