Antibiotics for GBS?

    • Anonymous
      September 5, 2007 at 2:05 pm

      Here’s an article I found that was written by a doctor, and that might be of interest.

      I have not tried this myself, so don’t have any first hand experience to share, but wonder if anyone else does?

      [B][U]Why I Prescribe Antibiotics[/U][/B]

      By [[url]http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Gabe_Mirkin,_M.D.][/url] Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

      “I am often asked why I prescribe antibiotics to my patients with rheumatoid or reactive arthritis, late-onset asthma, Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia and other so-called “[B]autoimmune diseases[/B]”. Before I prescribe any medication, I ask myself whether it will help or hurt.

      All of the “auto-immune” diseases cause severe disability. Conventional medications neither cure these diseases nor stop the progressive destruction that they cause.

      octors prescribe immune suppressives that sometimes have deadly effects. Antibiotics are far safer than the drugs conventionally used to treat these diseases. So, if antibiotics can be shown to help control these diseases, they should be used long before a doctor thinks of using the conventional immune suppressives.

      When a germ gets into your body, you are supposed to produce cells and proteins called antibodies that attach to and kill that germ. These diseases are felt by many doctors to be caused by your own immunity. Instead of doing its job of killing germs, your immunity attacks your own tissue. If it attacks your joints, it is called reactive arthritis; if it attacks your intestines, it’s called Crohn’s disease; your colon, it’s called ulcerative colitis; and if it fills your lungs with mucous, it’s called late-onset asthma.

      I do not believe that your immunity is that stupid. Accumulating data show that all of these conditions can be caused by infection. Many diseases that were thought to be autoimmune turn out to be infections: stomach ulcers are caused by bacterium, helicobacter pylori and others; multiple sclerosis may be caused by HHS-6 virus; rheumatic fever is caused by the bacterium, beta streptococcus, group A; [B]Gillian-Barre syndrome [/B]may be caused by the bacterium, campylobacter; Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis by E. Coli, Klebsiella, Bacteroides or Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis; and so forth.

      Shouldn’t We Be Concerned About Resistant Bacteria? The argument that giving antibiotics causes bacteria to be resistant to that antibiotic is reasonable, but it has no place in discouraging people with these diseases from taking them. First, these people have serious diseases that cause permanent damage and death. Second, the treatments that are available are toxic, shorten life, cause cancer, and have to be followed with frequent blood tests.

      On the other hand, I prescribe derivatives of tetracycline and erythromycin. These drugs are extraordinarily safe and do not require drawing frequent blood tests. If you were to become infected subsequently with bacteria that are resistant to these antibiotics, you would have lost nothing. No reasonable doctor would prescribe erythromycin or tetracycline for acute serious diseases, such as meningitis, pneumonia or an abscess, because tetracyclines and erythromycins do not kill germs, they only stop them from multiplying. Instead, doctors prescribe far more bacteriocidal antibiotics that kill bacteria.

      Many doctors criticize my use of antibiotics, but antibiotics are far safer than conventional treatment, cost less, can be administered by a general practitioner, and often cure the condition, rather than just suppressing symptoms. I know that the most physicians who develop these conditions will treat themselves with antibiotics because they know that conventional treatments with prednisone, chloroquine, azathioprine and methotrexate are toxic, and treatment with erythromycins and tetracyclines is safe. However, treatment of many conditions with long term antibiotics is controversial and not accepted by most doctors; discuss your particular condition with your doctor.

      How you can help to prevent antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Suffer through short-term illnesses. Don’t ask your doctor for antibiotics when you have a cold, flu or other self-limiting illness. You may feel miserable, but antibiotics are useless against viruses. Finish your prescription. If you stop taking a prescribed antibiotic as soon as you feel better, you encourage the development of resistant organisms. Become a vegetarian. The bulk of antibiotics are given to animals raised for food. As long as humans demand huge amounts of meat, farmers will use whatever means they have to deliver their product economically.

      Definitions:

      [B]Bacteriocidal Antibiotics[/B], such as penicillins and cephalosporins, kill bacteria. They are used to combat most bacterial infections, particularly acute, serious diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia, a ruptured intestine or an abcess. However, most bacteriocidal antibiotics are not effective against chlamydia, mycoplasma or ureaplasma, bacteria that have no cell walls.

      [B]Bacteriostatic Antibiotics[/B] such as tetracyclines (including doxycycline and minocycline) and erythromycins (including Biaxin and Azithromycin) keep bacteria from multiplying. Your own immunity is then able to kill the bacteria and remove them from circulation.

      Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. He has also been a radio talk show host for 25 years. ”

      Best always, Suzanne

    • September 5, 2007 at 4:06 pm

      interesting…wonder if it would work during recovery? There are several bugs that can lead to GBS but some are viruses (arent they?) and they dont treat viruses with antibiotics do they?

      My ex hubby had ulceratvie colitis and was on lots of anitbiotics but they did no good for him and he ended up having surgery.

      Now i have a question….if GBS is considered an autoimmune disorder do we ever get rid of it?? Is it in us for the rest of our lives sitting there like a time bomb? Are there precautions I should be taking other than keeping my immune system as healthy as possible…and is that a good thing or a bad thing in the case of GBS? Ive heard and read so much about us healing, but with most autoimmune problems they never go away, only progress. So what is up with GBS?

      Sorry, just trying to add to my knowledge base.

    • Anonymous
      September 5, 2007 at 6:40 pm

      My understanding is that some cases of GBS can be traced to a bacteria, others are related to immunizations, and many other cases are suspected to be caused by things like trauma, surgery, etc., but there are many, many other cases where the cause is unknown.

      I think his point in treating with anti-biotics is that Dr. Mirkin suspects that some of the cases of autoimmune disease with unknown causes may be caused by bacteria or infections that have not been identified yet. He treats with antibiotics to try to arrest the cases where this may be the case, hoping to help some of the patients whose trigger for an autoimmune disease is not identified.

      He apparently has had some success with this approach, and makes a case that trying this first is much less invasive and dangerous, but doesn’t preclude using Ivig or PP.

      I am trying to add to my knowledge base about GBS too.

      Suzanne

    • Anonymous
      September 5, 2007 at 10:44 pm

      Suzane,
      Thanks for posting that. When I had my GBS (both times), I took Huge amounts of vitamin C – 20 grams a day and had no bowel intolerance which is your body telling you that you took too much. Since vitamin C fights infections, I always thought that there was the possibility that it was an infection. I just wanted to give my white blood cells help in fighting off whatever was causing this. When I stopped taking the vitamin C for a 24 hour urine collection for testing, I felt like I was struck down by a truck. SO I knew it was working. And it kept me out of the hospital both times. My doctor for my first GBS experience twenty years ago said that if I needed to be hospitalized, he would have given me IV of vitamin C and adrenal extract. I took both of these orally. This doctor was interviewed in Suzanne Sommers’ book. Unfortunately he has changed since I went to him. I think the AMA got to him.
      Thanks again…..this gives us hope. I think the medical profession needs to be more open minded about GBS and other diseases like cancer and heart disease.