2nd March 2007
200mg of Doxy is not enough to kill the Lymes. You need 300-600mg/day. 200mg a day is a "bacteriostatic" dose; not a "bacteriocidal" dose. 30 days is not enough either; many Lyme docs use at least 6-12 weeks of treatment if it's caught very early. Many use the criteria of treat with abx until no symptoms and then 2 months more to be sure...
I would suggest getting with a doc who knows more about Lymes, or if you are very lucky you can try to educate your current doc. Read here, from one of the best Lyme docs in the country:
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/drbguide200509.pdf
If you need a Lyme doc referral, check here:
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/Doctor_Referrals.html
I was put on 200mg Doxy for 3 weeks when I was diagnosed. Helped a little, but I wasn't feeling too well. I convinced the doc to try it again, and it helped again a little, but he pronounced me "cured" and sent me on my way. 2 years later, I finally found a doc who didn't have his head in the sand, and he put me on 400mg/day for an extended period of time, and I experienced great improvement.
I did have a drug reaction to the Doxy, was put on Minocycline, same deal, so my new doc put me on Cefzil (similar to Ceftin), and that has done the trick...combined with some other meds (Tindamax to kill the cyst form, Benicar and Vit-D supplements to reduce inflammation).
By the way, avoid steriods like the the plague; they're very bad for Lyme sufferers because they suppress the immune system.
As for increase in pain, that is normal if you are killing spirochetes. I get a significant increase in symptoms every 4 weeks (Lymes has a roughly 4 week growth cycle, and the antibiotics mainly kill it when it tries to reproduce). The process of killing the spirochetes releases toxins/surface proteins, which can irritate the tissues/system. So once you are on a proper dose of antibiotics, increases in symptoms is actually a good thing; it means you are still killing spirochetes.
I would suggest getting with a doc who knows more about Lymes, or if you are very lucky you can try to educate your current doc. Read here, from one of the best Lyme docs in the country:
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/drbguide200509.pdf
If you need a Lyme doc referral, check here:
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/Doctor_Referrals.html
I was put on 200mg Doxy for 3 weeks when I was diagnosed. Helped a little, but I wasn't feeling too well. I convinced the doc to try it again, and it helped again a little, but he pronounced me "cured" and sent me on my way. 2 years later, I finally found a doc who didn't have his head in the sand, and he put me on 400mg/day for an extended period of time, and I experienced great improvement.
I did have a drug reaction to the Doxy, was put on Minocycline, same deal, so my new doc put me on Cefzil (similar to Ceftin), and that has done the trick...combined with some other meds (Tindamax to kill the cyst form, Benicar and Vit-D supplements to reduce inflammation).
By the way, avoid steriods like the the plague; they're very bad for Lyme sufferers because they suppress the immune system.
As for increase in pain, that is normal if you are killing spirochetes. I get a significant increase in symptoms every 4 weeks (Lymes has a roughly 4 week growth cycle, and the antibiotics mainly kill it when it tries to reproduce). The process of killing the spirochetes releases toxins/surface proteins, which can irritate the tissues/system. So once you are on a proper dose of antibiotics, increases in symptoms is actually a good thing; it means you are still killing spirochetes.