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A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

cdc.gov

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Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#21

Post by erisinger »

bregma wrote: post #19
cududa wrote: post #10

Had to take doxycycline for 2 weeks after a tick bite. Man does that stuff destroy your digestive system. 7 years ago was on a date, just casually walking down the street. Coughed a couple times for no particular reason but my doxycycline lined stomach didn’t like that and boom projectile vomiting. Luckily he thought it was funny/ felt bad for me.

I had treatment 100 mg 21 days BID for borreliosis and was careful to always take with a full glass of water, as directed. Only noticeable side effect was affect changes. 9/7 would take that drug again.

Can you elaborate on affect changes? I had a similar regimen and experienced a weird sense of mental clarity and sociability for a couple of weeks after. Never have figured out what the mechanism was.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#22

Post by bregma »

ISL wrote: post #2

I wonder what the implications for antibiotic-resistance might be for widespread usage at such a low dosage?

This would be of particular concern if Borrelia bergdorferi were spread from humans into the natural host pool. Without that, the selection pressure for a doxycycline-resistant variant of B. bugdorferi is low to non-existent.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#23

Post by Alex3917 »

Not accurate. If you read the original research study this recommendation is based on, it prevents the bullseye rash, which they used as a proxy measure. It's unclear whether or not it actually prevents lyme.

I personally got bitten by a tick, did the prophylaxis dose, and then developed joint pain which continued until I did a full 21 day course. Yeah it sucks not being able to go in the sun for an entire month and having acid reflux, but imho the evidence in favor of the prophylaxis is extremely dubious.

source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200107123450201

"A theoretical risk associated with prophylactic antimicrobial treatment is that it might alter the disease presentation so that the characteristic erythema migrans rash might not be manifested in treated subjects, in whom a more subtle, nonspecific illness might develop or asymptomatic seroconversion might occur. In such circumstances, an unrecognized latent infection might eventually result in arthritis or neurologic disease. We believe that this is unlikely for several reasons. [...]"

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#24

Post by erisinger »

AndrewVos wrote: post #13

Wow I had Lyme Disease a few weeks ago, it was INTENSE. The antibiotics they give you make you puke every day too. Or they did for me at least.

If they put you on probiotics at the same time, it might have been that. Took me weeks to figure out that it wasn’t the meds making me sick, it was the probiotics they recommended to keep the meds from damaging my gut. I just didn’t tolerate them well for some reason.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#26

Post by bregma »

erisinger wrote: post #21
bregma wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had treatment 100 mg 21 days BID for borreliosis and was careful to always take with a full glass of water, as directed. Only noticeable side effect was affect changes. 9/7 would take that drug again.

Can you elaborate on affect changes? I had a similar regimen and experienced a weird sense of mental clarity and sociability for a couple of weeks after. Never have figured out what the mechanism was.

Positive affect changes are a noted possible side effect. The mechanism is unknown. Some scientists believe it's the direct action of the drug on the brain, but others believe it has something to do with altering the natural intestinal flora and a vague "gut-brain connection". It's an area of research waiting to be tackled.

I wasn't going to complain about feeling better than normal, only a little disappointed after the scrip ran out.

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#27

Post by bicx »

It's easy for some of us to forget that Lyme disease is an ongoing danger parts of the world. I used to have to keep it in mind when I lived in Tennessee, but that's one thing I don't think about much now that I'm in San Francisco. Of course, I have a lot of other problems instead, just not ticks!

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#28

Post by radicalbyte »

Arubis wrote: post #12

Fascinating. Note that a low-dose daily doxycycline is an effective and common malarial prophylactic as well, with a different (I'd argue less severe) side effect profile than Lariam/Mefloquine.

Is that the one which makes you laconic / home sick / bit nutty?

Re: A single prophylactic 200mg dose of Doxycyline prevents Lyme disease

#30

Post by radicaldreamer »

xmonkee wrote: post #29

Is there an app that can alert me when I'm in a tick-infested area? I don't think about ticks living in CA and I'm deadly afraid of being on a vacation and going on a hike and getting bit.

Ticks in california don't carry lyme typically. I'd be a lot more worried if you were on Long Island or on the east coast generally.

If you do get bit though, the bite is very obvious and you'd know. If you catch the tick, you can send it in for testing, although it might be easier just to take the doxy.

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