Thursday, March 14, 2024

Lyme Disease Iv Antibiotic Treatment What To Expect

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For Depression And Anxiety

IV antibiotics for neurologic Lyme disease – Video abstract: 23829

Both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy have proven benefits for improving mood. Psychotherapy has many different types such as supportive, dynamic, cognitive behavioral, dialectical behavior therapy, transference focused psychotherapy each of which offers benefit. Pharmacotherapy also has many different types. For depression the first-line options usually are SSRIs, SNRIs, Tricyclics or other agents with more unique modes of action.

A few noteworthy tips on anti-depressant agents:

  • Most anti-depressant agents also help in reducing anxiety. However the opposite isn’t necessarily true. Specific anti-anxiety agents such as clonazepam or diazepam may not necessarily help fight depression.
  • Most anti-depressants take three to eight weeks before an effect is seen. Therefore, it is unwise to stop an anti-depressant after only three or four weeks, as staying on it another two to three weeks may lead to a good response.
  • Dosage makes a difference. Some anti-depressants work fine at low doses some medications however are effective only at higher doses. Some medications are more effective as the dose is increased. Other antidepressants may have a therapeutic range one has to achieve at least a certain dosage .

Picc Line For Lyme Disease:

PICC stands for peripherally inserted central catheter. Inserting a PICC line is a common procedure in which a thin, flexible tube will be inserted into a large vein in the upper arm. The tube will be threaded through the vein until it rests just above the heart. A technician will use a numbing agent so there is no pain and the tube will be guided through the vein with the help of ultrasound and/or X-ray. A PICC line can stay in place for several weeks or months without needing to be changed or taken out. It is a more effective way of delivering IV antibiotics into your body if you intend to be using them on a regular basis. The placement of the tube just above the heart allows for a quicker response time for medications and nutrients, etc. If done properly, once the line is in and the initial discomfort settles, it shouldnt be at all noticeable.

Each infusion with a PICC line will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half and can be done at your own home either on your own or via a visiting nurse. Otherwise, infusions will be done at a hospital infusion lab or doctors office. PICC lines require regular cleaning by a nurse, either in home or at a facility.

This procedure should be taken seriously, and adequate discussion and caution should be used when considering a PICC line with your doctor.

PROS:

CONS:

Please check out this website, which has detailed information regarding PICC Lines.

Chronic Lyme: What Happens When Lyme Goes Untreated

The Lyme community typically uses the term chronic Lyme disease to describe a range of physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms that crop up after getting Lyme disease and persist for months to years after infection.

The risk of chronic Lyme increases the longer a Lyme infection goes untreated or undertreated. In other words, patients are more likely to recover fully if their Lyme infection is detected and treated as early as possible after the discovery of a tick bite. This stage is usually marked by symptoms such as fevers, chills, muscle aches, and sometimes rashes.

When left untreated or undertreated, however, Lyme disease can spread throughout the body and affect:

  • The central nervous system
  • Muscles and joints

As Lymedisease.org points out, these symptoms can evolve, disappear, and reappear at different times.

Also Check: Do You Have To Fast For Lyme Disease Blood Test

How Infusions Can Help You Recover From Lyme Disease

I dont know about you, but I LOVE living in the Westchester area, especially in the summer. Crisp evenings, proximity to beaches, and embracing the outdoors brings me so much joy. However, one thing I dont love about Westchester in the spring, summer and fall are the Lyme disease-carrying-ticks that are everywhere. The official name of the microbe that causes Lyme is Borrelia Bergdorfi. And these annoying and harmful pests carry other infections, too, like Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia and more. Collectively we call these Tick Borne Illnesses or TBIs. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are three of the ten states where the majority of Lyme cases are reported in the United States! The problem is that we all love the outdoors and your favorite summer activities could be putting you at risk.

Most of you probably already know this and check yourself for ticks after every evening beach walk or nature walk. If you dont, then this is definitely your first line of defense. If you find a tick on your body and it has been there for at least 4 hours, and has hooked itself in your skin, remove gently with a tweezer, and call your doctor. You can save the tick and have it tested for Lyme. At Blum Center we believe in treating aggressively, and recommend antibiotics whether or not you develop a rash. If that tick has latched onto you, whether or not is engorged or swollen, then treating right away is your best defense against developing acute or chronic Lyme disease.

