Dr Todd Maderis’ website has an interesting write up on methalyene blue
https://drtoddmaderis.com/methylene-blue-for-lyme-disease-and-bartonella
Has anyone tried methylene blue for their Lyme and/or bartonella? And if so, what kind of results have you had?
I constantly have the most evil thoughts going through my head . Why does Bartonella do that ?
Seems to happen when I'm on antibacterials. This is happening on and off for two days now. Anyone else?
One of my doctors wants to order the Galaxy PCR test for Bartonella, and the other says it’s a fast way to lose over $1.5K. Both are Lyme specialists and I consider them experts.
Supposedly, a positive Bart PCR from Galaxy is incontrovertible. On the other hand, my LLMD says she’s literally never, in hundreds of cases, seen a positive, and so recommends testing via other means.
Would love your perspectives.
I have spent 70 hours this week chasing a rabbit on behalf of a 13 year old girl with Scoliosis headed for surgery, and have questions that I hope some of you are willing to chime in on. I believe that this is significant. I have Morgellons Disease, a smaller rarer subset of Lyme Disease. I have tested positive for Borrelia (Spirochete Bacteria), Bartonella (aka "Cat Scratch Disease"), and at least 2 other Co-Infections. People with Bartonella Disease all seem to share one strong characteristic...Very intense neck pain and extreme inflammation from the base of the back of the skull, to the middle of the shoulder blade, but ONLY on one side. Over time, this pulls the spine slowing into a c curve. Bartonella is not well understood, but it is transmitted to humans via Bartonella henselae pathogenic bacteria. And like Scoliosis, it seems to have a preference for females. I found several cases from international journals and case studies/patient reports, where young girls suffering from Scoliosis were tested for suspected Lyme Disease, but instead showed up with high titer levels of Bartonella bacteria. In those cases, the bacteria made it into the muscle tissue, and the cerebrospinal fluid, causing severe inflammation. At least half of all people with chronic Lyme, also have Bartonella. On the Lyme forum, when I inquired, many people "coincidentally" found out when they were young, that they had Scoliosis...then 5-6 years later, found out they had Lyme (Borrelia/Bartonell Co-Infections). In the cases I found from other countries, the link between Scoliosis and Bartonella was random, not because one was suspected to be related to the other. The little girl that I have been researching for, just happens to be born and raised in a household that has been rescuing stray cats, and taking in feral cats, since her birth. They now have approx 20 cats in the house. I cant help but see a connection that looks like this (supported by around 5-6 Cases I found): 20+ Cats = Bartonella Disease (Cat Scratch Disease) = Bacterial Meningitis and Spinal Fluid infection and inflammation = Scoliosis.
I am NOT AT ALL suggesting that this is some conclusive discovery, only that the Case Studies indicated that Bartonella has been discovered in Scoliosis patients after MRI's detect fluid and pressure along the spine. (and these doctors for some reason tested the fluid specifically for Bartonella and found a match) Each of those cases proceeded to treat the Bartonella Disease first
... keep reading on reddit ➡After contracting Lyme Disease I’ve researched the topic extensively like most do. Bartonella seems to be “diagnosed” by tons of people on the internet, yet it’s rarely spoken about by doctors - unless considered Lyme Literate. Most major medical outlets claim it is rare, and there is no evidence of it being transferred by ticks. Yet those with Lyme, and LLMDs claim it to be a major source of many people’s issues. It’s also hard to test for, if anyone will test at all. I’m sorry, but all this sounds overwhelmingly suspicious to me and raises red flags. What is everyone’s opinion and experience with it?
Definitely done with RX meds. Only doing natural now. I get this, swollen lymph nodes, fevers, and neurological tingling plus visual snow syndrome.
Anyone had success with natural bartonella treatment? I can't tolerate the meds anymore.
My LLMD wants to start a treatment for Bartonella using Rifampin, Bactrim, and serrapeptase. I was wondering if anyone has any experience on this combo and how it helped/hurt and what to expect. Most of my symptoms are neurological. I’m really trying to get Bart under control before treating Lyme again.
