What Antibiotic Is Best For Lyme Disease

Iv Infusion Therapy For Lyme Disease Treatment

by Lyme Mexico | Jan 11, 2023 | Alternative Treatments |

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection in the bloodstream that originates from deer tick bites. There are numerous treatment methods for Lyme disease that have had much success, but its important to catch and treat it early. IV infusion therapy is a treatment option for Lyme disease that involves administering medications directly into the bloodstream through a vein. This method allows for high doses of medication to be delivered directly to the infected area, which can be especially useful for treating serious infections.

Using Antibiotics To Treat Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is typically treated with antibiotics, although the type of antibiotic used depends on what stage of the disease you have.

After you remove a deer tick that has been attached to you for at least 36 hours the amount of time it takes for the tick to transmit the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi theres a 72-hour window during which your doctor may give you a single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline to prevent the development of Lyme disease.

Doxycycline is prescribed to patients age 8 and older, except for pregnant women. Not everyone in this situation will receive doxycycline the deer tick bite needs to have occurred in a highly endemic area .

If you have localized Lyme disease with the telltale bulls-eye rash, also known as erythema migrans, but no other significant symptoms, your doctor will most likely treat you with oral doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime for 10 to 14 days. If you have early disseminated Lyme disease, which may include the characteristic rash along with cardiac or neurologic symptoms, the treatment duration is lengthened to 14 to 21 days.

But if you have severe neurologic disease, such as meningitis, encephalitis, or nerve issues, or serious cardiac symptoms, your treatment will require taking intravenous ceftriaxone for 14 days.

Late disseminated Lyme disease is also treated with various antibiotics:

For Memory Concentration And Focus

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.

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Macrolide Plus Grapefruit Seed Extract Plus Cryptolepis

• clarithromycin 500 mg 1 pill 2 times a day
• grapefruit seed extract 250 mg 1 pill 2 times a day.
• cryptolepis 5 ml 3 times a day

Key Points:

• Grapefruit seed extract is better tolerated than both tinidazole and metronidazole and supports killing of Lyme cysts.
• Cryptolepis can treat persister and growing Lyme. If a person also has Babesia, cryptolepis can treat this too.

Different Types Of Medication For Lyme Disease

Doctors prescribe different medications for children and adults and for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. You’ll take antibiotics for 10 to 21 days, depending on your doctor’s advice.Medication treatment is more intense if the bacteria show signs of progressing into your central nervous system. This is what happens with time when Lyme disease is left untreated. Instead of taking pills, you’ll be given an antibiotic through a needle. This is called intravenous treatment. The medicine will work faster by going straight into your bloodstream. People are given IV treatment for two to three weeks.

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Is There A Vaccine For Lyme Disease

A vaccine for Lyme disease was once available in the United States, but it is no longer available. The vaccines manufacturer discontinued its production in 2002, citing low sales.

According to a 2011 analysis, there were likely a number of factors leading to the decision to suspend the vaccine. These factors included:

• Class-action lawsuits
• Low public support due to efforts by anti-vaccine groups
• Concerns that the vaccine could cause arthritis
• A difficult vaccination schedule.

The CDC also notes that the vaccine loses effectiveness over time, meaning that youre probably no longer protected against Lyme disease today if you received the vaccine when it was available.

In July 2017, the FDA granted Fast Track designation for another Lyme disease vaccine candidate, VLA15. The FDA designation is intended to facilitate development and expedite review of drugs that treat serious conditions in order to get them to patients faster.

Additional reporting by George Vernadakis.

Chronic Lyme Dos And Donts

Chronic Lyme disease is an ongoing Borrelia burgdorferi infection that can involve any body system or tissue. The infection produces a wide range of symptoms and signs, which can be debilitating for some patients. Common symptoms include severe fatigue, migratory musculoskeletal pain, headaches, and impaired memory. Unfortunately, chronic Lyme disease is complex and often misunderstood, which means that many patients will struggle to obtain the care they need to regain their health. Every patient concerned about Lyme disease and tick-borne illness should know the following.

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Common Conditions Requiring Medication Treatment For Lyme Disease

Lyme disease requires medication treatment. If you don’t take proper medication, your condition can get much worse. It is important to continue seeing your doctor, even if you are feeling better, until your doctor says you are free of the disease. Be sure to share if you are getting new symptoms or have found your symptoms are not improving.

