question for those on combination abx

[frhorngal]

Hi All,

For those of you using a combination of abx to get well, what literature are you presenting to your doctor? I'm hoping to pulse in zithromycin with my mino, but my doctor has never heard of this treatment. My LLMD said it's counterproductive because they do the same thing…however, I had different levels of success on each of the 2 abx. Perhaps together, they would work synergistically?

Thanks

RA/Lyme: 100mg Minocin (brand) MWF, 3mg LDN, 10mg CBD- BID

[Maz]

[user=414]frhorngal[/user] wrote:

For those of you using a combination of abx to get well, what literature are you presenting to your doctor? I'm hoping to pulse in zithromycin with my mino, but my doctor has never heard of this treatment. My LLMD said it's counterproductive because they do the same thing…however, I had different levels of success on each of the 2 abx. Perhaps together, they would work synergistically?

Hi Frhorngal,

I used mino and zith together and it was a great combination for me! 🙂 My LLMD didn't need convincing and felt it would also be effective and the two would work synergistically, because azithromycin, being a macrolide antibiotic, has very broad spectrum properties (both bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal), unlike the tetras which are only bacteriostatic. This gave the protocol a boost, because the zith hit both cell-walled and cell-wall-less forms of borreliosis. So, the two antibiotics really aren't the same thing and complement one another. Perhaps you could present this reasoning to your LLMD and he will agree? In fact, tetracyclines and macrolides are often combined in this way by LLMDs to help avoid resistance.

Hope this helps, Frhorngal? I made excellent progress on this duo and hope you do, too.

Peace, Maz

[PhilC]

Hi frhorngal,

This web page explains the mechanisms of action of the macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin, azithromycin, etc.) and the tetracyclines (tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline, etc.): http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/654antibiotic.html

The macrolide antibiotics and the tetracyclines both work by inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis, but they do it in different ways. So I think your reasoning is correct; the combination of azithromycin and minocycline might be synergistic. Lately I've been thinking about trying a similar combination: doxycycline and clarithromycin (or azithromycin).

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[frhorngal]

Thank you both for your quick responses! Maz, when you were taking both mino and zith, what was your dose? Was in mino MWF and zith TThu or was it even lower? Phil, thanks for the website! Also, what dosing regimen were you thinking of trying?

RA/Lyme: 100mg Minocin (brand) MWF, 3mg LDN, 10mg CBD- BID

[mkbeeliever]

[user=414]frhorngal[/user] wrote:

Hi All,

For those of you using a combination of abx to get well, what literature are you presenting to your doctor? I'm hoping to pulse in zithromycin with my mino, but my doctor has never heard of this treatment. My LLMD said it's counterproductive because they do the same thing…however, I had different levels of success on each of the 2 abx. Perhaps together, they would work synergistically?

Thanks

Hello frhorngal,
My mom is on Mino and Zith.  She takes Zith on Thursdays only 2 x a day.  Her dose is at the bottom of my signature line.  She's doing well with it!  I consulted with Dr. S. in Iowa and just told mom's dr. that we wanted to add Zith.  No literature needed, just Dr. S's guidance.

Blessings,
Michelle

[Maz]

[user=414]frhorngal[/user] wrote:

Thank you both for your quick responses! Maz, when you were taking both mino and zith, what was your dose? Was in mino MWF and zith TThu or was it even lower? Phil, thanks for the website! Also, what dosing regimen were you thinking of trying?

Hi Frhhorngal,

Trying to remember (a 50 thing!)…it's in my sig line under my Progress Thread. 😉 I had already done a year of heavy Lyme protocols and in my second year reverted to low dose combination AP. So, if memory serves, it was mino 100mg BID MWF and Zith 250mg every 10 days to start and then increased to once a week and then 250mg T & Th (weekends off). Lyme protocols tend to be a bit heavier….sometimes twice a day. Really depends what stage you're at and if you've hit all your coinfections and ready to be on a maintenance low dose. For me, I remember zith being quite a heavy-hitter and I started on 250mg BID Tues and Thurs, but it was way too much and I was herxing too much, so backed right down to the once every 10 days to gradually increase.

Hope that helps and doesn't confuse the issue further for you!!! :blush:

Peace, Maz

[frhorngal]

Nope, not confusing at all! I'm waffling right now between adding zithromycin or diflucan…I'm currently on nystatin and while it is helping, I don't know if it's strong enough to wipe out the systemic yeast that seems to be clouding things for me.

Seems like we have to constantly tweak our combinations and doses of antibiotics to serve our individual needs. I was only MWF at first with the mino, but went up to 100mg daily since I didn't see any signs of herxing (I was on a very heavy dose of doxy/flagyl) about 6 months ago… may back down, but I am tolerating the 100mg pretty well. If I can add the zith into the mix, it will definitely be a pulse regimen.

RA/Lyme: 100mg Minocin (brand) MWF, 3mg LDN, 10mg CBD- BID

[Maz]

[user=414]frhorngal[/user] wrote:

Nope, not confusing at all! I'm waffling right now between adding zithromycin or diflucan…I'm currently on nystatin and while it is helping, I don't know if it's strong enough to wipe out the systemic yeast that seems to be clouding things for me.

Seems like we have to constantly tweak our combinations and doses of antibiotics to serve our individual needs. I was only MWF at first with the mino, but went up to 100mg daily since I didn't see any signs of herxing (I was on a very heavy dose of doxy/flagyl) about 6 months ago… may back down, but I am tolerating the 100mg pretty well. If I can add the zith into the mix, it will definitely be a pulse regimen.

Yea, if candida is an issue, doing the Shardt Protocol for a few months (Diflucan 100mg twice a day) wouldn't be a bad idea with your low dose mino. Always a good idea to add additional things in one at a time, anyway, and, after you have done Shardt for a few months, you could dump that and go on the zith. I don't think I'd take both at the same time, as Diflucan is hard on liver (need to get LFTs run every month) and zith can also add to this woe in that combination.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15337633

Let us know what you work out with your doc, Frnhorngal, and hope whatever you decide works out in your favor and you get some nice, quick results.

Peace, Maz

[Author]

Posts