Ivanz- who knew

A new Lyme med?

This 48 year old female was not one of my best success stories. Despite this, I had helped her a great deal. Two years ago she came to me a train wreck. She had incapacitating total body pain, cognitive impairments and abdominal pain. She had seen rheumatologist who had treated her with immunomodulators including gold and prednisone. Nothing had helped. Antibiotics had caused strange reactions- numbness and tingling in her mouth. Numerous doctors had no idea what was causing her abdominal pain and myriad other symptoms. She had been sick for over 20 years and was at the end of her rope.
The abdominal pain was easy. I have found that gastroenterologists and surgeons make this same mistake over and over again. She had classic right upper quadrant abdominal pain with a tender gallbladder(positive Murphy sign). She had had numerous CT scans and ultrasounds which were negative. Her HIDA biliary scan was normal. The CCK injection given during the test reproduced her symptoms. This is key. If hormonal stimulation of the gallbladder reproduces the pain- the gallbladder is diseased. A clinical rule which has served me well over the years is simple: Treat the patient, not the labs or ancillary tests. The first surgeon I sent her to refused to consider surgery. She was an obvious hypochondriac. Besides, the GI specialists didn't think she had gallbladder disease: IBS. The second surgeon performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Bingo. Path showed chronic cholecystitis.
In my experience, Lyme frequently causes gallbladder disease. She felt better and was impressed right off the bat that I had figured out one of the mysteries. Her labs made TBD a no brainer. She had positive Babesia serology from Labcorp. We began a long odyssey of treatment. There were ups and downs. Antibiotic side effects and intolerance led to long periods of no treatment. Symptoms invariably relapsed. The fibromyalgia and joint pains were somewhat refractory to therapy. Her cognitive improvements were steady. She suffered with bouts of serious depression which complicated her care. Along the way she had two courses of IV Rocephin. They were not as effective as I hoped they would be. Recently she came into my office very concerned. She told me that she had been coughing for two months- she smokes 2 packs per day- she knew that she had lung cancer. My intuition- its not cancer. The Chest Xray showed a mass. She was a wreck. I pointed out that it might be an infection. I ordered the CT, PET and a needle biopsy. The results were non-specific inflammation. No signs of cancer. It looked like a lung abscess. I thought it might be related to Bartonella. I started her on Cleocin and Levaquin. She collapsed in what looked like the mother of all Herxes. She was admitted to the hospital. She saw all the king's horses and all the king's men. They ultimately decided it was indeed a lung abscess. They were unable to identify a causative pathogen. The infectious disease doctor started her on Invanz. Its a new beta lactam antibiotic given once daily. It seems to kill everything that has a cell wall: gram positives, gram negatives and anerobes.
She was in the hospital for 6 days. Something magical happened. I saw her today. She was more bright and chipper than I had ever seen. There was almost a glow of wellness about her. This is the best she had felt in 20 years!. Virtually all of her symptoms had vanished.
Could this drug be a magic bullet that wipes out Lyme and the mystery bacteria crawling around in the bloodstreams of my patients?
Perhaps some other LLMDS should look at this and give it a try. I am trying to avoid more controversial therapies at the moment. This new antibiotics was only approved in the beginning of 2007.

PS: If it appears that I only write about my success stories it is because the other patients are a work in progress. I never give up- and neither do my patients.