New meds help!

[Elleon_arual]

Hello,

Okay so I took half a Zithromax and one Ceftin this morning...Right now I have a couple hives on my chest and a rash on my neck.

Do you guys think it's an allergic reaction? It's only been 2 hours since I've taken it. I remember when I took Amoxicillin when I was small that I was a week into it before the hives started.

Or could it be some sort of reaction from the Lyme?

Of course I'm going to call my doc but was wondering what you guys thought.

[ngageme]

Ceftin has no Penicillin as it is a different type of antibiotic belonging to Cephalosporin group.

People allergic to Penicillins have high incidence of being cross allergic to Cephalosporins, making them prime candidate for contraindication.

Spreading rash is not a good sign and should be taken seriously. You need to consult a doc whenever possible.

[Elleon_arual]

Well I know I was allergic to any kind of Penicillin. I guess I still am since Ceftin has Penicillin in it.

And last year I had another rash when I took a med with sulfa in it so I know for sure I'm allergic to that.

Ironically, my dad is allergic to these two things too.

[cave76]

It sounds as if you might benefit by going to an allergist to find out what antibiotics you CAN take. Or perhaps genetic testing.

OR maybe your pharmacist will be willing to tell you.

[Elleon_arual]

Okay I am definitely allergic to one of the meds.

The rash is back and spreading down onto my chest. And it is super itchy.

My LLMD is off until Monday so I don't know if I should stop all meds completely until then, stop the new meds and take the doxy I have leftover or just keep taking the new meds and suffer until Monday.

So now this limits my antibiotics to anything that is not a penicillin or sulfa drug. Does that leave anything besides doxy?

[ngageme]

Quote: "I'm curious why taking abx for undiagnosed Babs would be more likely to give C. difficile than taking abx for diagnosed Babs."

It is not a question of higher or lower likelihood, as likelihood is the same in both cases. Implied was the fact that treating solidly confirmed Dx has benefits that far outweigh the risk of getting C. difficile as opposed to having abx prescribed for treating unconfrmed condition and getting C. difficile as a result.

Do no harm?

Docs in America are hell-bent on prescribing tons of antibiotics without proper cultures or blood tests, a practice that creates Drug-resistant strands, such as MRSA and others, making it difficult to treat.

[Elleon_arual]

Thanks for the comment. I think for the reasons you posted above is why my doc goes just on symptoms.

He didn't call back yesterday. It usually takes a day. I called today and he is off of course because we are getting a blizzard. And Fridays are his normal days off. Lovely.

I took the meds this morning and all seems fine.  So far I feel great on these meds. No stomach issues like doxy caused me. My heart isn't racing so much either. When I woke up this morning I felt as if I had really worked out the day before and I was achy but that subsided after I was up and moving around.

But I definitely need to let him know I'm having the night sweats now.  And still having air hunger difficulty.

[Ricobord]

P.S. I was false negative on 3 Babesia tests, 1 malaria/babesia test and 2 at IGeneX.  I got so loaded up with Babesia parasite that I got very sick when we finally started treating it.  I may have a treatment resistent strain, as I've been on anti-Babesia meds for over a year, and I still have air hunger and some digestive issues from it.

Clindamycin in particular is known to lead to C. difficile, a difficult to treat cause of diarrhea.  Good probiotics help prevent it. I've been on it for 5 months and as long as take my probiotics, I'm okay.  (It treats both Lyme and Babesia.)

[Ricobord]

The CDC position that Babesia shouldn't be treated without positive laboratory confirmation can be devastating to patients.  The Lab tests for Babs miss about half of all cases.  The CDC confirms that the tests are poor.  Even the Red Cross does not screen the blood supply because of the lack of reliable tests.  People are getting Babesia from blood transfusions from donors who are silent carriers of this parasite.

Requiring a positive lab test makes no sense for a patient who already has Lyme and a whole list of Babesia symptoms.  One should certainly be done, but in support of a diagnosis, not as a requirement.

The hot/cold waves you describe do sound like Babesia.  I had them, too, although not quite as severe as you describe.

What did your doctor say?

[cave76]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_difficile

Clostridium difficile

A serious diarrhea that all of us are warned about by "the authorities" when we take a lot of antibiotics. Which is strange since I've read of so few of 'us' getting it. Maybe that's because almost all of us faithfully take our probiotics.