Hey everyone! I made an edutainment video on how the herb Cryptolepis sanguinolenta can potentially be used for Bartonella, Borrelia, and/or Babesia as well as its toxicities to be aware of and its bioavailability. I draw upon the published scientific literature and since it's Halloween, I dressed up as Bartonella Bane! Lol. Have to entertain myself somehow from this here bed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L5wQNgCyuo
P.S. I know that many patients, docs, herbalists, and practitioners are aware of this herb and have used it successfully. I just try to take what the scientific literature shows and collate it and synthesize it. If you want an herbalist's perspective, then of course there are resources out there, like Buhner's books, for example 🙂Happy Halloween! (Or ya know as happy as we can get whilst being sick)
Hello everyone, I hope everyone is doing well :)
I wanted to ask if anyone has had a similar experience. I am on my 5th month of antibiotics (5 different sets) + herbs + diet. I can say the journey had ups and downs - some weeks I've felt my worst with herxes and bed-ridden, and some weeks seemed like no progress has been done. At the moment i feel very good. It seems all of the physical/main body symptoms are gone: joint and muscle pain, dizziness, migraines,fatigue, nausea are all gone for which I am very happy about - though not sure if it is actually the bacteria going away or just becoming quieter due to the meds not working anymore.
My problem is that I still have all of the visual eye related symptoms: light sensitivity, after-images, sparks and flashes, floaters, visual snow - as if the treatment didn't help for them at all. My ophthalmologist confirms there is nothing wrong anatomically with my eye/retina. Now the neurologist that leads my treatment says that the visual/neurological symptoms are usually the last to go. Can anyone share their story, opinion? How long does it take for the vision to get better? I am very patient and can wait a lot longer if it means that my eyes will also get better ( I went through few years of undiagnosed bartonella so I don't mind waiting more :))
edit: for the longest time I had a horrible ear ringing / tinnitus, which seems to have gone away now - which makes me hopeful that my vision will also get better
Recently diagnosed bartonella (had the “bart marks” around 8 years) and apparently picked up Lyme at some point recently too. I’ve had issues with peripheral neuropathy for a few months now, but recently something more concerning has been happening. I have these bouts where it feels like everything through my arms, legs, chest and head/brain is being constricted. Slight arm pain/numbness, a little chest tightness, very uncomfortable in general and just makes me feel like I’m on the verge of something quite debilitating. I’ve dealt with all sorts of anxiety over the years, it certainly isn’t anxiety. Has anyone else dealt with similar or have any idea what this may be? Would appreciate some feedback :)
My daughter has been sick for about two weeks now. I took her into the urgent care over the weekend because she was having issues moving around, constant thirst, sore in the neck, bladder & kidneys. This morning I got her last lab back and it says <1:512. Her primary care dr refused to treat her symptoms today and stated that she’ll be able to fight this on her own.
How is cat scratch treated and are there any long term effects with letting her fight this on her own without medication?
Went for a follow up appointment with Dr. Afrin today hoping to be officially diagnosed with MCAS (surprise, surprise the specimens were evidently mishandled as my histamine levels were a fraction of a healthy persons lol) but left with a curveball Bartonella infection positive. I’ve had very deep, weird purple stretch mark-esque striae for about 8 years now so would have been for a long time.
I have no knowledge of this condition whatsoever! I feel like I’m starting all over again so really just looking for any book/podcast or medical journal articles etc that people may be able to recommend? Positive tales of treatments/recoveries from chronic infection a bonus :) but I’d love to hear anyone’s experience if you’re willing to share!
