New Study: Long Term Abx and Lyme.

[Remy]

This time regarding the use of "long-term" antibiotics in chronic Lyme...although I would not consider 12 weeks to be long term myself.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1505425#t=articleResults

In this randomized, double-blind trial involving patients with persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease, prolonged antibiotic treatment (ceftriaxone followed by 12 weeks of either doxycycline or clarithromycin–hydroxychloroquine) did not lead to a better health-related quality of life than that with shorter-term treatment (ceftriaxone followed by placebo).

The current trial has several limitations. First, patients received open-label antibiotics for 2 weeks before the randomized phase. Consequently, the study was designed to compare longer-term therapy with shorter-term therapy, rather than with placebo as was done in previous trials.4,5,18Although we did not identify any benefit of longer-term therapy, the question of whether a 2-week regimen of antibiotics is superior to withholding any therapy in our patient population remains unanswered. We chose not to include a study group that received only placebo because it was judged to be unethical to withhold treatment from patients who might have an infection at baseline that had not yet been treated. We selected ceftriaxone because it is considered the treatment of choice for disseminated Lyme disease.5,8 Thus, although 14 weeks of antimicrobial therapy did not provide a clinical benefit for patients with persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease, our results cannot show whether our study may have included patients with undiagnosed active B. burgdorferi infection, who have benefited from ceftriaxone treatment.

Get ready for the media to jump on the "long term antibiotics don't work" bandwagon...and almost certainly insurance companies too.

 

[Who Me?]

2 weeks of abx? hahaha

 

[Cort]

I have always been leery about being on antibiotics long term - just don't want to go there.

This time regarding the use of "long-term" antibiotics in chronic Lyme...although I would not consider 12 weeks to be long term myself.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1505425#t=articleResults

Get ready for the media to jump on the "long term antibiotics don't work" bandwagon...and almost certainly insurance companies too.

 

[Who Me?]

Long term abx to kill critters vs feeling like shite anyway? Sign me up.

 

[Strike me lucky]

I feel better on abx but cant get testing here for lyme or proper testing for mycoplasma etc

 

[Who Me?]

I feel better on abx but cant get testing here for lyme or proper testing for mycoplasma etc

You've been on them how long?

 

[Strike me lucky]

You've been on them how long?

Off and on the last couple of years, mostly treating sinuses but have an overall improvement in cfs symptoms.

Then in early days of cfs about12 years ago and 2 yrs into cfs, i did 2 years on doxycycline and then Minocycline which helped but not curative. This was before i started antivirals. It helped cfs symptoms and cleared up a rash i had on my back which i think was suspect but drs just said it was eczema .