- And if M.S. is not gut dysbiosis then why is it being cured with antibiotics! I even noticed my M.S. symptoms go away when I am on antibiotics, but I have not dared that 8 week doxycycline that Dr. Paul is advocating because I am concerned that it might worsen my gut dysbiosis by killing off good bacteria also. But heck that is another thing to try if all else fails.
I went into severe all-water diarrhea, fever, borderline delirious, intermittent acute pain, and bed ridden over the past 24 hours and the gut pains were starting to mimic the pain of the acute peptic ulcer that had me in ER and ICU in May, 2012. So I decided it was too risky and I had better start antibiotic treatment immediately. Delaying antibiotic treatment last time is apparently what allowed the h.pylori bacteria to further proliferate and the ulcer to burst open leaking acid into my body cavity. Given how horrendously painful and near death event that was, I didn't want to risk it.
I decided to look more into the theory linked in the above quote.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1531-8249(199907)46:1%3C6::AID-ANA4%3E3.0.CO;2-M/abstractChlamydia pneumoniae infection of the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis
Abstract
Our identification of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) led us to examine the incidence of this organism in the CSF from 17 patients with relapsing–remitting MS, 20 patients with progressive MS, and 27 patients with other neurological diseases (OND). CSF samples were examined for C pneumoniae by culture, polymerase chain reaction assays, and CSF immunoglobulin (Ig) reactivity with C pneumoniae elementary body antigens. C pneumoniae was isolated from CSF in 64% of MS patients versus 11% of OND controls. Polymerase chain reaction assays demonstrated the presence of C pneumoniae MOMP gene in the CSF of 97% of MS patients versus 18% of OND controls. Finally, 86% of MS patients had increased CSF antibodies to C pneumoniae elementary body antigens as shown by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay absorbance values that were 3 SD greater than those seen in OND controls. The specificity of this antibody response was confirmed by western blot assays of the CSF, using elementary body antigens. Moreover, CSF isoelectric focusing followed by western blot assays revealed cationic antibodies against C pneumoniae. Infection of the central nervous system with C pneumoniae is a frequent occurrence in MS patients. Although the organism could represent the pathogenetic agent of MS, it may simply represent a secondary infection of damaged central nervous system tissue. A therapeutic trial directed at eliminating C pneumoniae from the central nervous system may provide additional information on its role in MS. Ann Neurol 1999;46:6–14
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydophila_pneumoniaeand in vitro testing suggest infection with C. pneumoniae is a significant risk factor for development of atherosclerotic plaques due to the fact that it causes chronic shortages of micro-nutrients such as Magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B9, Vitamin B12, Vitamin K1 and Vitamin K2. C. pneumoniae infection increases adherence of macrophages to endothelial cells in vitro and aortas ex vivo.
C. pneumoniae has also been found in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment1.htmlThen the problem of treating a chronic infection with C. pneumoniae had to be solved. Many medical microbiologists working in the field believe that this infection cannot be adequately treated. Using the Internet I quickly found a US patent taken out by two Vanderbilt doctors, Mitchell WM and Stratton, CW to record the intellectual priority of their discovery: [http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6884784.html]. Using the information in this patent as a basis for treatment I recommended the following oral antichlamydial regimen:
doxycycline 200mg once daily
roxithromycin 300mg once daily (azithromycin 250mg three days a week is an alternative.)
Short courses of metronidazole will later be added to this regimen.
We started the doxycycline first, as it was immediately available. The results were astonishing. For five days Sarah suffered a worsening of her symptoms; this was accompanied by a flu-like illness, with headache round the eyes, pains in the large joints (hips and shoulders) and night-sweats. This is a typical Herxheimer-like reaction; it is caused when a large bacterial load is broken up by antibiotics or other agents. After five days she lost the mental fog: indeed, she said she felt mentally clearer than for two years. The roxithromycin was added three weeks later, when it became available.
This information has been made available at Sarah's request. It has to be said that, despite all the research which has been published in the scientific literature, the existence — let alone the therapeutics — of chronic infection with C. pneumoniae is barely understood by the medical community.
http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/ms-treatment.pdfA schedule of treatment.
This is one schedule that strikes all stages of the organism's life-cycle. Other equally good schedules are
possible. It is important that a committed care-giver (for instance, spouse, partner or parent) should ensure that
medication is given, and swallowed, consistently.)
Doxycycline 100mg orally once daily is taken with plenty of water.
When this is well tolerated, Azithromycin 250mg orally, three times a week should be added.
(Roxithromycin, 150mg twice daily, is an alternative.)
When all this is well tolerated, the dose of Doxycycline is increased to 200mg daily.
The reason for this slow, step-wise introduction of antichlamydials is to minimize any reactions caused by
bacterial die-off. These can be unpleasant. NOTE: in rapidly progressive MS it may be prudent to offset the
benefits of stopping progression against the risk of reactions, giving full doses of azithromycin and doxicycline
from the beginning.
This combination is taken continuously.