There's 8.6k members in r/Lyme but only 93 in r/bartonella and 4 in r/babesia
Just wondering if anyone has a similar situation as me. I get really bad brain fog when I try to fast, intermittent fast, and go keto. I make sure my electrolytes are all balanced. I feel like it makes me Bartonella flare. I've been interested more in fasting because I have visual snow and someone in this sub said their visual snow went away after a 5 day water fast. I tried snake juice to help with electrolytes, it doesn't seem to help the increase in brain fog I get. Anyway just seeing if anyone else has experienced this?
Hello,
I guess I could use some reassurance here? I know Bart causes psych symptoms, but I guess just when it happens to me it feels so scary. I get severely scary intrusive thoughts that spiral me into such a severe panic attack I contemplate going into the hospital with how much panic I feel. It feels like I’m going insane. I have azithromycin and doxy, but I’m afraid to take it because when I used to take it I definitely herxed which made my anxiety so much worse and I didn’t get better afterwards. Does anyone else get psych symptoms from these infections?
I took antibiotics but I’ve been very tired for a couple months after and still have one swollen lymph node.
I'm new to the area and looking for a good vet for my cats. One of my cats was rescued from a hoarder house and she has bartonella which is pretty much ongoing so it would be great if anyone had experience with a vet who is knowledgeable about it. My other cat has asthma. Thanks for any help or recommendations!
What combo of antibiotics or herbs did you use?
Can I beat this with herbs alone? I’d like to not be on antibiotics for years at a time but if I have to I’ll do what it takes.
I need some positive words right now it feels like I’ll never win.
I just listened to a very informative podcast that talked about Bartonella and 3 of the most well known species. Bartonella henselae is what causes cat-scratch disease which I thought she tagged in some post once. I also love that there is very little evidence bartonella is transmitted by ticks.
Some of the Neurological symptoms I have are the following - maybe I could get some insight?
- Hard dealing with bright lights
- Feeling very disconnected as if I’m living in the Matrix
- Nothing registering - like anything I do in my day to day doesn’t register - if I eat gluten or drink alcohol or smoke etc it doesn’t register that I’m doing something I shouldn’t be. At the end of the day I don’t really remember much what I did as nothing absorbs or registers
- Really bad insomnia where I feel like my brain is always on the “on” switch and I can’t fall asleep
- Circadian rhythm issues and distorted sense of time - Sometimes I have problems knowing if something I did was this summer or last summer. A week or a month seem interchangeable. With my inner clock I feel like my brain doesn’t know what’s going on (to release melatonin and make me tired at night and cortisol in the AM)
- I used to have a lot of muscle tightness in my face which has much subsided
- Sense of clogged ears and pressure in my ears
- Pressure in my head .. not like a headache but like my head is full of glue/pressure
- Poor memory, memory recall and have problems writing and balance seems off like I’m woozy (like when you wake up super hungover and your balance is off)
Any ideas ? Thanks everyone 🙏
Hello everyone! I am so pleased to say that my interview with Dr. Jennifer Miller from Galaxy Diagnostics is up on my channel now. Testing for bartonellosis is complicated and confusing but after you watch this video, I guarantee you will know more about testing for bartonellosis than many (dare I say most?!?!) doctors. A BIG thank you to Dr. Jennifer Miller and the team at Galaxy for everything they do to help push our understanding of this pathogen and illness forward and for giving patients stuff to be hopeful about in the future.
Has anybody used Galaxy to test for Bart? I'm especially interested in those who have suspected chronic Bart symptoms? I know they are supposed to be the gold standard. I remember hearing it was expensive, but the PCR triple draw is 1600$!. Due to the cyclical nature of the bacteria I'm guessing this is necessary?
According to Galaxy's bartonella ePCR FAQs page, they say "For newly infected patients, we recommend testing for both DNA and antibody evidence of Bartonella species infection. For patients who have failed treatment or who have recently undergone aggressive antibiotic therapy, direct detection using this platform may not be as helpful."
Does that mean that if you have recently went through abx therapy then the PCR method is not as helpful?
