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Would I tolerate antibiotics?

outdamnspot

Senior Member
Messages
924
I've mentioned in Elph's threads that I have a gut dysbiosis that was picked up via Bioscreen testing (primarily a Strep and Prevotella overgrowth), with very low levels of good bacteria.

The onset of my illness was rapid and has progressively become rather disabling over the course of a year.

The biggest two problems are:

1. Severe psychiatric symptoms -- I have a long history of debilitating OCD, PTSD, depression. But this isn't like anything I've really experienced before: just 24/7 of the blackest depression, emotional emptiness, nervousness, agitation, aggression, confusion, suicidal ideation etc, I've read that some of these symptoms can be connected to dysbiosis and H2S-producing bacteria, though my doctor also thinks I have Bartonella, which can cause neuropsychiatric issues.

2. Frequent crashes from pretty much every supplement I try. If I don't take anything and just stick to my Keto diet + 1-2 cups of coffee, I am not well per se, but it's a familiar bad place that I can deal with. Right now, I am trying to work on methylation, but it's just extremely difficult to have the patience, especially coupled with problem #1. I overreact to things, don't really know what I'm doing, feel even worse (physically, mentally) from the crashes, get confused etc. And then because of the crashes, I get scared to experiment and don't get anywhere.

I've tried numerous methods to stabilize my adrenals so I can tolerate treatments -- HC, adrenal extracts, herbs, Earthing device etc. -- but nothing helped.

I am wondering if I may be better off asking my doctor to try an antibiotic like Rifaximin to see if clearing the gut infection might allow me to make more progress.

I have read several articles from practitioners who say that you can't really attend to methylation or anything else until the gut is treated; and also a comment from someone (Rich maybe?) who said that if methylation produces an intolerable detox reaction, then you need to try and deal with any primary infections first.

If I am in a very compromised, 'adrenal-crashed' state, is it possible that I won't be able to tolerate antibiotics? That is the reason my CFS doctor didn't want to prescribe them. But I also think that if I have to spend weeks on end titrating up B-vitamins, I probably won't survive too much longer. I don't expect an instant fix by any means, but I also feel like I can improve from being in constant hell 24/7.
 

dadouv47

Senior Member
Messages
745
Location
Belgium
I can't give you an accurate answer because it really depends on every case, but I have a lot of psychiatric symptoms (not as severe as yours) and I can't tolerate 99% of supplements I tried.

I was pretty scared to take antibiotics but in the end I tolerated rifaximin VERY well ( can't tell if it will make any good in the long term, but I tolerated it very well).

Again, I can't tell it's going to be the same for you. I know people who didn't tolerate it well, and some who did. But for the most part I think it's one of the antibiotics that people suffering from CFS support the best.

Hope it helped a bit ;)
Regards
David