Antibiotic Treatment For Early

The first line of treatment for early Lyme disease is antibiotics. The most commonly prescribed antibiotics include:

• Cefuroxime axetil

These antibiotics are most often administered orally, though intravenous administration is necessary for some patients. Programs are typically 2 weeks long but can be as long as 4 or more weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Infectious Diseases Society of America maintain that most cases of Lyme disease clear up quickly from a short course of antibiotics. However, as you will see later in this article, there is much evidence showing that Lyme that is not detected early can actually be very difficult to treat and that even early treatment can be unsuccessful. The presence of coinfections can also complicate the treatment process, again emphasizing the need for comprehensive testing at a specialty lab.

Finally, as acknowledged by the CDC, some Lyme patients experience ongoing or recurrent symptoms despite having received treatment for Lyme. These patients are said to have Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome . Is this caused by untreated coinfections, persistence of Bb , permanent damage, or an as-yet unidentified immune system problem? The jury is still out, but all may be possible.

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Awareness Of Lyme Disease

1.1.1 Be aware that:

• the bacteria that cause Lyme disease are transmitted by the bite of an infected tick

• ticks are mainly found in grassy and wooded areas, including urban gardens and parks

• tick bites may not always be noticed

• infected ticks are found throughout the UK and Ireland, and although some areas appear to have a higher prevalence of infected ticks, prevalence data are incomplete

• particularly high-risk areas are the South of England and Scottish Highlands but infection can occur in many areas

• Lyme disease may be more prevalent in parts of central, eastern and northern Europe and parts of Asia, the US and Canada.

1.1.2 Be aware that most tick bites do not transmit Lyme disease and that prompt, correct removal of the tick reduces the risk of transmission.

1.1.3 Give people advice about:

• where ticks are commonly found

• the importance of prompt, correct tick removal and how to do this

• covering exposed skin and using insect repellents that protect against ticks

• how to check themselves and their children for ticks on the skin

• sources of information on Lyme disease, such as Public Health England’s resources and guidance on Lyme disease and organisations providing information and support, such as patient charities.

For a short explanation of why the committee made the recommendations and how they might affect practice, see the rationale and impact section on awareness of Lyme disease.

Protocols For Iv Therapy

You must work with a doctor who specializes in treating Lyme disease with IV antibiotic therapies. They are the doctors with the proper equipment and alternative treatments available in their office.

Lyme literate doctors will create a protocol of therapy individualized to ease your specific symptoms. The protocols will include both antibiotic and alternative regimens.

The antibiotic treatment will include antimicrobial substances that fight against infections, viruses, parasites, yeast, and fungi. They can go anywhere in the body to fight, even cells and cell membranes.

Therapy Silver given intravenously compliment IV antibiotic treatments. Silver has been used for centuries in treating ailments. Lyme disease has been shown to prevent bacteria from replicating. It can also bind to hard to flush out viruses. Once it locks on, the virus is easily eliminated.

Vitamins given through IV are a therapy finding great popularity with people with Lyme disease and anyone else who feels depleted or who is struggling with some ailment. Vitamin C Mega Dose is one example that helps your own bodys immune system gets boosted so that it can participate in the elimination of Lyme.

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What To Try If You Have Failed Years Of Antibiotics

In my practice for those that have failed years of regular antibiotics I offer two persister oriented regimes. Both of these regimens have some published clinical evidence of benefit. One regimen I offer is a Horowitz dapsone persister regimen. The other option I offer is a disulfiram only regimen or a disulfiram combination regimen . You can read more details about how to take both of these regimens in

• Dapsone for Lyme Persisters. A Miracle Antibiotic?

What Are The Side Effects Of Lyme Disease Treatments

Antibiotics, like all medications, have the potential for side effects. Any antibiotic can cause skin rashes, and if an itchy red rash develops while on antibiotics, a patient should see their physician. Sometimes symptoms worsen for the first few days on an antibiotic. This is called a Herxheimer reaction and occurs when the antibiotics start to kill the bacteria. In the first 24 to 48 hours, dead bacterial products stimulate the immune system to release inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that can cause increased fever and achiness. This should be transient and last no more than a day or two after the initiation of antibiotics.

The most common side effect of the penicillin antibiotics is diarrhea, and occasionally even serious cases caused by the bacteria Clostridium difficile. This bacterial overgrowth condition occurs because antibiotics kill the good bacteria in our gut. It can be helpful to use probiotics to restore the good bacteria and microbiome balance.

