Migrating joint pain on Bactrim

I had a flareup on Bactrim 400-80, 1/2 a tab twice a day. First my left knee would get a buildup of pressure with a dull ache, then a minute later the right knee would have the same. The 2nd joints in my fingers (but not the thumb) also alternated that way, though the pain was sharper. My heart rate was over 120 and I could barely function, so I stopped the Bactrim. It's been a week and I still have residual pain in my knees.

I'm on a modified Buhner protocol which I'm continuing. I'd like to take antibiotics, but I won't if the herx is going to do damage.

I was taking ALA, NAC, MSM, liposomal glutathione and vitamin c, I don't feel like it made any difference.

I waited almost a year to start the Bactrim again, this time 1/4 of a 400-80 tab once a day, and I plan to pulse according to symptoms. Five hours after the first dose the migrating joint pain and muscle aches began at a comfortable intensity. I can't imagine the hell if I had taken DS for a bladder infection. I do find it reassuring that my BBB infection is so responsive to this drug, hopefully with careful management my symptoms will improve.

I'm on minocycline 100 mg, sida acuta, houttuynia, andrographis, CBD, knotweed, and cat's claw. The mino was added when I developed gastroparesis, it improved in about a month, I also regained vibratory sensation in my hands. I plan to crush the bactrim tabs and take 1/8 or less until the herx is mild. I know the doses are incredibly low...if it works, it works.

Once a day for the mino, I've been having extreme reactions to supplements and meds, my doc is being cautious. After three months on the mino I developed pressure in the front and back of my head, which became a debilitating migraine after two days. I stopped and restarted it at 50 mg once the symptoms cleared, then was able to increase back to 100. I'm one of those sensitive types. I added the Bactrim after plateauing at 4 months of mino.

The gastroparesis cleared up after one month on the mino. It's been used to treat diabetic neuropathy at the same dose, so I'm not sure through what mechanism it was helping me.

Post Edited (acarined) : 12/7/2018 8:48:26 PM (GMT-7)

I didn't check closely for changes, but it did take about two months for the inflammation from that first herx to subside after only a week of the Bactrim. This article on tendionpathy might be relevant.

acarined said...
I had a flareup on Bactrim 400-80, 1/2 a tab twice a day. First my left knee would get a buildup of pressure with a dull ache, then a minute later the right knee would have the same. The 2nd joints in my fingers (but not the thumb) also alternated that way, though the pain was sharper.

Bactrim used to really cause my joints to ache along with my spine when I was in the earlier treatment stages of chronic lyme, I thought due to being a sulfur drug it may have been drying out the liquid/lubrication in my joints. Now I'm not so sure, because after I brought down the babesia infection, bartonella popped up, and now being on bactrim, it feels pretty good. I still notice a little joint pain here and there, but not like how bad it was before. Minocycline may be a drug to take with bactrim, as mino can help with inflammation and joint pain. And when I was in the earlier stages of lyme I couldn't even tolerate minocycline for 3-4 days due to the dizziness and vertigo, which I suspect was a lot of herxing, a lot of patients reported that this was a main side effect for mino, and it can be, but for me I suspect most of it was from the herxing toxins, as I tolerate the drug a lot better now. So as time goes on, inflammation and autoimmunity is brought down along with the chronic infection, your toleration of drugs like bactrim should get better, but you may have to target babesia before even using drugs like bactrim, but I don't know you're situation, maybe you already have tried targetting babesia...

On a side note, bactrim supposedly does partially target babesia, but not as effectively as the more effective antiparasitics and herbs I suspect. If you have bartonella, chances are you probably have babesia too, and babesia/borrelia tends to be the dominant infection for a lot of lyme patients. And for me, I really didn't get night sweats or any of the immediate signs of babesia, until I started to effectively treat it, my number one symptom with babesia was just fatigue. Then until I brought down babesia, that's when bartonella symptoms started. Can be a little tough figuring out what's going on with your chronic lyme, but with time, just keep notes on how you feel on which drug you're using... As I always responded to drugs like flagyl, tindamax, alinia, and malarone. That was a sure sign I had babesia, while I thought I had brought it down enough being on those drugs for 2-3 months as suggested by LLMD, I didn't, as some have to be treating a coinfection for 6-12 months, maybe even longer. A lot of LLMDs are getting the longevity of coinfection treatment very very wrong, at least in my state they were. And there's not telling if it babesia or bartonella may sprout out years from now, as you treat one after the other, some compare it to the game whack a mole...

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 9/11/2019 7:00:02 PM (GMT-6)