And now for some really GOOD news!

Dear cyber buddies,

I just received some excellent news -- someone very close to me has just today gotten (knock on wood) a clean bill of health after extended antibiotic treatment for Lyme and a coinfection.

We started treatment at the same time, and I have run into problems with reaction to various medications, so I am still slogging along and accept that I may never be fully well, but it does give one hope.

Here's hoping the same good news for each and every one of us.

Best,

Jackie

[wonko]

Thank you for sharing the light at the end of the tunnel!

[ott70]

That is good news. I just tried some Bactrim and I don't think my body liked it much. My LLMD thinks I was herxing and being allergic at the same time. I'll see him in 3 weeks to determine if there is another course of action he wants to take. Sticking with my natural stuff in the meantime.

[Kaydey]

How wonderful!  I hope that you will also find a 'clean bill of health' soon!

[Amyloo]

Awsome.  I am so very happy for her.  Maybe you're next!

[wonko]

My body didn't like Bactrim, and made that very clear to me!  I was ok on a single pill, but when I went up to 2 (as directed by my LLMD), it overwhelmed me.  I had a similar struggle with plaquenil.  Other meds, like mino, help but I plateau on them, only getting partial improvement.

JackieCalifornia has posted about her problems with yeast/candida.  With me the roadblock seems to be finding the right combination of meds that I can tolerate and from which I get the most improvement.

[Jena906]

How long was her/ his road of illness and how many months of treatment? I think that is very uplifting to her with the right dr one can be cured. I hope we start seeing that in more posts on this forum.  

[patsy10]

Great news!

[wonko]

Just curious...Was this person's treatment oral, IV, both?

I know what works for some won't work for all, but can't help but wonder!

[gorbybelle]

AWESOME - as you Americaners would say!

gorbs - Englisher x

[JackieCalifornia]

Treatment was oral.  Mepron/atovaquone and Zithromax/azithromycin for Babesiosis first, then when that was extinct, Biaxin/clarithromycin and Omnicef/cefidnir for Lyme.  Took 15 months, start to finish.  Overt symptoms had been few, mainly tiredness but not the crushing fatigue others of us have had.  Tests were initially run on the family only at my stubborn insistence, and I was dead-dog sick with the same things, Lyme and Babesiosis.  Go figure.

One of the things I have noticed in following stories here is how variable the course is for each person -- most peculiar.  No wonder the drs are clueless.  How ashamed they should be at their abdication of responsibility.

So there is hope for all of us, it's just that we have to take different roads to the destination.  (Note to wily bugs:  DIE!  NOW!!)

[cindy903]

Wow! That IS good news.

Did she remain optimistic throughout her ordeal? That sometimes plays a role in the prognosis according to some.

[Kaydey]

Ok, I have a question.  I have been on different antibiotics for pneumonia, bronchitis, strep, etc.  This year I had a really bad case of pneumonia and a variety of infections following it.  If I have been on all these antibiotics, why am I still having symptoms of Lyme?

This is not the first time I have been on antibiotics for a long period of time.

[JackieCalifornia]

I believe Lyme responds only to certain antibiotics, although there are a variety with appear to work.  There are also different forms of the bacterium which respond to different antibiotics.  And if you have a coinfection, it may not respond to anything you've taken.  

The treatment time for Lyme is at least months and can easily run into a year and more, depending on response, and even then there can be relapses.  

Lyme is good at hiding deep in body tissues and in cartilege, which does not have much blood supply -- and because antibiotics are carried by the bloodstream, it's hard for the drugs to reach the bugs.  Lots of reasons.  

The simplest answer:  there is no magic bullet for this elusive disease.