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Syphilis Infection NOT Cured By Penicillin
10 year old syphilis infection was recently treated with 14 day IV penicillin antibiotic. 24 million units a day.
Classic heximer reactions were experienced.
The symptoms have returned shortly after the treatment.
What would cause a 14 day IV treatment to fail? And in such a case what would be the followup treatment to kill the spirochete fully?
Thanks
Classic heximer reactions were experienced.
The symptoms have returned shortly after the treatment.
What would cause a 14 day IV treatment to fail? And in such a case what would be the followup treatment to kill the spirochete fully?
Thanks
Belief for me is irrelevant... but I can understand your sentiment.
At any rate, now that you received treatment, you should probably go consult with a doctor about your concerns, plus tests will have to be carried out after appropriate time frame to ascertain what's happening with T. Pallidum inside your body - but keep in mind that usually, retesting for Syphilis is carried out 3 months after treatment (though I'm not certain if that applies to spinal fluid testing).
I find it appalling that one has to wait so long to ascertain the status of the bacteria.
Its no wonder when it was ascertained that medicine is about 60 years behind in terms of applicable methodology globally (when it comes to actual tests and in many cases, actual treatments). In short... we aren't using our best possible scientific knowledge or technology to solve issues - because if we did, none of this would be an issue to begin with.
Finally... you need to inform your long-term partner of your condition so he can have himself tested and possibly treated (plus, he should probably try to inform whoever he had sex with before meeting you - or maybe if he had sex outside your relationship, then it would be prudent to inform those people).
At any rate, now that you received treatment, you should probably go consult with a doctor about your concerns, plus tests will have to be carried out after appropriate time frame to ascertain what's happening with T. Pallidum inside your body - but keep in mind that usually, retesting for Syphilis is carried out 3 months after treatment (though I'm not certain if that applies to spinal fluid testing).
I find it appalling that one has to wait so long to ascertain the status of the bacteria.
Its no wonder when it was ascertained that medicine is about 60 years behind in terms of applicable methodology globally (when it comes to actual tests and in many cases, actual treatments). In short... we aren't using our best possible scientific knowledge or technology to solve issues - because if we did, none of this would be an issue to begin with.
Finally... you need to inform your long-term partner of your condition so he can have himself tested and possibly treated (plus, he should probably try to inform whoever he had sex with before meeting you - or maybe if he had sex outside your relationship, then it would be prudent to inform those people).
Believe it or not, that's not my style.
There's only one possible window of infection with one partner & one partner only. That is ruling out all possible other vectors of infection. Which can't be completely ruled out.
There's only one possible window of infection with one partner & one partner only. That is ruling out all possible other vectors of infection. Which can't be completely ruled out.
Ah yes, I would imagine that the doctors would want to take safety precautions and give you IV penicillin to cover a possible neurosyphilis infection simply because they might not have had an accurate window on when it could have occurred (unspecified time of duration).
Out of curiosity, how do you know its a 10 year long infection and what prompted you to go get tested in the first place?
Plus, if the infection did last for 10 years (or more), might it be also possible you acquired it sometime before you met your long-term partner?
At any rate, was your long-term partner tested for Syphilis as well and treated if he was positive?
If not... I think it should be done in order to prevent the potential spread of the bacteria (though in latent stages and beyond, a person is no longer infectious - supposedly).
P.S. Relationships can be a bit tricky in terms of fidelity, etc. (though its not guaranteed). I do think it would be recommended to have STD checkups even in LTR either way just in case once per year.
Out of curiosity, how do you know its a 10 year long infection and what prompted you to go get tested in the first place?
Plus, if the infection did last for 10 years (or more), might it be also possible you acquired it sometime before you met your long-term partner?
At any rate, was your long-term partner tested for Syphilis as well and treated if he was positive?
If not... I think it should be done in order to prevent the potential spread of the bacteria (though in latent stages and beyond, a person is no longer infectious - supposedly).
P.S. Relationships can be a bit tricky in terms of fidelity, etc. (though its not guaranteed). I do think it would be recommended to have STD checkups even in LTR either way just in case once per year.
It went 10 years unchecked because classic symptoms never really manifest initially.
