When is time to drop off abx?

I am in the same boat...i am nearly done with antibiotics, and want to be moving to some sort of maintenance...probably a combo of supplements and natural antibiotics like monolaurin, oil of oregano, etc.

i dont think its as simple as a lot of people say, "treat until symptom free"

there are so many different issues that can surface with similar symptoms, that it can mask what the real problem is, so simply droning on with antibiotics may not be the right solution in all cases.

for example, i know there is issue with candida i am facing, also potentially thyroid. i also learned i have deficiency in Vitamin D. all of this could be my remaining 3-5% of symptoms. so, i am goin to pursue resolving these issues, and see where i stand. i will probably do Alinia in some capacity to explore the parasites angle with gut too.

sierraDon said...


there are so many different issues that can surface with similar symptoms, that it can mask what the real problem is, so simply droning on with antibiotics may not be the right solution in all cases.

for example, i know there is issue with candida i am facing, also potentially thyroid. i also learned i have deficiency in Vitamin D. all of this could be my remaining 3-5% of symptoms. so, i am goin to pursue resolving these issues, and see where i stand. i will probably do Alinia in some capacity to explore the parasites angle with gut too.

Just curious - why haven’t you addressed the low vitamin d and thyroid while in treatment?
Why wait until you stop treatment?

sierraDon said...

Girlie said...

sierraDon said...


there are so many different issues that can surface with similar symptoms, that it can mask what the real problem is, so simply droning on with antibiotics may not be the right solution in all cases.

for example, i know there is issue with candida i am facing, also potentially thyroid. i also learned i have deficiency in Vitamin D. all of this could be my remaining 3-5% of symptoms. so, i am goin to pursue resolving these issues, and see where i stand. i will probably do Alinia in some capacity to explore the parasites angle with gut too.

Just curious - why haven’t you addressed the low vitamin d and thyroid while in treatment?
Why wait until you stop treatment?

the thyroid issue just crossed a threshold, upper limit of my range for TSH, then after stopping minocycline/rifabutin it went back to optimal range. i am not sure if i even have a thyroid issue, other than my FT4 being "not optimal" and in range, as all other values are "optimal" and in range. but i am still waiting for RT3 to see what that says. incidentally it was time to stop my protocol when my TSH crossed the upper limit. i am going to see an endo in early january to see what they say, not sure if it will be valuable visit or not. if this was truly just drug-induced, things may have completely normalized by then

i felt good/better stopping the antibiotics, it was a total of 11 months straight. i think i was feeling effects of being medicated for that long. anyhow glad i was monitoring the thyroid being on these meds. i have now moved on to lighter pulsing, 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, the typical Dr SP protocol. to be honest i dont know if its necessary at this point, but going to continue for thoroughness for a couple of cycles. Yeast/Candida is probably my biggest issue, i have tried many things to address it but nothing has worked, i haven't tried diflucan because of interactions with other meds, but will be doing that shortly. i hoping i respond quickly so i can get clarity if yeast is part of my last remaining symptoms.

i just found out about the Vitamin D deficiency, i decided to re-check these since it could be related to thyroid. so, i checked Vitamin B12, D, Folate. it was fine last January when it was last tested. that must of declined over the period as well. from reading it looks like it will take probably 3-6 months to normalize Vitamin D levels in the 50-60 range. i am going to recheck other minerals too, like magnesium, zinc, selenium, iodine

Pillin, you could take a break to see where things go. thats basically what i did. but watch cautiously for any symptoms to return. i would continue the regular supplements, maybe do natural antiobitcs if you feel more comfortable. also, may not be a bad idea to check other labs related to thyroid if you havent already. like B12, Folate, Vitamin D, Iron/Ferritin, Magnesium, etc

Right - I remember now reading about your thyroid.... If FT3 is in good range...does it matter if the FT4 is not in 'optimal' range, but still in range? I thought the FT3 was the more important value.

LLMD SP does a pulsed approach when you are at the end of treatment?

sierraDon said...

Girlie said...

sierraDon said...

Girlie said...

sierraDon said...


there are so many different issues that can surface with similar symptoms, that it can mask what the real problem is, so simply droning on with antibiotics may not be the right solution in all cases.

for example, i know there is issue with candida i am facing, also potentially thyroid. i also learned i have deficiency in Vitamin D. all of this could be my remaining 3-5% of symptoms. so, i am goin to pursue resolving these issues, and see where i stand. i will probably do Alinia in some capacity to explore the parasites angle with gut too.

