Stopping medication

[chrysalis]

Hi just posted in personal threads about ceasing medication as an experiment. So far this lab rat is doing okay. Thought it would be encouraging.

[lynnie_sydney]

Chrysalis – read your update and it’s really good to hear that things have improved for you.
A couple of things to consider: it is unlikely that any discernible difference in labs will be found after a month. In the historical protocol, Brown used to say that medication could be stopped for up to 4 weeks with no negative impact on gains already realised – this was generally for people who needed to stop e.g. to have an operation. So, it may be a lot longer than a month before anything noticeably changes.
Are you planning to stop the medication altogether? It seems from your update that you still have symptoms and your bloodwork has not normalised, even though it’s better. It is worth considering that it is sometimes difficult to replicate improvements if medication is stopped for a considerable length of time then re-started. I’m wondering what it is that may have caused you to resent taking the medication? Was the herxing too much? Perhaps it may be worth considering taking a break and then dropping back to a pulsed MWF regime – and, if it were me, I’d have just a week or two as a washout period before re-starting.

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[PhilC]

Generally speaking, one should not discontinue antibiotic therapy unless one has no reaction to the antibiotics, and even then it is (initially) only for a temporary break.* If you are still having Herxheimer or “die-off” reactions to antibiotics, it is definitely premature to discontinue antibiotic therapy, since those reactions are evidence that you are still infected.

Phil

* Based on the well-designed Stratton and Wheldon protocols which can be found at cpnhelp.org.

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

[chrysalis]

Hi thank you both for the reality check. I know I am feeling overly optimistic at present and I do not have my book to refer to as I lent it to a fellow sufferer. I got fed up after reacting to the clyndomicine and having to deal with a whole new set of problems so going off every thing for a month seemed like a present. What I have gained is a feeling of well being that has been a long time absent and my thoughts were to go back to a 3 times a week regime instead of the full time. I am working with a specialist so am guided by him and my own feelings and reactions to stress in my life and hopefully working my way through the maze of being not well.

[lynnie_sydney]

Chrysalis – I assume by ‘working with a specialist’ you mean with a rheumatologist? If yes, that could be why you were rxd a starting dose of 100mg daily – which is a very big starting dose for an RA patient and most especially on top of the Clindamycin. Rheumies generally dont adhere to infectious origin, will then rx mino as a DMARD and tend to rx it according to abx for acute infections – high dose daily. All of this can lead to massive (and sometimes intolerable) herxing. Looking at where you live, I may not be on the right track but I’m wondering whether this might be the same rheumie who treats two of our Forum Members who also live in Western Australia? If yes, then these two have SD and SDers often (not always but often) do well on a daily protocol and from hitting things hard with clindy, especially if they do not have much in the way of an inflammatory component to their disease. It is not tolerated in the same way by RA patients, who will often find that daily dosing is way too much for them in terms of inflammatory response. Just thought that worth mentioning as this is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

If you believe that it was primarily the clindy that caused the really big herx symptoms, I’d also talk to him about wanting to reduce this to something like one week on/one week off and see how you go. If it were me, I’d look at trying to partner with him in my choice of treatment. The aim of this approach to treatment is to kill pathogens – not the patient!

Fianlly, you may find this article on our main site (with info taken from a lecture by Dr Brown himself) an interesting one. It explains the benefits of intermittent therapy versus daily, what can happen in terms of oxidation with daily dosing and also covers the often useful combination of clindy and mino (tetracycline derivative)

https://www.roadback.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/education.display/display_id/122.html

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

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