I'm suspicious that Bartonella is my main issue again. Earlier this summer my doctor put me on an aggressive protocol of DSF, Rifabutin, Plaquenil, Clarithromycin, Coartem. This protocol wrecked me. I didn't make it very long. During this time I was experiencing the red marks that often appear when my symptoms intensify. After being taken off abx by Dr's orders I continued with DSF. I added in tincture Crypto a few weeks ago, and have been working up slowly. I added in tincture Hottunyia, and have been working up slowly. After adding Hott, and increasing dosage I got worsening symptoms and red marks again! I hadn't had any of these marks since I was taking the abx regimen. My marks primarily occur on my back around and under my shoulder blades. They also occur on my butt cheeks closer to the butt crack rather than the outer butt. I can try to add pictures of the marks if need be.
Should I get the Galaxy test? 1600$ is a tough pill to swallow, but I'd do it if I was convinced it was worth it.
I know sometimes they can vary in each individual and be similar to other infections/lyme. I was diagnosed on symptoms by one doctor but am not sure at all I have it. So I'm curious what your specific symptoms are you know for a fact are bartonella
One of my cats has tested positive for bartonella and was having some breathing issues due to it. our vet told us to separate them to lessen the chance of the other cat getting infected. the infected cat has been on antibiotics for 3 days now and i was wondering if anyone know how long he needs to be isolated? i can’t find anything online about how long it’s contagious to other cats besides this one article saying it can be contagious for months and i feel it’s already not humane leaving him in a room alone for as long as it’s been. :/ someone pls help me out.
And in this video, I cry a lot so if that's going to be upsetting to you in any way, shape, or form, please please do not watch! You have been warned lol. But I talk about feelings of shame for not making progress, which obviously we shouldn't have to feel shame for and how hard it is to not be able to start treatment, even though that is the only thing I have wanted to do since being disabled these past three years
So I’ve made great progress over the last three years working with my llmd on my infections. My infections were impacting my nervous system and brain I suspect.
Before I got sick, I was taking stimulant medication for diagnosed ADD/depression. Then I got sick, stopped all medication for a year, and then when I got a little better restarted.
I’m basically currently taking a low/moderate dose of Adderall xr daily. It helps me function and feel normal.
I have never felt it makes my symptoms worse or affected my treatments in a negative way. I was on an ssri also for two years during my Lyme treatment as well. But stopped that now.
My concern is that it is affecting my Body’s ability to fight the infections…
Has anyone been able to successfully take psychiatric medication (specifically stimulants) simultaneously while undergoing treatment?
Has anyone been successfully
It will be fun!
Hey y'all. Bartonellosis is pretty freaking depressing and I've been pretty depressed lately so thankfully I had already made this video. It's about three bartonellosis success stories so hopefully it will give you some hope. Hope is one of the most important ingredients! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALWfF02Oh4A
Asking for a family member. Chronic symptoms for two years.
Currently on Rifampin and Augmentin - detoxing and supplement support. After toxic mold exposure I developed suspected SIBO (already has untreated lyme). I've been trying to research but there's SO much information and I'm not sure where to start. Has anyone cured their SIBO naturally? What did you take?
Rifaximin is a semi-synthetic derivative of rifampin which is typically used to treat SIBO - so I'm curious if the rifampin I'm on will have an impact already?
I can do the diets easily but I'm not sure how the natural supplements will effect my current meds.
Dear all,
I am so so glad I found this subreddit. I am so dumbfounded there are people with the same things happening to them as to me - for years on years I thought I'm some medical snowflake that is incurable and the doctors are powerless. Let me explain how it started
I was 14 when I got new glasses. It was all fine until I started experiencing extreme dizziness, eye dryness, migraines - the eye doctor dismissed all this, saying i just need to adjust to my new glasses. Then came floaters and visual snow. As the eye doctor said eye floaters are normal for everyone and only sensitive people see them, she advised I just try not to pay attention to them and they will go away (HA!). The neurologist said the same thing - they run some brain scans which obviously didn't show anything. I had simple blood morphology done and everything was healthy with my body. My parents and doctors made me believe I am overreacting and I should just suck it up because there are people out there with actual diseases. I deep down understood this and became so unhealthily obsessed with this whole topic. I got physically angry at my self for being so weak. The fact that I saw floaters and visual snow and little sparks, phantom images, extreme light sensitivity and also ringing in ears - that drove me crazy. The only thing that kept me going is hope that one day these will all go away once I stop caring and being so sensitive.
