I'm just curious.. how many of you have gone through months of treatment, and more or less feel about the same as you did before you started?
My treatments so far:
Amoxy, 2 months
Biaxin, 2 mos
Biaxin/Omnicef 3 months
Omnicef/Doxy (2 weeks so far)
(I've checked, and all doses are at least the minimum recommended)
Most of the symptoms I had before starting abx are still there, although maybe not as frequent or as strong as they were before, but I almost feel like either this is pointless (to treat) or something else is going on (which my LLMD suggested was possible when we first met). I'm holding off on the IV treatment for now.
Don't want to bum you out. But it took me 4 years before I saw "any" small amount of relief. My doc (at that time) and I just about gave up. I have been on antibiotics different combo's now for around 8 years.
Think it mainly depends on how long you have been ill. Co-infections, virus's and all of the other critters that want to invade our bodies....
Possibly a picc line would be benificaly for you at this point.
I'm just curious.. how many of you have gone through months of treatment, and more or less feel about the same as you did before you started?
My treatments so far:
Amoxy, 2 months
Biaxin, 2 mos
Biaxin/Omnicef 3 months
Omnicef/Doxy (2 weeks so far)
(I've checked, and all doses are at least the minimum recommended)
Most of the symptoms I had before starting abx are still there, although maybe not as frequent or as strong as they were before, but I almost feel like either this is pointless (to treat) or something else is going on (which my LLMD suggested was possible when we first met). I'm holding off on the IV treatment for now.
I'm tired of taking abx.
Hi.
First, let me say that I am not a doctor, just a Lyme sufferer, like
yourself.
I've also been treating for about the same amount of time that you
have. I still feel pretty bad, but sometimes I have windows of time
when I feel good...maybe just a couple of hours. Also, just like you
the bad times don't seem to be as frequent or as strong as they
once were. I think that is a very good sign.
From what I have read, it can take up to 2 years to really treat
Lyme, so 7 months isn't that long. Have faith. I'm on herbal
treatments, myself, but I keep plodding along. Lyme is hard to
beat, and it takes a lot of time.
Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones who feels good after
just one year of treatment. But hang in there even if it takes
longer.
I started my "real treatment" in June. Had been on doxy buy only 100 mg twice a day for 6 weeks prior to that though. Went through the doxy, rifapin (sure that is wrong) and zithro on weekends. Was on that for about 2-3 months but did not help. Then went on zithro full time, 600 mg daily and bactrim daily (2 a day). Did not really get better, he then tried last month to switch me to levaquin and doxy again but did not have insurance (it kicks in this Sat) so I told him I could not afford it. Been out of work until 1 month ago and made two big moves so financially broke. I got the zithro through a program and they game me two months for free which is nice.
Anyway, I go back on the 20th and my last visit he said if I was not better, we would go to the IV so we will see. The only thing I can say is my neck does not hurt or crack anymore but I still have lots of other pain, panic attacks all the time, feeling tired and still get the brain fog. I have to really focus on things.
Hope that this helps. My husband thinks I should be better by now, that i must be doing something wrong but when I read posts like yours, I know it takes time.
I'm disheartened to hear it can take 2-4 yrs in some cases to feel better! But I guess there is hope at some point in the future.. I suppose the longer one has had it, and the way in which they're affected, does have an impact. I'll just cross my fingers I see a real defining change in my health soon.
ktp812- how do you take all that medication?! Ugh...
Hi datgrlstef. How long were you sick before starting treatment?
Have you been tested for all the co-infections? Do you have any? Having co-infections can make the symptoms of all infections more severe and can complicate treatment.
It can take some time to get better. What works for one case may not work for another. It can also take time to find the best meds for each case. It seems to me like you are switching meds around a lot. I am not a medical professional, but I do not think two months of treatment is long enough to tell if it is working.
I'm disheartened to hear it can take 2-4 yrs in some cases to feel better! But I guess there is hope at some point in the future.. I suppose the longer one has had it, and the way in which they're affected, does have an impact. I'll just cross my fingers I see a real defining change in my health soon.
ktp812- how do you take all that medication?! Ugh...
Hi, Datgrl...
According to Herrings Law of Cure, you heal in reverse order of
symptoms. For instance, if you've had joint pain since the beginning,
but only developed headaches more recently, your headaces will
probably resolve before your joint pain.
Herrings Law also says recovery takes a minimum of 3 months
+ 1 month for every year you've been sick. So, if you 've been
sick 7 years, it would take a minimum of 10 months to recover.
This is just a rule of thumb. I know of one man who was sick almost
40 years and became symptom-free (possibly cured) in a little over a
year of treatment. On the other extreme, I've also read about people
who have only been sick 3 years, and are still sick after 3 years of
treatment.
I have no idea what the variables are, but probably it depends a lot
on your treatment method and the "personality" of your Lyme and
co-infections.
Everyone is different. For most people, brain fog is the last thing to
go. For me, it was the first thing to go. I can't say it's completely
gone for me (that's really hard to measure), but it dissipated at least
90% for me within the first month of treatment. That is highly unusual.
Apparently there is just no way to tell how long it will take you to heal
or which symptoms will fade away first.
7 mos treatment, not much better 
But I guess there is hope at some point in the future.. I suppose the longer one has had it, and the way in which they're affected, does have an impact. I'll just cross my fingers I see a real defining change in my health soon. 
Ugh...
