Would strong antibiotics relieve CFS or M.E symptoms?

[htrj]

Very interesting and I will investigate KDM and other Doctors further.

Next month I have to see a consultant at my hospital about an issue that may or may not be linked to my condition. Given the NHS' poor reputation for dealing with the type of conditions we have discussed here do you think I would be better to wait until I have been to that consultation or should I find someone who can investigate this aside from that appointment?

 

[msf]

I would start looking for/researching doctors now, so you have something to fall back on.

 

[melamine]

...I would second what others said - you need to find out if you have an infection, and if you do, what kind of infection it is.

@htrj -I experienced a remarkable improvement one time within a day of starting an antibiotic - probably amoxicillin, but I've taken it before and since then and have experienced no such effect. I do not have Lyme or any of its co-infections. It's a mystery to me why I felt so much better (for only about 4 days) the one time and no others. Dr Edwards mentioned a possible reason earlier in this thread for why this might happen.

I have three known chronic viral infections, a chronic upper respiratory infection that is apparently not bacterial, and chronic Candida albicans last time it was checked. Most doctors will not or cannot treat chronic viral infections, and many will not even diagnose certain kinds, which is why KDM was recommended to you.

If you're willing and financially able to travel and pay for prolonged treatment, seeing him or a similar specialist is something to consider. Of those being treated with antivirals/antibiotics, success is generally incomplete or problematic, from my perspective. Some find it well worth the cost and effort, however. It's something you really need to investigate IMO before running off with high hopes in that direction and before investigating other potential sources of your symptoms, which can sometimes be better addressed without doctors, for the most part, especially if approached systemically and early enough.

 

[msf]

Yeah, I don't think we are contradicting each other, I said that it is up to the patient to decide whether the benefits outweigh the costs. I concentrated on bacterial infections because htrj seemed to respond to antibiotics, which doesn't mean that it has to be a bacterial infection but doesn't rule it out either.

 

[htrj]

Thankyou all for your suggestions and advice. I have contacted KDM to see how long it would take to get an appointment with him and to "get the ball rolling" but now, having read more about the condition I have to see the hospital about next month, I am convinced my fatigue and that condition are linked and are actually causing me to suffer from prostatitis and therefore severe fatigue. Today I am far from 100% health but I am much better than yesterday so perhaps the antibiotics are still working and actually i'm just run down.

 

[melamine]

Today I am far from 100% health but I am much better than yesterday so perhaps the antibiotics are still working and actually i'm just run down.

@htrj I would suggest that it's not the antibiotics still working but your own good bacteria replenishing themselves. Different bacteria have different effects and problems can develop when the bad outnumber the good, and to a much lesser degree, even if the good ones become unbalanced.

One obvious strategy is to take a high dose probiotic. Start now, as your gut will already have changed from your previous doses, and take it indefinitely -- or until your situation has resolved.

I agree with what @dan062 suggested early in this thread and would add that assisting the replenishing of your good gut bugs with the use of resistant starch and a variety of other prebiotics in addition to a variety of probiotics is something else you might want to consider. http://www.gestaltreality.com/2014/02/27/resistant-starch-a-concise-guide/

 

[htrj]

Do probiotics work with antibiotics? Please forgive my ignorance but I assumed the antibiotics, particularly Ciprofloxacin, would kill all the good bacteria in the probiotics. I should stress that that is nothing more than my assumption and has no basis in fact.

 

[melamine]

Do probiotics work with antibiotics?

It's recommended that probiotics be used between doses of antibiotic (about 1-2 hours after antibiotic should work) as well as following. It's often recommended to take probiotics 20 minutes to a half hour before food for best effect. The ones I take between abx doses are the cheaper ones in lower doses than I take once I finish. Or I continue taking them more often or in multiples after finishing with abx. I usually take 3-4 different kinds with different varieties or amounts of certain strains at that time.

Cipro can have other unintended health consequences besides killing off good bacteria. It could be you are a strong reactor, although my impression of those who have had the most problem with it is that they developed hallmark tendonitis. Be sure to thoroughly read all prescribing information and side effects of medicines you're taking. If you think you're experiencing any classic side effects, google them and see what other peoples' experiences have been. I've read a number of accounts of people who developed lasting problems after using Cipro (fluoroquinolones), in particular.

 

[htrj]

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I thought I would add to this thread just help keep a diary of what I have been experiencing.

Since March my Doctor has prescribed a 1 week course of Ciprofloxacin followed by indefinite course of Trimethoprim. This kept me in apparently normal health while I was waiting for an operation to dilate a stricture which we thought was preventing me from draining my bladder properly and therefore causing the infection and the fatigue symptoms I was suffering.

I had the operation two weeks ago yesterday but today I have started to become inexplicably tired and my whole body and head aches.

