Switching from Rifampin to Rifabutin

Hey guys. I was wondering if anyone has ever used rifampin and then switched on to rifabutin?

My plans are to do a few months of rifampin, then finish off with rifabutin? I know they're both rifamicins similar class of drugs etc but are the precautions any different? I'll be doing liver function and such every month so I'm not worried about stuff like that?

I have heard a lot of people report herxing from rifabutin to be pretty gnarly in comparison to the rifampin. So I am hoping that finish off with rifabutin will be good. What I'm really scared of is a relapse. This past 6 months has taken absolutely everything out of me to not give up.... It's a scorched earth policy here. I'm gonna incorporate houttuynia as well. Overkill probably but I have one shot at this lol

I have been trialling methylene blue at 900mg a day as well and it seems to help a great deal for bart. I'm gonna see how I feel after a weeks worth but this stuff definitely has potential.

Thanks guys.

Identification of FDA-Approved Drugs with Activity against Stationary Phase Bartonella henselae.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=berberine+bartonella

"We identified 110 drug candidates that had better activity against stationary phase B. henselae than ciprofloxacin, and among the top 52 drug candidates tested, 41 drugs were confirmed by microscopy to have higher activity than the current frontline antibiotic erythromycin. The identified top drug candidates include pyrvinium pamoate, daptomycin, methylene blue, azole drugs (clotrimazole, miconazole, sulconazole, econazole, oxiconazole, butoconazole, bifonazole), aminoglycosides (gentamicin and streptomycin, amikacin, kanamycin), amifostine (Ethyol), antiviral Lopinavir/ritonavir, colistin, nitroxoline, nitrofurantoin, verteporfin, pentamidine, berberine, aprepitant, olsalazine, clinafloxacin, and clofoctol"

I used berberine (over the counter) and erythromycin in the past, found both to impact bart. I would expect flagyl and relative febendazole to also make the list.

Girlie

I was on erythromycin for quite awhile initially by itself. Several years later when I relapsed I again started erythromycin (it was not as effective the second time) and then added minocycline. It worked for me at reducing many bart bab borellia symptoms. Completely resolved joint pain, particularly my neck, and brain fog. It was much better for me than doxycycline.

That was my experience with minocycline also. It eliminated active bartonella symptoms, however it can leave some dormant persisters, which can relapse after stopping the minocycline.