What Is Post Treatment Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease *Dont Inspect

Post Treatment Lyme Disease represents a research subset of patients who remain significantly ill 6 months or more following standard antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease. PTLD is characterized by a constellation of symptoms that includes severe fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, sleep disturbance, depression, and cognitive problems such as difficulty with short-term memory, speed of thinking, or multi-tasking. In the absence of a direct diagnostic biomarker blood test, PTLD has been difficult to define by physicians, and its existence has been controversial. However, our clinical research shows that meticulous patient evaluation when used alongside appropriate diagnostic testing can reliably identify patients with a history of previously treated Lyme disease who display the typical symptom patterns of PTLD.

Also Check: Dog Ticks And Lyme Disease

Oral Antibiotic Process And Effects

Anything taken orally must travel into your mouth, down the esophagus, and into the stomach where it is broken down before being distributed into your bloodstream. Often, as stomach acids break down the oral antibiotic, they lose some of their potency.

This means less of the antibiotic will reach your bloodstream. Less antibiotic is available to fight infection.

Your gut is a vital part of healthy living. Specifically, the good bacteria that are living in your intestines that help fight off harmful bacteria. When you take an oral antibiotic, you remove both good and bad bacteria. Your gut is defenseless.

On top of that, oral antibiotics have caused unpleasant side effects like digestive issues like diarrhea, nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain.

As mentioned, oral antibiotics are best when used early. If Lyme has progressed, intravenous antibiotic treatments are a must.

The Truth About Antibiotic Treatments

Until recently, many doctors in Canada tended to prescribe only one round of antibiotics, irrespective of the stage of infection. However, current research suggests that a single course of antibiotics is often insufficient for treating Lyme disease, especially if the infection has been untreated for several months.

Don’t Miss: How Does A Person Get Lyme Disease

Acute And Chronic Lyme

Acute Lyme or Tick Borne Illness usually happens in about 2-3 weeks after the infection, but can happen sooner or later than that too. You might have a fever, chills, headaches, muscle or joint pain. It can feel like a flu. It can last 5-7 days and then go away. The tricky thing is that some people who get infected by a tick never have an acute illness! And many people with an acute TBI dont ever remember having a tick bite!

Thats why many people dont even think about Lyme when they develop chronic symptoms like fatigue, arthritis, muscle pain or brain fog that drag on for months and months. There can also be other symptoms like intermittent fevers and heachaches and neurological symptoms like strange sensations and/or numbness or tingling anywhere in the body. The good news is that WE do think about Lyme in every patient with these symptoms at Blum Center and do the testing and pick up hidden Lyme or Tick infections all the time.

The name Chronic Lyme has been given to people who have these symptoms for months and sometimes years. Some people have Chronic Lyme and dont know it. And even when they start treatment with antibiotics, they continue suffering with Chronic Lyme because once its been in your body for a long time, its very hard to get rid of it, even with antibiotics.

For Memory Concentration And Focus

Monica explains taking IV Antibiotics for Chronic Lyme Disease

Improving memory is a challenge. In Lyme disease, short-term memory problems and word-retrieval problems are common. These often improve substantially with appropriate antibiotic therapy. Over time, most patients regain their cognitive function.

When memory is a problem, consider that this could be due to a primary problem with attention or with mood. An individual who can’t focus won’t be able to remember because he/she didn’t “attend” to the item in the first place. This happens to all of us when we hear someone’s name at a party if we don’t focus on the name and perhaps make a mental association to the name to enhance memory storage, we will forget that name within minutes. Patients with depression often experience problems with memory and verbal fluency when the depression is resolved, the memory and verbal fluency typically resolve as well.