Of course over the years I developed some mental problems. I am pretty sure now these were depression, anxiety, derealization. One particular winter was really bad, I had lots of work and uni responsibilities I was overworked and stressed - all psychological symptoms hit me like a truck. The only way to describe this is hard psychosis/schizophrenia. I would "wake up" in random places from naps that I didn't know I was taking, I'd find myself in buses and I didn't know where I was going and how much time has past. I'd hear voices, and people's faces were distorted when talking to me. I was writing my thesis at the time, and I remember noticing strange paragraphs of words directed at me, as if written from 2nd perspective- that i didn't remember writing. One day I "regained consciousness" at work it was already late at night. I have no idea what I was doing there, and everybody else was gone. The next day I went directly to a psychiatrist. I Told her about everything - she dismissed quickly saying, well you managed to come here on your own? It's all ok th
... keep reading on reddit ➡I see the combination of doxycycline, azithromycin and oregano oil in doctor Ross’ tier 1 treatments for bartonella.
I’m currently taking this for 1 month and do feel like it is mayyyybe helping (hard to tell)
I know the best combo is rifampin, clarithromycin and methylene blue. I’m very hesitant to try rifampin bc it interacts with psych meds I have to take since the bartonella began. And clarithromycin I’ve never tried, but I really don’t like trialing antibiotics when I’ve already found some I am comfortable on.
Does anyone have any successful stories of treating Bart like this? Just want to make sure I’m not wasting time.. I’ve had this for about 5 years already, but didn’t start treatment til recently. I’ve been treating Lyme for 5 years which I feel I have almost beat. Maybe if I cure this Bart first.
My treatment for bartonella is 500mg Zithromax 400 mg doxycycline and oregano oil. I was supposed to take rifabutin but I have Addison’s disease and it has big interactions with the meds I need to live. Can anybody here provide insights on their treatment just trying to source options to bring up to my doctor. Thank you guys.
Hi Everyone, This is my second dance with Bartonella. It caused severe anxiety, obsessive thinking, heart palps and insomnia. It also played havoc on my body post menopause (64). New estrogen and thyroid issues. Has anyone else had trouble with their hormones (thyroid) or female). Love to especially hear from the menopause group too. What herbs worked to lower the Estrogen dominance and kill Bartonella. Your sharing experience helpful to everyone!
Hello everyone! I am so pleased to say that my interview with Dr. Jennifer Miller from Galaxy Diagnostics is up on my channel now. Testing for bartonellosis is complicated and confusing but after you watch this video, I guarantee you will know more about testing for bartonellosis than many (dare I say most?!?!) doctors. A BIG thank you to Dr. Jennifer Miller and the team at Galaxy for everything they do to help push our understanding of this pathogen and illness forward and for giving patients stuff to be hopeful about in the future.
Hey everyone! I made an edutainment video on how the herb Cryptolepis sanguinolenta can potentially be used for Bartonella, Borrelia, and/or Babesia as well as its toxicities to be aware of and its bioavailability. I draw upon the published scientific literature and since it's Halloween, I dressed up as Bartonella Bane! Lol. Have to entertain myself somehow from this here bed. Happy Halloween!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L5wQNgCyuo
And in this video, I cry a lot so if that's going to be upsetting to you in any way, shape, or form, please please do not watch! You have been warned lol. But I talk about feelings of shame for not making progress, which obviously we shouldn't have to feel shame for and how hard it is to not be able to start treatment, even though that is the only thing I have wanted to do since being disabled these past three years