Just curious - why haven’t you addressed the low vitamin d and thyroid while in treatment?
Why wait until you stop treatment?

the thyroid issue just crossed a threshold, upper limit of my range for TSH, then after stopping minocycline/rifabutin it went back to optimal range. i am not sure if i even have a thyroid issue, other than my FT4 being "not optimal" and in range, as all other values are "optimal" and in range. but i am still waiting for RT3 to see what that says. incidentally it was time to stop my protocol when my TSH crossed the upper limit. i am going to see an endo in early january to see what they say, not sure if it will be valuable visit or not. if this was truly just drug-induced, things may have completely normalized by then

i felt good/better stopping the antibiotics, it was a total of 11 months straight. i think i was feeling effects of being medicated for that long. anyhow glad i was monitoring the thyroid being on these meds. i have now moved on to lighter pulsing, 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, the typical Dr SP protocol. to be honest i dont know if its necessary at this point, but going to continue for thoroughness for a couple of cycles. Yeast/Candida is probably my biggest issue, i have tried many things to address it but nothing has worked, i haven't tried diflucan because of interactions with other meds, but will be doing that shortly. i hoping i respond quickly so i can get clarity if yeast is part of my last remaining symptoms.

i just found out about the Vitamin D deficiency, i decided to re-check these since it could be related to thyroid. so, i checked Vitamin B12, D, Folate. it was fine last January when it was last tested. that must of declined over the period as well. from reading it looks like it will take probably 3-6 months to normalize Vitamin D levels in the 50-60 range. i am going to recheck other minerals too, like magnesium, zinc, selenium, iodine

Pillin, you could take a break to see where things go. thats basically what i did. but watch cautiously for any symptoms to return. i would continue the regular supplements, maybe do natural antiobitcs if you feel more comfortable. also, may not be a bad idea to check other labs related to thyroid if you havent already. like B12, Folate, Vitamin D, Iron/Ferritin, Magnesium, etc

Right - I remember now reading about your thyroid.... If FT3 is in good range...does it matter if the FT4 is not in 'optimal' range, but still in range? I thought the FT3 was the more important value.

LLMD SP does a pulsed approach when you are at the end of treatment?

I am not sure, i didn't follow a set protocol, he has his preferences, but is open to different things. since i was doing good with mino-azith-rifabutin when i shifted over to him, i stayed with that for a while. i believe he usually starts with tetra-diflucan-oil of oregano-alinia, but not always.

yeah i am not sure about the thyroid values, that is all new to me...it was a crash course to get up to speed on what they mean. i know it seems like it would be hard to find a endo that would treat, if your values are in range, even if some are are not optimal. i believe others like Dr M monitor thyroid too, but not sure he if treats if the values are in range but not optimal. the feeling i get is he doesn't, just watches them.

If you raise your thyroid meds to boost the FT4, then you may be pushing the FT3 over the top limit.

Do you feel hypo?

Hi Pillin how long were you on the antibiotics for? How long did you go undiagnosed for? I’m glad you havd gotten some improvements.

HeartsinPain said...
Hi Pillin how long were you on the antibiotics for? How long did you go undiagnosed for? I’m glad you havd gotten some improvements.

Hi HeartsinPain,

I have been on abx since Sept-17. A variety of combos of the following abx: amoxicillin, Minocyclin, Doxycycline, Azythromycin, Rifampicin, and two short pulses of metronidazole.

How long undiagnosed? Well, hard to tell. I recall only to tick bites: one 25 years ago, the second 5 years ago. I don't recall any fever, bulleyes, not anything from the first one. From the second, I got Q-Fever (Coxiella Burnetti, diagnosed by seroconversion) and was treated with 15 days of levofloxacin. I improved a lot after the 15 days (this was 2 months after the bit) and after one to two years of some arthralgies and tiredness I little by little started feeling close to normal. But then, I relapsed again, but not on Q-Fever, but on symptoms that looked more like lyme... A renowned specialist MD told me that all those symptoms came not from the second bite but from the first one. I couldn't believe it... but after some months I connected all the dots, and I think he was right. So, most probably, I got the infection 25 years ago. Then I went to Germany to a LL Clinic and was diagnosed (clinically and labs) Lyme, Bartonella and Chlamydia pneumonia.

Well, yes, I am clearly better although with ups and downs. I have been very lucky because I have tolerated VERY well the abx, apart from same lately increase of TSH (probably linked to mino, we will see if my next labs are better now that I stopped mino). I kept doing quite a lot of sport, surprisingly doing better that I was doing some years ago. I imagine my bacteria load has decreased and my body feels better for sport.

Fingers crossed to no get backwards from now on...