  • Medications: Attention can be improved with certain medications, such as bupropion , atomoxetine , modafinil , or stimulants . Medications that temporarily slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease or memantine ) have not been studied in Lyme disease.
  • There is some evidence that online brain training programs can enhance concentration or processing speed.
  • Neurofeedback may be helpful in improving attention, as well as in improving sleep and reducing pain. This has been studied for migraines, fibromyalgia, and ADHD.

Read Also: Does Lyme Disease Stay With You Forever

Design And Data Source

The study was a retrospective cohort analysis of medical and pharmacy claims derived from the Truven Health Market Scan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database for calendar years 20132015. The database includes de-identified claims and eligibility information for up to 50 million enrollees each year, covered by commercial health plans and employers located throughout the United States. All diagnoses identified for the present study were based on any of the first 4 diagnosis fields on claims for all settings, plus principal diagnosis and diagnosis-related group codes on inpatient hospital claims .

Azlocillin Comes Out On Top

The drug, which is not on the market, was tested in mouse models of Lyme disease at seven-day, 14-day and 21-day intervals and found to eliminate the infection. For the first time, azlocillin was also shown to be effective in killing drug-tolerant forms of B. burgdorferi in lab dishes, indicating that it may work as a therapy for lingering symptoms of Lyme disease.

Pothineni and Rajadas have patented the compound for the treatment of Lyme disease and are working with a company to develop an oral form of the drug. Researchers plan to conduct a clinical trial.

Rajadas is also a professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences at the University of California-San Francisco.

Other Stanford co-authors are Hari-Hara S. K. Potula, PhD, senior research scientist postdoctoral scholars Aditya Ambati, PhD, and Venkata Mallajosyula, PhD senior research scientist Mohammed Inayathullah, PhD and intern Mohamed Sohail Ahmed.

A researcher at Loyola College in India also contributed to the work.

The study was funded by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation and Laurel STEM Fund.

Read Also: Where Can You Get A Lyme Disease Test

What Is The Treatment For Lyme Disease

The first-line standard of care treatment for adults with Lyme disease is doxycycline, a tetracycline antibiotic. Other antibiotics that have activity against borrelia include the penicillin-like antibiotic, amoxicillin, and the second generation cephalosporin, Ceftin. The mainstay of treatment is with oral antibiotics, but intravenous antibiotics are sometimes indicated for more difficult to treat cases of neurologic-Lyme disease, such as meningitis, and cases of late Lyme arthritis.

Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

Fundraiser for Taunia McDonald by Candy McDonald : HELP Taunia Live ...

Many people with early symptoms of Lyme disease develop a circular rash around the tick bite. The rash:

  • usually develops around 3 to 30 days after you’ve been bitten
  • is often described as looking like a bull’s-eye on a dart board
  • will be red and the edges may feel slightly raised
  • may get bigger over several days or weeks
  • is typically around 15 cm across, but it can be much larger or smaller

Some people may develop several rashes in different parts of their body.

Around 1 in 3 people with Lyme disease won’t develop a rash.

Also Check: Prophylactic Treatment For Lyme Disease

Our Custom Infusion For Lyme Disease

Susan Blum, MD, MPH, our founder and director and author of The Immune System Recovery Plan, developed our targeted Infusion for people with Lyme. We call it our Mito Recovery Infusion. The nutrients in Mito Recovery target all 3 systems that need support in people struggling to recover from Lyme or other Tick Infection: it works deep within the cell to help rebuild the damaged mitochondria includes NAC and glutathione for detoxification support, and zinc, selenium, vitamin C and B vitamins for your immune system. Here are the details:

Bag #1 Mito Recovery

B Complex contains B1, B2, B3, B5, & B6 to help the mitochondria in all your cells function better and make energy. This, of course, includes your immune system cells.

Vitamin C a potent antioxidant, high doses of vitamin C helps your immune system work better and protects the mitochondria from injury

Magnesium an electrolyte that is needed to keep your nervous system and muscles functioning properly & keep your body balanced and relaxed. Can also help provide pain relief and help with sleep. Magnesium can act as an antioxidant in mitochondria improving mitochondrial dysfunction

B12essential for all biochemistry and body functions that involve methylation, including production of red blood cells, DNA synthesis, neurotransmitters, liver detox, and maintaining health of the nervous system. As we age, it is harder to absorb B12 from the gut, another reason to regularly get B12 by infusion.

