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Is Azithromicin worth it?

jess100

Senior Member
Messages
149
Hi all

I've been prescribed Azithromicin for Babesia and Anaplasmosis, but have not yet started the meds. I plan to start next week. My question is, has anyone's health declined from taking Azithromicin for Babesia? Are there any negatives to taking it?
I don't feel too bad at this point in my life and don't want to risk taking something that brings me back to where I was. I'm currently awake all day (using Mate' tea-and a lot of it) and sleep during the night (using natural sleep aids). I'm on Famciclovir for EBV (and I assume that treats CMV too) and I'm treating the SIBO with herbals (I should know at the end of this month if I've been successful) The next steps are the Babesia/Anaplasmosis and then follow up with SIBO meds if needed.

The "highlights" of my diagnosis were:
EBV and CMV very high. Herpes 1 positive
Babesia, Anaplasmosis (and possible Bartonella -still being tested)
SIBO
Low Killer Cells
thyroid stuff
MTFR mutation (taking Methly folate and Methyl B12)
Low Vit D

Thanks to everyone and I don't know what I would do without this forum
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
Hi all

I've been prescribed Azithromicin for Babesia and Anaplasmosis, but have not yet started the meds. I plan to start next week. My question is, has anyone's health declined from taking Azithromicin for Babesia? Are there any negatives to taking it?
I don't feel too bad at this point in my life and don't want to risk taking something that brings me back to where I was. I'm currently awake all day (using Mate' tea-and a lot of it) and sleep during the night (using natural sleep aids). I'm on Famciclovir for EBV (and I assume that treats CMV too) and I'm treating the SIBO with herbals (I should know at the end of this month if I've been successful) The next steps are the Babesia/Anaplasmosis and then follow up with SIBO meds if needed.

The "highlights" of my diagnosis were:
EBV and CMV very high. Herpes 1 positive
Babesia, Anaplasmosis (and possible Bartonella -still being tested)
SIBO
Low Killer Cells
thyroid stuff
MTFR mutation (taking Methly folate and Methyl B12)
Low Vit D

Thanks to everyone and I don't know what I would do without this forum
Azithromycin is rarely prescribed by itself for babesia. I don't think I would take it without an anti-malarial drug myself.

Much more commonly prescribed antibiotics are Mepron, Malarone or the herbal artemisinin/artesunate.

I've used a lot of azith in my Lyme and co treatment and never had issues with it but I've also never taken it as a stand alone treatment.
 

jess100

Senior Member
Messages
149
Azithromycin is rarely prescribed by itself for babesia. I don't think I would take it without an anti-malarial drug myself.

Much more commonly prescribed antibiotics are Mepron, Malarone or the herbal artemisinin/artesunate.

I've used a lot of azith in my Lyme and co treatment and never had issues with it but I've also never taken it as a stand alone treatment.
thanks for the information....Mepron sounds familiar. Maybe I need to check my list and see if that's there too.
 

Dufresne

almost there...
Messages
1,039
Location
Laurentians, Quebec
I too don't think azithromycin is going to do much against babesia on its own.

I've some azithromycin in my medicine box but haven't yet tried it. To be honest I'm somewhat spooked by the drug. I've read too many accounts of it causing hearing damage and tinnitus.
 
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jess100

Senior Member
Messages
149
I didn't find anything online about hearing damage. However it does cause cardiac related death. Not sure I want to take it..
 

jess100

Senior Member
Messages
149
Just checked-I do in fact have the Mepron here to go along with the Azithro. I just saw on the Coumbia site that a smear is needed to confirm Babesia since antibodies can remain high long after. I think i will ask for a smear!

If babesiosis is suspected, microscopic examination of blood smears should be pursued. Giemsa or Wright stains are typically used. In early illness, the infection rate of erythrocytes can be less than 1%, so multiple smears over a period of days may be needed to confirm the diagnosis. Babesial DNA can also be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in cases where smears are negative but the diagnosis is still suspected.

Immunofluorescence (IFA) of IgM and IgG antibodies is sometimes employed to confirm a babesiosis diagnosis. However, antibodies to Babesia organisms can remain high for months or years after clinical resolution of illness, so the test is not a reliable indicator of active infection.
 

Dufresne

almost there...
Messages
1,039
Location
Laurentians, Quebec
Just checked-I do in fact have the Mepron here to go along with the Azithro. I just saw on the Coumbia site that a smear is needed to confirm Babesia since antibodies can remain high long after. I think i will ask for a smear!