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When Is It Too Late To Treat Lyme Disease

If Lyme disease isnt treated in its early stages with some form of antibiotic treatment, chronic Lyme disease may develop. In later stages of Lyme disease, a healthcare provider may choose to try intravenous antibiotics in an attempt to calm symptoms down. Some natural or home remedies may help chronic symptoms of pain.

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.

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Iv Antibiotic Regimen: Cephalosporin Plus Azole Plus Liposomal Cinnamon Clove And Oregano

• ceftriaxone 2 gm IV 2 times a day for 4 days on and 3 days off
• tinidazole 500 mg taken orally 1 pill 2-3 times a day for 4 days on and 3 days off in 7-day cycles
• liposomal cinnamon, clove, and oregano capsules 1 pill 2 times a day

Key Points:

• Various antibiotics can be used as IV. I use this one most commonly because it is the easiest to administer and one of the lowest cost IV regimens. The ceftriaxone is given in a syringe and injected over 10 minutes. This is also a pulse dose regimen . Ceftriaxone could be given daily instead as 2 gm IV 1 time a day.
• I have found various pulse dose regimens of tinidazole to work. These include 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off or in the regimen seen here.

Tetracycline Plus Rifamycin Plus Disulfiram

• minocycline 100 mg 1 pill 2 times a day
• rifampin 300 mg 2 pills 1 time a day
• disulfiram 4 to 5 mg/ kg body weight. Work up to this dose slowly over 2 months then remain on the disulfiram at the peak dose for 4 months before tapering off.

Key Points:

• This minocycine and rifampin in this combination are as useful for treating a Bartonella co-infection. Co-infections are other germs passed on during a tick bite. If someone has a co-infection, when possible I choose antibiotic combinations that simultaneously treat Lyme germs and the co-infection germs.
• The disulfiram is added here to treat persister Lyme. Note disulfiram does not appear to treat Bartonella.

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Postlyme Disease Symptoms And Syndrome

The outcome of treatment in most patients with erythema migrans is excellent. Studies show, however, that when questioned at 6 months or more aftertreatment of erythema migrans, approximately 10% of patients will report purely subjective symptoms such as fatigue or musculoskeletal pains.17 These subjective symptoms are typically mild and may wax and wane in intensity. Patients who have them are referred to as having postLyme disease symptoms or syndrome, depending on the symptom duration and severity. The cause of these symptoms is currently unknown. Carefully done microbiologic evaluations in the United States have failed to find evidence of either persistentB. burgdorferi infection or a coinfection with a secondIxodes-transmitted pathogen. In patients with persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease, longer-term antibiotic treatment has been shown to have no additional beneficial effects on health-related quality of life beyond those with shorter-term treatment.A4 Furthermore, retreatment has provided either no measurable benefit or a benefit so modest or ambiguous that it was outweighed by the risks associated with the antibiotic therapy.17b Therefore, symptomatic treatment is recommended for such patients.

Stage : Early Localized Disease

Symptoms of Lyme disease usually start 1 to 2 weeks after the tick bite. One of the earliest signs of the disease is a bulls-eye rash.

The rash occurs at the site of the tick bite, usually, but not always, as a central red spot surrounded by a clear spot with an area of redness at the edge. It may be warm to the touch, but it isnt painful and doesnt itch. This rash will gradually fade in most people.

The formal name for this rash is erythema migrans. Erythema migrans is said to be characteristic of Lyme disease. However, many people dont have this symptom.

Some people have a rash thats solid red, while people with dark complexions may have a rash that resembles a bruise.

The rash can occur with or without systemic viral or flu-like symptoms.

Other symptoms commonly seen in this stage of Lyme disease include:

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Several Antibiotics Appear Effective Against Early

This is a plain English summary of an original research article

Most cases of Lyme disease, which is an infection carried by ticks, can be easily managed if treated early using antibiotics, with choice of antibiotic agent having little bearing on success.

This network meta-analysis suggests that when symptoms of the disease are confined to a localised skin infection, treatment failures are relatively infrequent, only 2% at 12 months. Effective antibiotics include penicillin V, doxycycline, azithromycin, cefuroxime, amoxicillin and ceftriaxone plus doxycycline.

The research has significant limitations, but choice, dose and duration of antibiotics appear to have little impact on outcomes. This research does not suggest that guidelines need to be reviewed.

For Depression And Anxiety

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 .

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