Early Detection Is Key

Lyme disease is easiest to treat at the early or acute stage, within the first 30 days of exposure. This is why its so important to take precautions to prevent tick bites, both during and outside of tick season. Protect yourself when near potential tick habitats, always perform tick checks after outdoor activity , and dont delay seeking medical attention if you notice any symptoms that might be related to tick-borne illness. Its important to get tested as soon as possible for the best chances of recovery.

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How Effective Are Iv Antibiotics For Lyme Disease

by Lyme Mexico | Oct 7, 2020 | News |

If youve been wondering about how impactful IV antibiotics for Lyme disease is, then youre in the right spot! Lets dive right into the details.

Antibiotics are the first line of defense doctors use when treating Lyme disease in patients. Even if a confirmed diagnosis has not been made, doctors will often prescribe a round of antibiotics. In Lymes early stage, the antibiotic regimens typically include a week or two of doxycycline or amoxicillin.

Antibiotics such as these are antimicrobial substances that fight bacteria that lead to infections, making them perfect for combating Lyme disease and some co-infections. Antibiotics can weaken bacteria and keep it from replicating.

Antimicrobial substances are not all the same, however. Those in the form of antibiotics are used to treat infections in the human body. Disinfectants and antiseptics are also antimicrobial substances, but if ingested, they can be dangerous or fatal. They are used to kill bacteria found on surfaces. Antiseptics are often used on the surface of the human body to prevent infections, especially during surgeries. Disinfectants are used on non-living surfaces like countertops.

Pinpointing the stage of Lyme disease you are in can help your doctor determine the best treatment.

I Took All The Right Meds For Lyme So Why Didn’t I Get Better

Prolonged Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy for Neurologic Lyme Disease – Raphael B. Stricker, MD

In the autumn of 2010, I was a newly minted PhD living in North Carolina and trying to find employment on the elusive tenure track. I juggled my search for a medical sociology position with postdoctoral research, adjunct teaching and a lively social life. My days were full but fulfilling. The first two weeks of November, however, brought leaden fatigue, and I blamed my busy schedule. Seeking respite, I booked an inexpensive silent retreat at a nearby spiritual center.

I lucked into an unusually warm weekend and spent my time strolling well-worn woodland paths and sitting in quiet meditation in a nearby grassy field. Back home after three days, I peeled off my clothes for a shower. Reflected in the bathroom mirror was a rash the shape of a bulls-eye, blooming bright red on my left hip. After dinner I developed a fever that alternately froze and scalded me. My joints turned to piercing shards of glass, and pain stabbed my left temple. My vision blurred and my eyes became so sensitive that I flinched when my husband, Kevin, turned on an overhead light.

A few minutes on Google confirmed that the bulls-eye rash was a clear sign of Lyme disease. I read that antibiotics, administered early, could zap the corkscrew-shaped bacteria and prevent their wreaking long-term havoc on a persons brain, muscles and joints.

Youve been sick for months, he reminded me.

At my first visit, Dr. 2 suggested two months of antibiotics, double my prior dosage.

Good, I said. I guess.

Recommended Reading: Which Ticks Transmit Lyme Disease

Sample Selection And Cohort Identification

Patients were identified for the sample using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes on medical claims Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes for IV medications on medical claims and generic product names for oral antibiotics, obtained by matching National Drug Code numbers on pharmacy claims to the Truven Red Book. The sample was designed a priori to represent patients who were initially treated for Lyme disease using a recommended antibiotic regimen were diagnosed with PLDS 6 months after the initial diagnosis and were, for the PLDS, either treated with IV antibiotics, with or without oral antibiotics , treated with oral antibiotics, without IV antibiotics , or not treated with antibiotics . Combinations of IV and oral treatments were included in cohort 1 to maximize power to detect IV-related adverse effects, especially in patients receiving multiple pharmacotherapies, a concern highlighted in the CDC report .

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