mdmom

colleenrn - usually both the IGG and IGM are measured it's weird you didn't get an IGM result. We have been treating WA1 aggressively in our house for 19 months now. We are on our 3rd different protocol since it seems to still be lingering - all three protocols involved Mepron. rowingmom - Babesia seems to get angry very quickly when we add in a new med. We just added Proguanil Hydrochloride (one of the ingredients in Malarone) and saw a herx response in less than 24 hours. My son's CD57 started at 13 in May 2011 and has since dropped to 9. His WBC count is always below 3. Elevated liver enzymes are indicative of Babesia as well. We thought we were chasing mostly Lyme with my son for the last year, but since we are treating for Babesia again with him (mostly my daughter has been treated because she was IGG positive), he's finally showing some physical symptoms (most of his symptoms have been psychiatric). Put your seatbelts on - treating Babesia is a long ride I never knew how much patience I had until we started dealing with all of this.

You are in good hands connecting with other parents on this forum. It is quite possible your son might need another round of IVIG - many children talked about on this forum have needed multiple IVIG treatments for PANDAS. While you are searching for more help, you might try giving him ibuprofen. It reduces brain inflammation. Dose it three times a day during the PANDAS exacerbations. I cannot speak much more about IVIG, as we have not done this treatment yet; however, some others should be able to give you more information.

I sure wish I could say yes. But we are still fighting insurance for IVIG coverage. Both kids are still on IV therapy for Lyme and co-infections.

Our infusion company pharmacist told me the same about Gammaked. He said it is made on the same production line as Gammunex. Can't remember why - I believe he did say it was some political reason.

My husband and I take Flagyl 7 straight days per month (we have a different protocol the other 21 days of the month). We have been doing this for over a year. Take probiotics, drink lots of water, or whatever else you do to detox. We feel really crappy (sorry for the tacky word) on our Flagyl weeks, which the doctor attributes to herxing.

Her main Babs symptoms are dizziness, headaches, excessive sweating, low WBC, random attacks of itchiness, fatigue, anxiety She occasionally complains of air hunger (like she can't get enough air in her lungs), chest pain She has a lot of other symptoms, but these are the ones I believe are related to Babesia.

Not to be a Debbie-downer, but we've had a really tough time getting rid of Babesia in our house. We think we are dealing with WA1 because my daughter was IGM positive in May 2011. So we did the treatment that was commonly accepted - 5 months of Mepron+Azith (21days/month) and 7 days per month of Tindamax. Once we stopped and moved onto Bartonella tx, my daughter relapsed and her symptoms came back worse. So then we started all over again with 8 rounds of Mepron+Azith+Bactrim (21 days of month) and Flagyl (7 days each month). Mind you, we are all being treated in the house because our doc says that Lyme docs are finding Babesia in more than one family member, suggesting that it might be transmitted between family members. So we all down the Mepron and my son and daughter are also taking IV Clindamycin and IV Flagyl. Doctor also just recently added Paludrine (Proguanil) (had to get it from a Canadian pharmacy). Some docs are now thinking that to kill WA1 you have to use high doses of Mepron (3 tsp/day) + high doses of Proguanil. If you are familiar with Malarone, it is made up of Mepron and Proguanil. So, bottom line is if you decide to treat Babesia, patience is really important. Good luck.

Hopeny - I sent you a PM

Probiotics changed our lives after having constipation, diarrhea chronically for years. Even with all of the antibiotics, antivirals and antifungals we all take each day, our guts are in good health. We all take 450 billion cells of probiotics/day. We use VSL#3 powder. I know a lot of folks on here follow Dr. T's advice to stay away from strep thermophilus, but we do not see any flares with this strain. It's in VSL#3. JenniferG - you may want to try probiotics to see if they help you. Work up slowly to a full dose.

You can treat with Saccharomyces Boulardi, a beneficial yeast. We use New Beginnnings Nutritionals Sacc. Boul.

Have you ruled out infections? My daughter suffered from a headache for 6 months straight. It was a symptom of Babesia, a co-infection of Lyme.

This is true in my family as well - we should be a case study for a Lyme doc. My son presents only with neuropsych symptoms (sounds weird - but I almost wish he had some visible physical symptoms). My daughter presents with mostly physical symptoms.

Our LLMD told us that having high VEGF not only indicates the activity of Bartonella, but it also has other health implications as well. He said it can make the blood thick and he suggested my DD start taking Wobenzyme (it's commonly used in Europe instead of Aspirin). Anyone hear of this?