It's more likely to be contracted when in the hospital, just as MRSA is.  Moral: stay away from hospitals. (grin)

Which makes me wonder----- if a person is in the hospital for 'something' (not Lyme) do the doctors/nurses give them probiotics???? Shouldn't they?

[Elleon_arual]

Yes, I have also read that Babs is rarely fatal except for the above situations you mentioned. I know people who had it for 16+ years and never knew.

What is C. difficile?

Also, I think I had my first major Babs night sweats last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was drenched. I mean, I could have taken my shirt off and wrung it out. I started the new meds yesterday morning so I'm assuming that had something to do with it.

Maybe my LLMD will treat for Babs now since I never had the sweats, he didn't want to treat me.

[cave76]

Babesia can be fatal but sources say that would happen mostly in immunocompromised people (such as AIDS patients) or people with  no spleen; although a friend of mine, years ago had lost her spleen because of a car accident and, after treating for Babs, was fine.

In  my years of reading patient's stories  I can't remember hearing about a death from Babs. Perhaps there are some---- and I'd like to read about them. Any valid sources for that?

I'm curious why taking abx for undiagnosed Babs would be more likely to give C. difficile than taking abx for diagnosed Babs.

Some doctors won't treat for a disease without a confirming test saying the patient has it. Even though the tests aren't anywhere near perfect. But that's to protect themselves against malpractice investigation. However, Lyme is constantly being treated strictly by a clinical diagnosis----- even the CDC states "Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks" with tests being helpful [but not absolutely] necessary if certain criteria is met.

So many of us never have a positive test result but are treated because of clinical symptoms and other criteria.

[ngageme]

How can a positive Dx be made if there's no Lab work to support it?

You might want to ask your Doc to have your blood drawn for Igenex, just for Babesia. Taking antibiotics for unconfirmed Babesia will run you a risk to disrupt your gut flora and run huge risk for C-difficile, another nasty bacteria in intestinal tract that flourishes when the good flora is wiped out with Antibiotics.

Taking a lot of pro-biotics will help offset that.

[Elleon_arual]

Just diagnosed by symptoms by my LLMD but he doesn't seem to ever want to treat it.

According to him, when I first went to him I had "all symptoms pointing to Babesia".  

[ngageme]

Lyme will cause thermoregulation issues, hence hot and cold flashes. The issue with shaking is fairly usual. Relief comes when a meal is eaten.

B. Burgdorfery will thrive off of sugar and Magnesium, with the latter being depleted from tissues causing spasticity ( stiff muscles ).

Have you been diagnosed with Babesia? It is a very, very serious protozoa infection that can be fatal if left untreated.

Igenex has testing for multiple species, B. Macroti, B. Duncati and FISH.

[cave76]

Forgot to say that the ND was talking about Babesia (BabLo, as he calls it--- Babesia Like Organisms

[Elleon_arual]

That quote is a description of Lyme?

Yes, I am not certain about their rules here either since I am fairly new. I'll keep an eye out for your message.

Thanks!

[cave76]

A quote from a ND:

"Temperature intolerance, hot and cold with chill dominant.
Can have occasional fever, but usually can't get warm."

I'll send you the link via PM since I'm not sure that MedHelp will allow this and I always try follow their rules. But sometimes they're confusing.

[Elleon_arual]

Now I'm shaking to death because I'm freezing.

Maybe I am just getting sick.

[Elleon_arual]

It's okay.

I think the rash was actually from my new earrings. They were long and hung against my neck and chest. I took them off a while ago and the rash went away.

However, I just had a weird experience.  I was sitting at work and felt like all the energy/blood sugar got zapped out of my body.  Then my hands started shaking which always happens when my blood sugar drops if I haven't eaten anything.

I had something and felt better.

But then I got REALLY REALLY hot and now I'm running a fever. I'm not hot anymore but my cheeks are and my eyes are glossy. This was my first symptom ever... running a low grade fever around this time every day.

What's going on? I am freaking out.

[cave76]

I'm not ignoring you but there's no way I could say if it's an allergic reaction or not from 'this distance'.
I'm glad you called your doctor.

[Elleon_arual]

Will the Zithromax hit the Babesia at all without the Mepron?

Cause I am HOT. This is about the time I get my hot flashes every day and today it is extreme.