is AB therapy safe for the liver?

[Anonymous]

Hi
I am interested in AB therapy as I have psoriatic arthritis (since '79), Lupus (since '02) and have some issues with my liver.
Since I have Lupus I understand doxy is the antibiotic of choice, not minocin. How safe is doxy for the liver?
Thank you
margo

[Maz]

Hi Margo,

While on AP, doctors usually carry out routine liver function tests with regular bloodwork to check liver enzymes or other possible anomalies. Elevated liver enzymes have sometimes meant that a patient will have to back off their antibiotics until things stabilize again.

You don't mention what type of liver problems you've experienced, but a well-versed AP doctor should be able to tell you whether you'd be a good candidate of not for doxycycline based on your health history and current status. The website below says this (under the heading, “Before Taking Doxycycline”).

http://www.drugs.com/doxycycline.html

“Before taking doxycycline, tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney disease. You may not be able to take doxycycline, or you may need a dose adjustment or special tests during treatment.”

As for the safety of doxycycline, for someone without liver issues, it's tolerated longterm very well in the low doses prescribed for AP. By comparison, AP carries a much lower risk for developing problems or experiencing unwanted side-effects than any of the standard DMARDs and pain meds used to treat rheumatoid diseases.

There are a few Lupus testimonials on both the Road Back website and Rheumatic.org website and some include contact info:

https://www.roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/community.sub/subgroup_id/6.html

http://rheumatic.org/medhist.htm

You might also like to consult with an experienced AP doctor. Dr S in Ida Grove, Iowa, does patient phone consults on certain days/times. If you'd like his contact info, just drop a line to apdoctors@roadback.org and ask specifically for Dr S's contact info and his consult hours. Dr S also does IV Clindamycin treatments for rheumatoid patients, if you're willing to travel, and he will be able to tell you if this might work better for you.

Hope something here helps in your search!

Peace, Maz

[John McDonald]

How safe is doxy for the liver?

Some of us might ask how badly infected is the liver. If your disease is the result of mycoplasma infection as Dr. Brown believed or more generally CWD bacteria as Dr. Marshall believes AND if your liver tissues are also infected then your liver may experience herxheimer symptoms. In that case, accepting these premises, it would be very important to manage your herx to “just tolerable”. The You only have one liver. The corollary would be that you should rid that liver of infection via AP within that tolerable herx as soon as practical if you show signs of liver dysfunction while on AP.

Then again if you believe that you have a self-inflicted auto-immune disease it might be wise to avoid Doxy if it proves to aggravate the liver.

Tricky consideration.     Then again maybe your liver will not object.  -john

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your replies.
Will be contacting the Doc in Mississauga regarding an appt.
Thanks,
Margo

[Author]

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