Have you hit a plateau on this antibiotic therapy?

[Guest guest]

The following is from the FAQ on www.rheumatic.org. Additional comment is mine

and is in red.

Ethel

" 13. I HAVE BEEN ON 100 MG. OF MINOCYCLINE MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY FOR SIX

MONTHS AND HAVE SEEN NO RESPONSE. CAN I STILL EXPECT IMPROVEMENT?

Yes, however you should have some indication by this time that the antibiotic is

working for you. Your doctor needs to do a little detective work at this point.

(I've known cases including mine where it took a lot longer than six months to

see any sign of improvement. For me, it was well over a year before I saw any

sign that the therapy may be working. In fact, for most of that time I got

progressively worse. Years ago there was a woman on this group that didn't see

improvement for nearly 5 years! Was that woman ever glad she hadn't decided to

give up.) Here are some things to check:

a. Laboratory tests should be run again. Often improvement in these tests will

precede improvement of symptoms.

b. If you are on a generic minocycline, change manufacturers or switch to the

brand name. Patients have discovered that not all generic minocycline or

doxycycline is equivalent. Many physicians prescribe the brand name to avoid

this risk.

c. Try a different antibiotic. All patients may not respond to minocycline or

doxycline. Some physicians add Zithromax. If you are taking the minocycline

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the dose for the Zithromax is 250 mg. twice daily

Tuesday and Thursday.

(Adding an anti-fungal may be necessary. There have been reports of success

using the combination Minocin, Flagyl and Nystatin. The liver should be

monitored closely when using anti-fungals.)

d. Try one antibiotic in the morning and a different one at night, or sequence

them taking one for six weeks and then switching to another for six weeks.

e. If your disease is severe, long standing or very resistant, and you are only

on oral antibiotics, you will need to add intravenous therapy.

f. Look for other sources of infection in the sinuses, allergies, root canals

(www.altcorp.com), intestinal tract, etc. that may be impeding your progress and

must be addressed for optimum benefit from this therapy. The first area to check

is the intestinal tract for candida overgrowth and leaky gut. There are special

labs that perform these tests:

Immuno-Science Lab in Beverly Hills, CA - candida

www.immuno-sci-lab.com or 1-800-950-4686

AAL Reference Laboratories, Inc. in Santa Ana, CA - candida

www.antibodyassay.com or 1-800-522-2611

Genova Diagnostics, Ashville, NC - candida and the lactulose mannitol test for

leaky gut

www.gdx.net - 1-800-522-47

g. Were you tested for strep? If the results were positive, treatment should be

prescribed. (See Section 12.) The strep organism can be very difficult to

eradicate, so even after the titer returns to normal, the patient should be

monitored for some time for recurrence. The goal of the therapy is to remove

antigen wherever it may be found in the body in order to achieve optimum benefit

from this therapy.

h. Are you deficient in antibody? Perhaps intravenous immunoglobulin is

necessary.

i. Did your doctor have the mycoplasma test run? It should be run for the entire

panel and not just for M. pneumoniae. The first test may be negative if the

immune system is too weak to mount an antibody attack to the organism.

Therefore, it is important to repeat the test within 3 to 6 months. If it is

still negative, the medication should be changed. The tetracycline antibiotic

still works in some instances of a negative reading. If the cause is viral the

antibiotic therapy may fail. Additionally, the cause could be streptococcus

infection compounded with a mycoplasma infection or vice versa.

Laboratories performing this special mycoplasma testing are listed on this web

site in the section titled 'Information for You and Your Doctor'.

j. Are there hormonal imbalances that need correcting?

k. Chronic neurotoxins may be another reason for lack of response to this

therapy. These toxins are low molecular weight, fat soluble toxins, sequestered

in the adipose tissues of the body. Rather than being eliminated normally, they

are reabsorbed and continue to be accumulated and circulated in the body. They

impact the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system. (Patients

report improvement in brain fog and ability to concentrate when these toxins are

removed.) There is a vision test available on the net that can be taken to

determine if neurotoxins are present. For more information visit Dr. Ritchie

Shoemaker's site - www.chronicneurotoxins.com. Dr. Shoemaker has written a book

on this subject titled 'Desperation Medicine'. [Note: Not all neurotoxins

respond to the therapy developed by Dr. Shoemaker. Neurotoxins unresponsive to

Dr. Shoemaker's protocol may be helped by the protocol of Dr. Kane.

www.detoxxbook.com or www.bodybio.com

l. E. Berg, director of Hemex Laboratories in Phoenix, AZ has discovered

that a number of infections, including mycoplasmas, can trigger the blood

clotting system to become active, preventing oxygen and antibiotics from

reaching and destroying the pathogen. This is called hypercoagulation. The Hemex

Lab ISAC panel can be run to determine if this is a problem. If this test is

positive, appropriate blood thinning agents may be prescribed. For more

information go to www.hemes.com or call 1-800-999-2568. Check with your

physician for non-prescription agents that may be appropriate.

m. Consider testing for Lyme Disease which mimics so many rheumatic diseases.

Refer to Sections 1 and 18 for more information on Lyme Disease.

If a patient has been experiencing improvement on this therapy and then notices

that progress has stopped or he/she even seems to be regressing, the information

in this section will aid their doctor in determining what is impeding that

progress.

Dr. Lida Matman (now deceased), was considered the authority on stealth

pathogens, and she said there are times when a patient may plateau on a therapy

and the cause may be that there is an underlying organism that needs a different

antibiotic to eradicate, and once eradicated you can go back on the first

antibiotic and it will begin working for you again.

[Guest guest]

Thank you everyone for your ideas. I really appreciate your input.

