Anyone co-infected with Babesia and Batronella?

[dugganwi]

Just wondering if anyone else has Babesia and or Bartonella with their Lyme? I had IgeneX test for Bartonella on my Western Blot and it came back Negative. BUT when I was muscle tested, I showed up as having Bartonella and Babesia. I'm wondering how accurate IgeneX is for Bartonella. I know that Boriella can be tricky with IgeneX. I have yet to get a positive Boriella result from IgeneX but two MDs have diagnosed with it.

I have read that Bartonella can cause many of the neurological problems including psychiatric issues (depression, anxiety, and insomnia). As co-infections seem to be the rule and not the exception, I guess it would make sense to have Babs and Bart. Are there more tests available to determine if someone has co-infections more specific than the Western Blot?

Thanks!

[JackieCalifornia]

If sleepiness from the Mg is a problem during the day, and the Mg interferes with sleeping meds in the evening, would your MD consider taking you off the sleeping meds and putting you on Mg in the evening?  

I'm not medically trained, and I'm very sensitive to medications and supplements generally, so I come at this from a pretty simple angle:  the less stuff I take, the better, and if a prescription sleep medicine interferes with Mg, which makes me sleepy all by itself, then maybe it's the sleep meds and not the Mg which is the problem.  Just sayin'....  

That said, listen to your MD, not to stuff you read on websites, okay?  

[dugganwi]

I initially got my Magnesium from my DO because he said that it would help with the Herxing that I'm going through. I was told to take 3 capsules twice each day with food. Now I was taking them with breakfast and dinner but if I took them in the morning, I was even more exhausted all day. BUT if I take them too late... I have found that it interacts with my sleeping medication and greatly reduces it's effectiveness. SO I am basically taking one dose during the afternoons now. It does seem to help with the anxiety and I feel better about taking natural than Xanax.

I do remember trying some liquid Mag last year for sleep but it tasted HORRIBLE and it gave me the worst bowel intolerance. I think you are right with any type ending in "-ate" as being much less harsh on the bowels and stomach. BTW I have been meaning to send you a message about my Pulsar treatments. I actually started a video blog on youtube to document my treatment process and talk about my experiences with being treated alternatively.

[JackieCalifornia]

Have you tried taking the Mg supps in the evening only?  I currently take 2 Mg malate, one in the morning and one in the evening.  Previously I was taking a larger dose (3 pills), and also noted sleepiness if I took the larger dose in the morning, so I hear you.  

I am soon going to try Mg orotate to see if it has any different effect, tho I've read that any Mg ending in "-ate" is okay.

[dugganwi]

I actually have been using a Magnesium Glycinate Forte which is easier on your stomach and it seems to help me with the anxiousness. BUT it does make you so sleepy. Albeit, not enough to knock me out when I would actually like to sleep! My Western Blot never came back positive for Lyme or Co-infections but yesterday I had a positive Lyme Urine PCR come back positive. Basically just more confirmation that my clinical diagnosis was correct.  I agree that the herxing from the Bart seems to be especially bad. In fact, from what I have heard around the Lyme community, these co-infections can be just as nasty as Boriella if not more so.

[wonko]

I agree with the above that the testing does less than good clinical experience in a good LLMD.  I have Lyme and Bart but also a lot of babs symptoms according to my doc.  I've always had the most notable Herx reactions to Bart-targeting meds.

[JackieCalifornia]

bcb, have you tried magnesium supplements for the muscle twitching?  It worked for me, and helps with mood also.

[bcb1200]

Babs / Bart testing is unreliable.  I strongly suspect Bart because of my gastritis, calf pain/twitching, and anxiety.

[JackieCalifornia]

I had Lyme and Babesia together, but never had Bartonella.  The Babesia was particularly nasty but is easier to cure than Lyme.  

I'll let others address the testing issues ... it's not that IGeneX tests are not accurate, it's that nobody's tests are very accurate, but IGeneX is often used by LLMDs because it gives more data than other labs.  

Hope you're feeling better.