Doxycycline/Rifampin Antiobiotic Treatment for Tick-borne Diseases

Hi--I posted this in the introductions, but this seems more appropriate here. Apologies if I'm doing this wrong...

 

My mother has been on this forum extensively. She started her taper in fall 2007 and it lasted 5-6 years. She's had a number of health issues over the years due to her heightened sensitivities and lowered immune system, but the one that's currently gripping her is the most dire yet and is what prompted me to join the forum.

 

She was bitten by a tick 6 weeks ago and after weeks of worsening symptoms, was just diagnosed with both ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. The two options she has for treatment are both antibiotics: doxycycline and rifampin. Around 2015, she took doxycycline, and on day 3 her body went into complete spasm and she suffered neurotoxic shock and we had to take her to a hospital. She stopped taking it and suffered horrible neurological effects for months afterwards.

 

Based on posts I've found in this forum, it seems everyone's tolerances for antibiotics is different and sometimes an antibiotic can have no adverse effects and years later have horrible adverse effects. My mother seems to be on the extreme end of the sensitivities spectrum. My sister and I have been cold-calling infectious disease doctors to try to get more information on the two diseases that she has and how they may progress with no treatment. From what I read, these two diseases can have severe effects if both left untreated, but she's not sure if taking the antibiotics could make the situation worse, inducing psychosis or neurotoxic shock.

 

The decision we keep coming back to is Doxycycline versus Rifampin. Now, Doxycycline she took 5 years ago and suffered very serious neurological effects and couldn't continue, so is there any reason to expect otherwise? And in this situation, it's a more trusted drug to treat these diseases than Rifampin. If she starts taking Doxycycline and has an adverse reaction, will it make the efficacy of Rifampin, should she choose to start taking it afterwards, lower? I'm having trouble finding information on Rifampin and whether it has neurotoxic effects/if its a GABA antagonist. All I found is a handful of firsthand accounts on this forum of Rifampin making other medications less effective and this paper that talks about using Rifampin to clear benzos from the body:

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726917/

 

Does anyone have any experience with rifampin (rifampicin)? Or any feedback based on the information above? What if she's intolerant to both antibiotics?

I had a bad reaction after 2 days of taking this combination.  I had the first of two non segmented myocardial infarctions...two heart attacks.  I was in about my 12th year of taking 2 mg of clonazepam daily and had

already been hit by an attack from amoxicillin a penicillin which has been shown over and over to cause horrible

acute symptoms.  At the time I did not know, like so many others, that I was already in tolerance withdrawal.

 

The penicillin drugs are definitely on the list of negative allosteric modulators of GABA like flouroquinolone drugs but I have not seen these specific drugs on that list.  I just know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the rifampin/doxy use with the clonazepam nearly killed me.  I would never take it again even after 13 months off the benzo.

 

Best of luck in finding an antibiotic that won't be so harmful.

 

Klonkar

I have Two tick borne illnesses . I tried multiple antibiotics and couldn’t tolerate it. I’m now on azithromycin and herbal treatment and it seems to be working for me. Rifampin caused a lot of neurological issues and body spasms. Withdrawal can display the same symptoms as tick borne illnesses. I went to several infectious disease doctors, none willing to work with me on antibiotics because none of them believed withdrawal for this long is real. It wasn’t until I found a LLMD that I started getting the proper care that I needed. There are several websites to help find a LLMD near you. Sorry she’s dealing with that. Her story is almost like mine. I feel for her. I hope some of this info can help.

 

Thanks for your response and sorry that you went through all that. That's very useful to know about the Rifampin. What's the herbal treatment you're taking consist of? Thanks for the advice on LLMDs, I'm looking those up now, as it's possible my mother has Lyme disease.

I had a bad reaction after 2 days of taking this combination.  I had the first of two non segmented myocardial infarctions...two heart attacks.  I was in about my 12th year of taking 2 mg of clonazepam daily and had

already been hit by an attack from amoxicillin a penicillin which has been shown over and over to cause horrible

acute symptoms.  At the time I did not know, like so many others, that I was already in tolerance withdrawal.

 

The penicillin drugs are definitely on the list of negative allosteric modulators of GABA like flouroquinolone drugs but I have not seen these specific drugs on that list.  I just know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the rifampin/doxy use with the clonazepam nearly killed me.  I would never take it again even after 13 months off the benzo.

 

Best of luck in finding an antibiotic that won't be so harmful.

 

Klonkar

 

Sorry to hear about your bad reaction to those antibiotics, and thanks for sharing your story. I'm getting a better idea every day of why my mother has been so cautious around antibiotics for years.

I have had two bouts of Lyme Disease, when I tested positive for the first time I took six weeks of Doxycycline and felt so much better, even my withdrawal symptoms seemed to lessen....I had been taking Doxycycline for years for Diverticulitis. and I was three years out and still having mild withdrawal symptoms.  Actually Lyme and Benzo WD symptoms are very similar.

Just to add an epilogue to this thread--my mother ended up taking doxycycline and tolerating it quite well for her lyme treatment.

If she's intolerant to both antibiotics you can talk to a naturopath about using ozone therapy with ubvi, it's  very frequently and successfully used for treating Lyme disease, she will probably need  a series of 10 pass with ubvi. I did ozone therapy in my setback from antibiotics and did very well with it.

KathyM:  I couldn't agree more.  The ozone therapys have saved me from taking anymore AB's since I discovered how intolerant to them I am.

I was given oral ozone gel for a tooth that was just pulled and I refused to take the AB my dentist prescribed.  I healed up great.

Ozone is, overall, a wonderful way to oxygenate our systems and stave off infection.

 

Klonkar

Just to add an epilogue to this thread--my mother ended up taking doxycycline and tolerating it quite well for her lyme treatment.

 

Thank you for this update, that's fantastic news to know that years later it was not an issue!!

Just to add an epilogue to this thread--my mother ended up taking doxycycline and tolerating it quite well for her lyme treatment.

 

I pray your mother has made great progress in her lyme treatment and recovery.

 

PG