Mona G.

rheumatic Have you hit a plateau on this antibiotic therapy?

The following is from the FAQ on www.rheumatic.org. Additional comment is mine

and is in red.

Ethel

" 13. I HAVE BEEN ON 100 MG. OF MINOCYCLINE MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY FOR

SIX MONTHS AND HAVE SEEN NO RESPONSE. CAN I STILL EXPECT IMPROVEMENT?

Yes, however you should have some indication by this time that the antibiotic

is working for you. Your doctor needs to do a little detective work at this

point. (I've known cases including mine where it took a lot longer than six

months to see any sign of improvement. For me, it was well over a year before I

saw any sign that the therapy may be working. In fact, for most of that time I

got progressively worse. Years ago there was a woman on this group that didn't

see improvement for nearly 5 years! Was that woman ever glad she hadn't decided

to give up.) Here are some things to check:

a. Laboratory tests should be run again. Often improvement in these tests will

precede improvement of symptoms.

b. If you are on a generic minocycline, change manufacturers or switch to the

brand name. Patients have discovered that not all generic minocycline or

doxycycline is equivalent. Many physicians prescribe the brand name to avoid

this risk.

c. Try a different antibiotic. All patients may not respond to minocycline or

doxycline. Some physicians add Zithromax. If you are taking the minocycline

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the dose for the Zithromax is 250 mg. twice daily

Tuesday and Thursday.

(Adding an anti-fungal may be necessary. There have been reports of success

using the combination Minocin, Flagyl and Nystatin. The liver should be

monitored closely when using anti-fungals.)

d. Try one antibiotic in the morning and a different one at night, or sequence

them taking one for six weeks and then switching to another for six weeks.

e. If your disease is severe, long standing or very resistant, and you are

only on oral antibiotics, you will need to add intravenous therapy.

f. Look for other sources of infection in the sinuses, allergies, root canals

(www.altcorp.com), intestinal tract, etc. that may be impeding your progress and

must be addressed for optimum benefit from this therapy. The first area to check

is the intestinal tract for candida overgrowth and leaky gut. There are special

labs that perform these tests:

Immuno-Science Lab in Beverly Hills, CA - candida

www.immuno-sci-lab.com or 1-800-950-4686

AAL Reference Laboratories, Inc. in Santa Ana, CA - candida

www.antibodyassay.com or 1-800-522-2611

Genova Diagnostics, Ashville, NC - candida and the lactulose mannitol test for

leaky gut

www.gdx.net - 1-800-522-47

g. Were you tested for strep? If the results were positive, treatment should

be prescribed. (See Section 12.) The strep organism can be very difficult to

eradicate, so even after the titer returns to normal, the patient should be

monitored for some time for recurrence. The goal of the therapy is to remove

antigen wherever it may be found in the body in order to achieve optimum benefit

from this therapy.

h. Are you deficient in antibody? Perhaps intravenous immunoglobulin is

necessary.

i. Did your doctor have the mycoplasma test run? It should be run for the

entire panel and not just for M. pneumoniae. The first test may be negative if

the immune system is too weak to mount an antibody attack to the organism.

Therefore, it is important to repeat the test within 3 to 6 months. If it is

still negative, the medication should be changed. The tetracycline antibiotic

still works in some instances of a negative reading. If the cause is viral the

antibiotic therapy may fail. Additionally, the cause could be streptococcus

infection compounded with a mycoplasma infection or vice versa.

Laboratories performing this special mycoplasma testing are listed on this web

site in the section titled 'Information for You and Your Doctor'.

j. Are there hormonal imbalances that need correcting?

k. Chronic neurotoxins may be another reason for lack of response to this

therapy. These toxins are low molecular weight, fat soluble toxins, sequestered

in the adipose tissues of the body. Rather than being eliminated normally, they

are reabsorbed and continue to be accumulated and circulated in the body. They

impact the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system. (Patients

report improvement in brain fog and ability to concentrate when these toxins are

removed.) There is a vision test available on the net that can be taken to

determine if neurotoxins are present. For more information visit Dr. Ritchie

Shoemaker's site - www.chronicneurotoxins.com. Dr. Shoemaker has written a book

on this subject titled 'Desperation Medicine'. [Note: Not all neurotoxins

respond to the therapy developed by Dr. Shoemaker. Neurotoxins unresponsive to

Dr. Shoemaker's protocol may be helped by the protocol of Dr. Kane.

www.detoxxbook.com or www.bodybio.com

l. E. Berg, director of Hemex Laboratories in Phoenix, AZ has discovered

that a number of infections, including mycoplasmas, can trigger the blood

clotting system to become active, preventing oxygen and antibiotics from

reaching and destroying the pathogen. This is called hypercoagulation. The Hemex

Lab ISAC panel can be run to determine if this is a problem. If this test is

positive, appropriate blood thinning agents may be prescribed. For more

information go to www.hemes.com or call 1-800-999-2568. Check with your

physician for non-prescription agents that may be appropriate.

m. Consider testing for Lyme Disease which mimics so many rheumatic diseases.

Refer to Sections 1 and 18 for more information on Lyme Disease.

If a patient has been experiencing improvement on this therapy and then

notices that progress has stopped or he/she even seems to be regressing, the

information in this section will aid their doctor in determining what is

impeding that progress.

Dr. Lida Matman (now deceased), was considered the authority on stealth

pathogens, and she said there are times when a patient may plateau on a therapy

and the cause may be that there is an underlying organism that needs a different

antibiotic to eradicate, and once eradicated you can go back on the first

antibiotic and it will begin working for you again.