Methylene Blue for Bartonella

dcd - Alldaychemist have it at reasonable cost - around 50Usd for 30 standard 12mg tablets (its an inexpensive generic drug).

very interesting immunoregulating effects - seem to be useful in COVID 19 long haulers - another auto-immune / immune dysregulation type illness.

a few anecdotal accounts of LLMD's using it to treat Lyme as an adjunct to abx as a immune regulator - rather than an anti-parasitic. eg Dr Stephen Phillips - said it was a near 100% cure for him.

interestingly when he took it earlier in his illness ( bartonella ) he reported only ongoing continuous herx - so there is some thought / theory that its is best used when you are through the worst of Lyme - but details on that are scarce ( i had hoped there would be more on it in his book - chronic - but apparently is hardly mentioned )

safety profile seems to be excellent - is on WHO's essential drugs list - has been rolled out in national campaigns with very very few ill effects - has been used in cancer patients at v high doses ongoing.

dosing / regime - in lyme - as immuno regulator - seems to be needed only short term - maybe 1 week at standard 12mg / day doses
- and seems to have a lasting immune resetting effect that last months or indefinitely - certainly very interesting - but i am having difficulty finding more info in regard to lyme / bart patients.
(maybe there is a facebook group i haven't found)

have heard a Dr Philips interview where he expressed caution in treating MS patients with it ( he treats MS as well as chronic lyme ) as they tend to have extreme herx like reactions and have to start on tiny doses.

that's pretty much all i have gathered on it so far - but am keen to learn more - so please do pass on anything additional you may find

same goes for anyone else reading - please add to the post - or lets start a new one on Ivermectin to avoid derailing this one too much (sorry Cignet!)






Dr Mo been has youtube videos on its mechanism of action in COVID-19 driven inflammation / dysregulation - which seem to be many of the same pathways activated in lyme - thorough lots of ivermectin content is being taken down regularly by youtube in its efforts to appease regulators.

i have some to try after my current trials

BrianinPA, did your doc in PA prescribe the Methylene Blue?

JMF84 - yes he did and I had it compounded by Infuserve in St. Petersburg, FL. They do not take insurance in case you were wondering.

I had the G6PD RBC test done first to make sure it was safe to use. I am doing a trial of the MB based upon Dr. MR advice that it is working well to clear CNS related symptoms from Bartonella.

So I am not ready to give my impressions of it yet as I just started (it does turn your urine real, real blue). Dr. MR combines 2 drugs to treat growing forms of Bart with 1 persister drug. I will post a 1 month and 2 month update here.

FYI Dr. J is familiar with it and the Zhang studies. My feeling is Dr. J targets Babesia more - based upon him using Dapsome.

I can give feedback on Pyrazinamide for Bartonella and say that it was rough. Its definitely an option if you have tried all of the normal Bartonella drugs and not had any success. Dr. H has written about it in his books.
Extreme herxing and was a long 2 months of treatment on it. I do think it pushes a button the other meds do not.

Dr. M the Bart expert combines Rifabutin with Biaxin. Dr. MR follows his guidance and adds the persister drugs.

I was able to get to 90% with Mino / Rifampin / Bactrim but my symptoms would return within hours of stopping the meds. Hence my focus on persister forms of Bart as we suspect this is what is causing my fast relapse.

Yes every day for almost 2 years. I also did mepron and didn't make much progress till I upped my dose to 2 tsp 2x a day. Rifampin lowers the levels of mepron in your blood. At that point my babesia fish testing turned negative.

My theory is you have to beat these things down one at a time. It’s too much to treat multiple infections at once. YMMV

Sure no problem:

Bactrim 500mg 2x a day
Rifampin 300mg 2x a day
Minocycline 100mg 2x a day

1 week into the MB regimen and besides to crazy blue urine nothing really out of the ordinary so far.

Wanted to post an update here on my Biaxin / Rifabutin / MB protocol that I have been on for 9 days.

Yesterday I developed an intense pain throughout my body, every joint, muscle and tendon was killing me. My knees, back and neck especially. My spine just at the base of my head was very painful. I developed a sore throat and my glands became very swollen. I was in extreme pain and very uncomfortable - couldn't even lay down or sit on the couch due to the pain. I developed a weird feeling on all of my skin but especially my back and my chest where it felt like something was trying to come out! It wasn't itchy but it was a very odd feeling. I have been treating for going on 3 years with Bartonella being my last hurdle (or so I think). I have never had a reaction like this to any of the meds I have taken (and I've done almost all of them - including Pyrazinamide). My mind began racing was this an adverse reaction to MB? Was i getting a virus (and my white blood cells are lower on this protocol)? What the hell was going on?????

One thing I could determine for sure was that whatever was happening was everywhere inside my body. My remaining Bart symptoms are my eyes, ears and CNS I've gotten about 90-95% of my health back through a 3 drug combo that worked well for me. My normal Bart symptoms were present as well but I should note not anything unusual. So I went to bed last night scared and wondering what the hell was happening. I soaked through my shirt in my sleep last night.

When I woke up this morning I realized what was happening. It was an enormous and giagantic herx. I felt much, much better upon waking and get this...... my glands were not swollen. My glands under my neck have been swollen for around 2 years now. Now they are not. I was still sore in my muscles and my back and neck but a lot of the other symptoms improved. I've had herx reactions before but this was on a totally different level. Today I feel so much better and my mind feels sharp. I still have the skin feeling but I'm thinking with some detox and salt baths I should feel even better. Wow this one was crazy.

I have to say that all of my doctors have recommended backing down the meds or pulsing them when you feel a herx that is this intense. Just putting that out there - I did not. I am very strong (do bi weekly blood work) and know the limits of my body. If you are hyper sensitive (and many Bartonella patients are) I would highly recommend backing down if you get this type of herx.

I can't say which drug is causing this - Rifabutin or MB but combined they for now appear to be very effective. Dr. MR said MB is working exceeding well to clear CNS symptoms for his patients.

I wanted to post my experience up on this forum to share my information because this is a scary thing to go through. I will continue to update this thread as I go to share my experiences with you all. More to follow.

“ I have to say that all of my doctors have recommended backing down the meds or pulsing them when you feel a herx that is this intense. Just putting that out there - I did not.“

Are you saying when your herx symptoms started you took more of the meds that caused the herx

I wouldn’t ever suggest someone do that.

Or do you mean after the herx stopped?

BrianinPA said...
I continued with my normal dosage. I wasn’t sure it was a herx until the next day when I felt so much better. Now I know what it was. I was thinking it might be a virus.

Again I am not suggesting for someone else to do this it’s just what I choose to do. I know my limits.

I continued with the protocol once the herx subsided but I did not take more abx while I was herxing.
Didn’t want to end up in emerg

Ok just a quick update. I did stop taking the MB because of this herx from hell. I contacted my doctor who related I should stop taking it until this passes. In 3 years of treating I have never felt anything like this. It does feel like it cleared some of my most stubborn Bart symptoms. Time will tell.

I’ll update the tread with what happens moving forward.