There was no reason to suspect a possible STD as sexual activity was limited exclusively to a long-term partner. When the symptoms were finally isolated to be a spirochete, the only possible infection through sexual activity was that long-term partner.
Other possible vectors of infection???
No blood was received... no drug use... perhaps a vector through a tick bite can't be fully ruled out?
Any other studies or background experience you know of on the efficacy of oral doxycycline on a late stage infection?
There was no reason to suspect a possible STD as sexual activity was limited exclusively to a long-term partner. When the symptoms were finally isolated to be a spirochete, the only possible infection through sexual activity was that long-term partner.
Other possible vectors of infection???
No blood was received... no drug use... perhaps a vector through a tick bite can't be fully ruled out?
Any other studies or background experience you know of on the efficacy of oral doxycycline on a late stage infection?
Oral doxycycline for 21 days should be tolerated well.
As for potential gut issues... recommendation would be to drink yogurts loaded with probiotic bacteria in between taking pills (about 3 hours after taking the first dose in the day).
As for the die-off symptoms continuing weeks after treatment... its possible this is more or less how tings proceed in such a scenario (given that the infection had years to proliferate).
Have you spoken with a doctor about your concerns yet?
If not... I'd probably do so and see what they have to say.
As for potential gut issues... recommendation would be to drink yogurts loaded with probiotic bacteria in between taking pills (about 3 hours after taking the first dose in the day).
As for the die-off symptoms continuing weeks after treatment... its possible this is more or less how tings proceed in such a scenario (given that the infection had years to proliferate).
Have you spoken with a doctor about your concerns yet?
If not... I'd probably do so and see what they have to say.
During the treatment Heximer symptoms lasted only a few days.
Die off symptoms painful of bubbles full of clear fluid on the hands continued all the way through the treatment. And continue weeks afterward.
Spinal fluid has not been tested yet, but the continuance of the legions on the hands suggest the spirochete was never fully eradicated.
Oral doxycyline for that long of period could lead to gut issues. Is it possible to forgo those side effect and/or increase the efficacy of the treatment using an intravenous form of doxycycline for the 28-30 days?
If continual IV drip was not enough to kill it, I'm concerned that the drops in concentrations between oral doses could lower the chances of efficacy.
I'd rather put all the odds in our favor.
Die off symptoms painful of bubbles full of clear fluid on the hands continued all the way through the treatment. And continue weeks afterward.
Spinal fluid has not been tested yet, but the continuance of the legions on the hands suggest the spirochete was never fully eradicated.
Oral doxycyline for that long of period could lead to gut issues. Is it possible to forgo those side effect and/or increase the efficacy of the treatment using an intravenous form of doxycycline for the 28-30 days?
If continual IV drip was not enough to kill it, I'm concerned that the drops in concentrations between oral doses could lower the chances of efficacy.
I'd rather put all the odds in our favor.
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You are reading content posted in the STDs / STIs Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
The recommended treatment for long term neuorsyphilis infection would be 10 to 14 days of IV Penicillin, followed by 3 IM Penicillin shots (1 injection per week).
But if it was just a late stage without neurosyphilis infection, then it would just be 3 IM Penicllin shots (1 injection per week).
Your treatment indicates it was a neurosyphilis infection.
Keep in mind that the treatment would eradicate the infection, but it wouldn't undo any damage already done to the body or brain.
A few questions:
1. Might I ask the kind of symptoms you had before?
2. What symptoms are you experiencing again?
3. What makes you so sure the treatment failed?
4. Have they done spinal fluid tests before and after treatment? If so... how much time did it pass since the treatment before they redid the spinal fluid test?
5. Out of curiosity, were you hospitalized during treatment?
If it was a treatment failure, then I think it would require a repeated treatment - but since you experienced a Herxheimer reaction, this indicates that the treatment WAS successful (at least to a good extent).
Alternative (and seemingly effective) treatment for neurosyphilis from what I read on Pubmed was Doxycycline tablets taken orally... 200 mg, 2x daily (which would amount to 400 mg per day) for 21 days (though, I would personally do it for 28 to 30 days for good measure).
Here is the link to the Pubmed paper:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3834836