Two or three months into the treatment regimen three-weekly cycles of intermittent oral Metronidazole are
added. During the first cycle metronidazole is given only for the first day. When metronidazole is well tolerated
the period of administration in each cycle is increased to five days. There is no reason for the intermittent use of
metronidazole other than acceptability: if someone undergoing treatment is able to take longer cycles of
metronidazole then it seems reasonable that they should do so.
The dosage of metronidazole is 400mg three times a day. If it is suspected that a patient may have a heavy
chlamydial load a smaller daily dose may be given initially.
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) 600mg daily - 1,200mg twice a day, should be taken continuously. This is a
commonly-taken dietary supplement, available at health-food stores. It is an acetylated sulphur-containing
amino-acid, and may be expected to cause chlamydial EBs to open prematurely, killing them. NAC should be
started at the lower dose of 600mg daily; the dose should be doubled when well-tolerated. NAC offers liver
protection; this may be useful, as rapid bacterial die-off may compromise hepatic function. If NAC produces
unpleasant reactions, its administration may be delayed until antibiotics are well tolerated. Doxycycline and
azithromycin may be expected to slowly deplete the chlamydial EB load by destroying them as they enter host
cells.
The period of continuous treatment needs to be of the order of a year. This is very important, as the organisms
are extremely difficult to remove from certain cell-types. The recommendations for acute infection (typically 2
- 6 weeks monotherapy with doxycycline or a macrolide) are totally insufficient. The organism is not killed by
such treatment, but is instead driven deeper into a persistent state. This is recognised but not widely
appreciated. [See: Woessner R, Grauer MT, Frese A et al., Long-term Antibiotic Treatment with
Roxithromycin in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Infection. 2006; 34(6): 342-4.] Roxithromycin alone for
three 6-week periods did not help these patients; this outcome was predictable. The difficulties of treating
persistent chlamydial infections with traditional antimicrobial schedules are ably discussed by Villareal and coauthors
[Villareal C, Whittum-Hudson JA, Hudson AP. Persistent Chlamydiae and chronic arthritis. Arthritis
Res. 2002;4(1):5-9.] Effective treatment needs to be addressed to all stages of the organism's life-cycle.
The eventual aim is to give all three agents intermittently so that there is some respite from antibiotics. This, the
final leg of treatment, may entail a 14 day course of doxycycline and roxithromycin, with a five day course of
metronidazole in the middle. This course is given once a month. After several months the intervals between the
antibiotics may be cautiously extended. Rifampicin is not suitable for intermittent use, and azithromycin may
be given instead.
I've read that Chlamydia pneumoniae can be asymptomatic and rather the symptoms of a chronic infection with it can manifest as autoimmune diseases.
My ex had persistent asthma, her brother persistent bronchitis, and I was living in a squalor area in the Philippines in the 1990s and at that time nearly every filipino had a persistent cough, because the economy was so bad and people were in such poor health.
I have observed that my body is so sensitive. It doesn't seem to matter what I do with diet, I can't reach a level of homeostasis with good health.
I have long thought it was some infectious agent that is the source of my chronic illness. Originally I suspected a high strain HPV infection which my ex gave me in May 2006. So I had taken a lot of AHCC in 2013 and 2014.
Recently I had been thinking the antibiotics I took over the years had put my gut into a state of dysbiosys that couldn't be rectified any more with antibiotics (e.g. Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis).
But it is also possible that some infectious agent is driving the dysbiosys.
I note that after I recovered from the strong antibiotics used to treat the h.pylori and acute peptic ulcer, and after supplementing with high dose vitamin D3, then for about a month in Sept/Oct 2013, I seemed to be back to normal. But then the chronic illness returned and by Nov/Dec, I was in severe chronic fatigue again and my lymphocytes were measured to be very high.
I will try to find out today if the Chlamydia pneumoniae PCR test is available in Philippines. I doubt it.
So I've made a decision to experiment with antibiotics again. I was needing a course of antibiotics any way to deal with the severe episode of gastroenteritis, so I might as well continue the therapy. It would be much better if I could confirm the existence of the pathogen, because the therapy calls for up to a year of treatment. Again I doubt it will be possible to find the accurate PCR test here.
Also my olfactory sense is really sensitive again, same as it was in May 2012 when I took the antibiotics. Every kind of cooking food smells horrible to me.
Also I note that two weeks ago I had mentioned that I had a fever and bronchitis like cough deep in my lungs. So that is another shard of evidence that might implicate a Chlamydia pneumoniae pathogen.
I was wondering why I would get a deep lung cough when working on gut dysbiosys and diet, considering that I had not been around many other people and mostly always in the house or exercising alone. That event caused me to again suspect a chronic infectious agent other than just gut dysbiosys.
http://patents.com/us-6884784.htmlDiagnosis and management of infection caused by chlamydia
Abstract
The present invention provides a unique approach for the diagnosis and management of infections by Chlamydia species, particularly C. pneumoniae. The invention is based, in part, upon the discovery that a combination of agents directed toward the various stages of the chlamydial life cycle is effective in substantially reducing infection. Products comprising combination of antichlamydial agents, novel compositions and pharmaceutical packs are also described.
Inventors: Mitchell; William M. (Nashville, TN), Stratton; Charles W. (Nashville, TN)
Assignee: Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
Appl. No.: 10/100,759
Filed: March 19, 2002