How long does it take for treatment to work?

TINUVIEL

Hi,

What you are describing sounds like a herx, the symptoms starting to flare up again even if they'd been subsiding or dormant. What happens in early Lyme is that the symptoms will often subside or even appear to go away, misleading people into thinking everything is "ok". That is what keep many Lyme patients from pursuing treatment. But in reality the Lyme is spreading further and deeper into the body, only to flare up even worse and more complicated to treat later. When you are on abx, anyplace the bacteria have been "hiding" they will start to die off, producing neurotoxins and a temporary flaring of symptoms.

You mentioned not having been tested. That means you were not tested for coinfections. Many people who contract Lyme also have one or more co-infections. In my non-medical opinion, some of your symptoms sound like Babesiosis which is another tick-borne disease (I and several others here have had it) which is rampant in some of the areas you mentioned. In addition, ticks can also carry two forms of Erlichiosis, Mycoplasma, Bartonella, and a few others. It is important to treat for co-infections.

Hopefully Ticker or someone with more information will be along soon.

cjFTWORTH

welcome to the boards paul... and sorry to hear that you've been so ill.

and well said, TINUVIEL. babs was the first thing that popped into my head while reading your post, paul but lyme can cause just about any symptom.

the main heads up i can offer you is that you are on the low end of the required dosage for doxy... so if you are a good size person, you might need to up the dose. I took 600mg a day, average size female.

although you are on Fluconazole, which is to combat a yeast infection, you should also be taking some type of probiotic such as Lactobacillus Acidophilus, to replenish the good bacteria in your intestines that the antibiotic is killing off...

Did doc say how long he would treat you? It is great that you got a doc to treat you but typically, short term treatment is offered which is NOT A GOOD THING.

sundays are very slow on the lyme board but by tomorrow you should have some good replies to think over... best wishes... cj

jvs

Dear Paul,
For early disease you may take antibiotics for 4 to 6 weeks. For late stage disease you may need 4 to 6 months of continuous antibiotics. It is very individualized for each patient. You also treatment for another 2 months after the symptoms have resolved to really rid your body of the bacteria.

I agree also that you may be coinfected with Babeosis, which can make your Lyme disease worse.

You need to see a Lyme Literate MD and get on the right doses and proper meds. If not the disease can spread to your heart, nervous system etc. I would contact your local Lyme support group for MD referrals.

There are alot of people on this web site with advanced Lyme with severe symptoms. Hopefully you can prevent this.

Good luck
jvs

itsmylife

Andrographis works very well and has many added benefits.