Babesia, nice to see you again...NOT!!

[kittycar]

I was treated last August for Babesia and Anaplasma. I have been on Doxy for this entire year and I did 3 mo. Of Mepron over the winter. I have been symptom free since february. Back to my old self....until a week ago. It started with abdominal pain right under my sternum, accompanied by a dry cough and generally not feeling up to snuff. Made an apt with my doc. She put me on anti yeast meds wich helped for the first two days, but today...wow! Feeling like I did last winter:( I though these bugs were gone, I was feeling on top of the world! Is it really possible that they are back? Has anyone out there experienced anything similar? Uhg, wishing I could just get some new blood....lol.

[JackieCalifornia]

PPS ... and remember, I'm not medically trained ... but in your situation, I would get that second opinion for several reasons.  Take care, and hope you are well very soon!

[JackieCalifornia]

PS:  I just looked up babesiosis, and found this:

"In mild-to-moderate babesiosis, the treatment of choice is a combination of atovaquone and azithromycin." -- New York State Department of Health

That is what I was treated with several years ago when I had babesia.  Why your doc is using just doxy is unclear.  I would consider seriously getting a quiet second opinion from a different MD.

[JackieCalifornia]

Sometimes meds can make you feel lousy while the bacteria are dying off, which in the long run is a good thing, getting rid of the bacteria.  

That said, going off and on and off and on antibiotics tends to create bacteria resistant to those antibiotics, which means that the antibiotics may be come useless to you and others, having created superbugs that are no longer killed by that particular antibiotic.  Not good for you or for the human race.  Please don't do that again without getting your doc's opinion.

I would however tell the doc what you did, how you felt better, and so on, and what adjustments could be made so that the meds are not so harsh on your system.  That's a perfectly reasonable question.

That you felt better when you were NOT taking the doxy might indicate that you are getting the opposite of withdrawal symptoms:  you feel better without the meds than with them.  However, all of this has to be done with your MD's awareness and agreement.

The doc may be able to switch meds, if the doc thinks it's too early to stop treatment altogether.  The important thing to focus on is killing the bacteria entirely so that you are well and that the bacteria do not mutate into antibiotic-resistant medication and increase the risk of death in many many people, due to drug-resistant bacteria.  Too many antibiotics have been overused and misused and then become useless against the now-invincible superbugs, and that is to be avoided for your sake and that of everyone else.
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An entirely different question I would ask the doc is whether doxy is the right medication for you now.  Doxy used to be the old standby medication to treat Lyme for everyone, but there are other meds that may be more effective that your doc is not familiar with -- ?  I don't know your diagnosis or your situation, but it's a question worth asking, and if you don't like the answer, I would get a second opinion from another knowledgeable MD.
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I too would want to be off the meds, so I hear you.  However, it may be that the bacteria in you are still running strong, and perhaps a switch to a different medication would be called for.  Again:  a second opinion may be called for.

I'm not medically trained, so these are just thoughts off the top of my head, but hope they help and that you are well again very soon.  Take care!

[kittycar]

It has been a little over a week now, and I have spontaneously gotten better.  a few days ago, I forgot to take my Doxy in the morning and felt absolutely amazing, so I skipped the next day. Again, I felt so good.  I didn't want to skip 3 days in a row, so I got back to my routine of taking the doxy.  My stomach went ballistic and I got super sluggish.  So, I have taken this as a sign that it is just time to get off the doxy after a year of being on it. Has anyone ever had withdraws from getting off this medicine?

[mojogal]

Agree with Jackie. Get to an LLMD. You could very well have another co-infection or just need more meds to kill the infections you have.

[JackieCalifornia]

Call your doc or his/her after-hours phone line and leave a message with your symptoms -- then the doc can decide what you should do.  It's possible your new symptoms are die-off from the yeast or something else -- but that's a call your doc has to make.

[Katya4]

I have upper GI pain upon eating. maybe I have what you have!

Get tested again, I guess, more antibiotics maybe?

[JackieCalifornia]

Instead of new blood, maybe a fresh look by an ILADS-type MD is in order.  It's what I would do.

It's also possible you were bitten again recently, and have a new infection.  As far as I know, it is possible to get Lyme and babesia again -- there is no continuing immunity after successful treatment.