Mepron or Malarone for babesia?

[sianrecovery]

Does anyone have any useful experience to share on this topic? My LLMD wants to start my treatment by hitting the babs before the borrelia, and recommends a regime of mepron 750 mg per 5 mil suspension, 2 tsp daily, plus azithromycin 500 mg once daily. She is in the US, I am in the UK. It's way easier and cheaper for me to access Malarone.

Anyone?

 

[duncan]

sianrecovery, if you haven't already, you may wish to consider posting your question over on LymeNet Flash. They talk a lot about treatments there, and they are TBD-specific.
Be careful accepting treatment advice, though, as you don't know the source necessarily. That's true for any forum, as I'm sure you know.

Hopefully someone here can provide an answer.

 

[sianrecovery]

Thanks Duncan, will give it a try x

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

I don't think anyone here should be advising on drugs like this to be honest. Malarone is what sent my wife insane. That is rare but I would not touch it with a barge pole.

 

[sianrecovery]

I am so sorry to hear that. What a dreadful thing to impact on your lives. I was listening to a radio 4 program yesterday on the impact of Lariam on the mental health of British soldiers. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Ema]

I've taken them both.

I think if it's easier to get Malarone, I would start there if your doctor is agreeable. Many good LLMDs think it is very effective in treating babs. You can always move on to Mepron if you don't get the desired results.

Also, I would discuss adding artemisinin as well. I pulsed this along with the other meds as it loses effectiveness apparently if you take it for too many days in a row.

 

[Dufresne]

I've read that a good number of LLMD's are going straight to Malarone in hopes of delaying or preventing resistance to atovaquone/Mepron. I've also read that many believe the standard doses of Mepron and Zith are inadequate, including Drs. Horowitz and Burrascano.

Generic Malarone is the cheapest way to go for those in Europe. There's a pharmacy in England that sells it for one pound per tablet.

You might want to consider adding some herbs too, as Ema suggests.

 

[momoftres]

You will be hitting the Borrelia with the Zithromax. It may not get completely rid of the Lyme, but it will help while you are treating the Babs.

I think starting with Mepron is fine. It's a much higher dose of atovaquone than you would be getting with the malarone, unless you take 6 Malarone per day, which I've heard of only 1 person doing. When (if) you plateau on the Mepron, Malarone can be used because it has an additional anti-protozoal in it.

Do consider combining it with herbs like Artemisinin (pulsed 3 or 4 days on/ 3 or 4 days off), Elecampane or Enula, etc.

Personally, my LLMD started me on Malarone. I'm with a new LLMD now and, after nearly 6 months off Malarone, he has just told me to start Mepron (3 weeks on/1 week off).

Bottom line, all people respond differently, so, imo it doesn't matter which one you start with because you don't know ahead of time which one will be the most beneficial.

If it's less expensive or easier to get one over the other, I'd make a case with your doctor if you feel that strongly.

Good luck!

 

[sianrecovery]

Thanks guys. Am doing my due diligence. And If I thought ME was beset by a snakepit of territoriality, denial, pyscho-babble and hideous health politics, I think the Lyme field may beat it.

Thanks Duncan for the Lyme net tip - began reading James Schaller's books on babs and on testing and current protocols as a result. Found them very interesting. There's a load of free e books on his website, alongside some clearly eccentric material, but god, if you want thousands of research references to follow up, it really is the place to look. He is dismissive of the rigidity of many current approaches which he sees as not individualised enough and not keeping up with the pathetically small amount of research going into illuminating these nasty and potentially fatal infections.
Babesia Bartonella, Lyme Disease, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia ...
www.personalconsult.com/