If babesiosis is suspected, microscopic examination of blood smears should be pursued. Giemsa or Wright stains are typically used. In early illness, the infection rate of erythrocytes can be less than 1%, so multiple smears over a period of days may be needed to confirm the diagnosis. Babesial DNA can also be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in cases where smears are negative but the diagnosis is still suspected.

Immunofluorescence (IFA) of IgM and IgG antibodies is sometimes employed to confirm a babesiosis diagnosis. However, antibodies to Babesia organisms can remain high for months or years after clinical resolution of illness, so the test is not a reliable indicator of active infection.

Yes, that's IDSA spiel. They'll also tell you that only acute babesiosis causes disease.

Giemsa smears tend to miss chronic cases that are not right in the technician's face.

I'm not sure what they say about the antibodies is true; they say the same thing about the western blot for borrelia and I think that's bullshit.

A FISH test is solid. I got mine done at Igenex.

If you google tinnitus or ototoxicity and azithromycin you'll find plenty.
 

jess100

Senior Member
Messages
149
Yes, that's IDSA spiel. They'll also tell you that only acute babesiosis causes disease.

Giemsa smears tend to miss chronic cases that are not right in the technician's face.

I'm not sure what they say about the antibodies is true; they say the same thing about the western blot for borrelia and I think that's bullshit.

A FISH test is solid. I got mine done at Igenex.

I saw on PR that it has helped a lot of people, but it's also made some people wors

If you google tinnitus or ototoxicity and azithromycin you'll find plenty.
 

Dufresne

almost there...
Messages
1,039
Location
Laurentians, Quebec
Can you explain why the smear would not catch the babesia?

You misquoted me above. I never wrote, "I saw on PR that it has helped a lot of people, but it's also made some people wors"

Horowitz writes the following on his FB page:

Standard tests for Babesia are not reliable (such as the Giemsa stain, IFA's, and PCR's), and testing only for one strain of Babesia, may miss other strains.

Schaller writes:

Almost all direct testing is 95% inaccurate with the exception of IGeneX, which detects Babesia approximately 25% of the time if you perform full testing of Babesia microti and Babesia duncani antibodies, PCRs and a FISH test. This 25% percent is approximate and comes from eleven years of our own patients and our consult patients, who were tracked very closely on Babesia infections. Initial testing by over 100 physicians and our repeat testing yielded this percent in the absence of meaningful new exposures. Also, Babesia is routinely missed in slides by specialty laboratories.


What I hear is technicians often miss lower concentrations (<2%) of parasitic infection in smears.
 

jess100

Senior Member
Messages
149
Thanks for your response. Very interesting that testing misses the majority of cases. Which also means many people are still sick and assuming it's not Babesia (or fill in the blank) and continuing to look for answers.

I don't think that was a quote of yours. I think that's what I wrote after reading the thread. :)
 

Dufresne

almost there...
Messages
1,039
Location
Laurentians, Quebec
If someone has what looks like a TBD, a positive test is ideal. Of course it costs a good thousand dollars for Lyme and co-infections and you still can't rule anything out. I guess I'm lucky in that I came back positive for borrelia and babesia.

I also like the idea of taking various treatments targeting certain types of bacteria and parasites to see what happens. This can be really informative. I notice things whenever I take babesia herbs and drugs. I know some practitioners use specific herbs to determine which infections someone might have, though it should be noted this can be somewhat misleading. I was curious about the Byron White formula for babesia, A-BAB, to see if it was any good, so I picked up an overpriced ounce. It didn't do anything discernible against the babesia, but it did cause a borrelia herx. Go figure. I know they say the formulas also target the other TBD's. Still, $90 an ounce: no thanks.

A diagnostic tool, as far as I'm concerned, that won't work for everybody, is taking homeopathic nosodes of the pathogens. I've found taking a 30-60-90X nosode for both babesia and borrelia produced huge effects. I was virtually symptom-free for a couple days after the babesia. And I felt just about my worst herx following the borrelia. Unfortunately they have not stood up as adequate treatments for me. But this experiment cost me less than $40 and I confirmed two infections. Even better it suggested that if I eradicate the babesia I'm probably going to do very well.

I also ruled out bartonella this way. Although I tested negative at Igenex, some energy practitioner waved a wand at me (I hate the wand) and said I had it. So I tried a few bartonella meds and took a bartonella nosode and felt nothing. As a result I'm pretty sure I don't have bartonella.
 
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