 

[LHG]

Please forgive me if I throw too much unsolicited info at you all. Some of you may know my husband's story at this point. My husband was diagnosed with CFS from the NHS. He lived with the CFS diagnosis and received no help except for pain and sleep for one year until I asked for a 2nd Lyme test. Our GP agreed and the rest is history. My husband improved remarkably on a 3 week course of abx Ceftriaxone. And once this course was complete, he relapsed within 3 days. Google several recent articles if you wish. 1. The Times (Scotland): Man Suffering from Lyme Disease told to see a psychologist. 2. The Courier (Perth Edition): MSPs call for answer on man's plight. 3. The Courier: Perthshire Man Forced to seek treatment in the USA for crippling disease after NHS cancels therapy.

There might be something here that will help one of you. I will answer any questions you have and you can also friend me on FB, just send me a private message and I'll be happy to give you my details.

 

[AaroninOregon]

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I thought I would add to this thread just help keep a diary of what I have been experiencing.

Since March my Doctor has prescribed a 1 week course of Ciprofloxacin followed by indefinite course of Trimethoprim. This kept me in apparently normal health while I was waiting for an operation to dilate a stricture which we thought was preventing me from draining my bladder properly and therefore causing the infection and the fatigue symptoms I was suffering.

I had the operation two weeks ago yesterday but today I have started to become inexplicably tired and my whole body and head aches.

Cipro is bad stuff...your symptoms may not be related to it, but Cipro side effects can take weeks or months after stopping treatment to manifest.

Your symptoms may be completely unrelated to the cipro, of course, and hopefully they subside soon.

 

[Insomniac]

Forgive me if that question is in any way ignorant or disrepectful to M.E or anyone suffering from the condition but it is significant to whatever I am suffering from. I do not yet understand how this illness works.

If I take 1000mg of Ciprofloxacin per day for three or four days all my fatigue disappears and I regain a satisfactory degree of cognitive function. However, the fatigue, headaches, muscle aches and woolly headedness will return a few weeks later. Can anyone here explain why that happens and is it an indication that I should be treating myself for M.E?
....

I've been too knackered to read all the responses, so excuse any repetition.

I know of one patient whose ME was of a severe type which gave her a constant high temperature. Within a short time of taking antibiotics her temperature would go down. So she was on them for a long time as a long term treatment for her CFS. She was officially diagnosed by Dr Bell. (pm me if you want more details. I can't give her name publically.)

I read somewhere that *some* antibiotics have an immune modulating effect. Perhaps that is why they help.

 

[Elph68]

Thankyou all for your suggestions and advice. I have contacted KDM to see how long it would take to get an appointment with him and to "get the ball rolling" but now, having read more about the condition I have to see the hospital about next month, I am convinced my fatigue and that condition are linked and are actually causing me to suffer from prostatitis and therefore severe fatigue. Today I am far from 100% health but I am much better than yesterday so perhaps the antibiotics are still working and actually i'm just run down.

Hi htrj,

You may like to read the last couple of pages of the undetectable infection thread.

cheers.

 

[jenny39]

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I thought I would add to this thread just help keep a diary of what I have been experiencing.

Since March my Doctor has prescribed a 1 week course of Ciprofloxacin followed by indefinite course of Trimethoprim. This kept me in apparently normal health while I was waiting for an operation to dilate a stricture which we thought was preventing me from draining my bladder properly and therefore causing the infection and the fatigue symptoms I was suffering.

I had the operation two weeks ago yesterday but today I have started to become inexplicably tired and my whole body and head aches.

Hi Htrj,

I was ill for last 15 years but didn't go to my gp until 10 years ago when my symptoms became so bad that I had to give up work. Prior to visiting my gp I had been suffering with repeat urinary tract infections and after finishing a course of antibiotics I was straight back for something else. I had fatigue, kidney infections then the uti cleared up but I started to get nerve pain up back and could feel tingling in brainstem every so often. When I first went to my gp I mainly went as was suffering from exhaustion but other neurological symptoms started had severe nerve pain, eye floaters, vibrating shoulder foot, brain fatigue, struggling walk hyper reflexes and may other problems. I was first given a diagnosis of ME but had to keep pushing them to test me for other things. I had 3 MRI scans, nerve conduction, sensory evoked potential, ecg tests. I eventualy got an ear swab taken after suffering for years with chronic middle outer ear infections and I had pseudomonas aeruginosa. I went to hospital 4 weeks back and had to get a 10 day course of ciprofloxacin and the doctor I saw said I must of picked up an internal infection when I had my appendix removed 15 years back as I had complications and had cellulitus but hospital couldn't tell me cause at the time except I had picked it up in the hospital.

With urinary tract infections did you have any previous surgery that you might of picked this up in hospital? I had same with other antibiotics started to feel better then symptoms gradually crept back again.

 

[jenny39]

http://textbookofbacteriology.net/pseudomonas.html

http://www.theguardhttp:/ian.com/uk/2007/nov/18/health.society

 

[digital dog]

I would stay as far away as possible from CIPRO. So many people have dreadful long term reactions to this antibiotic.