Famcyclovir no longer working.

Could the new vertigo in these short bursts be bppv rather than menieres? Does it happen when you move your head or neck a certain way? Have you seen your ent?

 

I originally was on VAL 1000mg 3x daily, then down to 2x daily. Last fall the VAL didnt seem to be doing the trick, so I wrote to Dr Gacek and he suggested FAM (1000mg 2x daily first then down to 500mg 2x daily now....Point being it could be you have built up a tolerance for the FAM at this dosage. If it were me, I'd try going up on the dosage/mgs or think about switching. Of course, I'll add I"m no physician, so asking your professionals might be indicated. I also add that even at this dosage I am not 100% back. I can function, but not to the point where I"d like to be. Just sayin. This "thing" we deal with is a tricky something for sure.

 

Robins, i noticed here that it says that patients with bppv oftrn wake up with vertigo.
http://www.michiganear.com/bppv-fact-sheet.html

 

You might consider taking anti-fungal meds along with your anti-viral.

 

Kill off the systemic yeast infections that are often associated with MM.

Here is a list of scientific papers linking anti-fungal medications with MM.

http://www.papadisc.com/MM_Nystatin.pdf

In my experience, MM is often multi-factoral. In my case, I had viral, fungal and bacterial infections. (see my next post).

 

(my standard response)

Welcome! (and sorry you're here)

MM can be multi-factoral. It can be linked to viral, fungal and/or bacterial infections in other parts of the body, and usually more than just one. I had all three at one time or another.

Some folks here find relief with anti-viral medications, I'll let others speak on those mostly, but here is a scientific basis for viral causes: http://menieres.org/talk/index.php?topic=14.msg36#msg36

I have tons of viral antibodies from past massive CSV, HH6 infections, but no active infections.

Anti-fungals have helped other folks, including me. I had very poor gut health and developed a long-term systemic fungal infection (which I'm still fighting). Here is a scientific basis for fungal infections: http://www.papadisc.com/MM_Nystatin.pdf

The third part (for me) was discovered accidentally. I had a several 35 year old stealth dental infections from poor dental health as a youth, and subsequent botched root canals.

To see if you might have a dental exposure, please check out this thread: http://menieres.org/talk/index.php?topic=2830.0

PapaJoe

 

Whatever the doctor prescribes it for, but drugs.com says, for intestinal candidiasis take 500,000 iu 3 times day for however long it takes.

And you're right about it not treating it in other parts of the body. Systemic anti-fungals can cause liver problems if you kill off the yeast too fast.

But if you have a systemic yeast infection, you will also have a gut overgrowth of yeast. By using Nystatin, which is safe and doctors usually don't mind prescribing, you can get partial relief by treating the gut.

If nystatin helps, that's a sign that you will need to take systemic anti-fungals. Your doctor should monitor your liver. The die off reaction isn't always fun, but systemic fungal infections are implicated in a lot of disease, including alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, etc.

Interestingly, there have been documented cases of people who had such an overgrowth, that they were legally drunk all the time. Remember, yeast eats sugar and poops alcohol.



What I found in my eight year search is that when you treat one condition, you'll get relief for a while, but eventually other condition will drag you down again.

Vitamin C and the amino acid L-Lysine help fight off viruses. I expect that if treating for yeast helps, you should still take the famcyclovir. Once the overall toxic load is lowered, it should become effective again.


Every time I would find and fix a condition, I'd get six months of relief before the immune system got overwhelmed again.

My next to last issue was the dental infection, which I got cleared last year.

I'm still being treated for yeast, which I thought I had cured years ago, but while I was chasing my dental issues it came back. That (and detox) are the last piece of the puzzle.

The detox has been difficult (getting rid of 40 years worth of toxins) but coming out the other side, I feel better than I have for years.

Still functionally deaf in my left ear with plenty of tinnitus, but (knock on wood) I'm not having vertigo (for at least a year), my fatigue and brain fog are greatly reduced.

 

So I've been on Nystatin now for about 2 weeks and was actually feeling a lot better. I feel like my tinnitus has been more tolerable and my hyperacusis has been less. Last night for the first time in weeks I was dizzy and had a lot of ear pressure, but we had a major weather system move through so that could have been the culprit. I don't know if it is the Nystatin that is helping or I'm just going through a nice remission period, but I'll take what I can get. When you say "if the Nystatin helps you may need to take other systemic anti fungals" what do you mean my that? Are you thinking the Nystatin isn't enough?

 

A systemic yeast infection (where the yeast gets into the bloodstream and throughout the body) generally occurs because people have a yeast overgrowth in the gut. The yeast damages the gut lining and you get Intestinal Dysbiosis (aka Leaky Gut).

The leaky gut is what allows the yeast to get into the bloodstream. From there, it can settle into other parts of the body and cause a wide range of problems.

Nystatin will only kill the yeast in the gut, it won't kill yeast in the bloodstream (or other parts of the body).

But Nystatin is generally regarded as safe, and doctors usually don't mind prescribing it (especially if you show the links between fungal infections and MM).

Systemic anti-fungals (sporonox, fluconazole, etc), which do kill the yeast in the bloodstream, may also cause liver damage if it's not properly monitored (liver panel lab test). For that reason, doctors may be reluctant to prescribe the systemic drugs.

By using Nystatin first, you eliminate the risk of liver damage. If it helps (which it seems to be in your case), but you're not "cured" (which you aren't), the next step would be to tell the doctor that the nystatin helped, but that you'd like to try a systemic antifungal.

Now, fighting fungal infections is not a quick or instant fix. To do it properly, you need the drugs and you'll need to change your lifestyle so that you start eating a low-carb diet. Carbs turn into sugar, yeasts feed on sugar. You'll also need good probiotics to replace the yeast in the gut with good microbes.

This is where a good holistic doc can help. A 'regular' doc will give you the drugs, but likely won't address the low-carbs or the probiotics. If your doc doesn't addess those, google for a candida diet. As far as probiotics, those are good to take anytime.

If you are currently taking anti-virals, and they help (or helped in the past), then continue taking them with the anti-fungal meds.

Most likely MM is multifactorial, so treating one thing likely won't give much relief. As I mentioned, I've had significant viral, fungal, and bacterial infections that led up to mine.

 

One other thing on yeast/leaky gut.

Leaky gut was the first thing I discovered when I started my MM search. I was able to cure the leaky gut with anti-fungals, low-carb diet, L-Lysine, L-Glutamine and probiotics. So my gut is not leaky anymore.

However, the yeast that got into the bloodstream when it was leaky was never completely eradicated, so over the years it came back, and I'm currently being treated for yeast again. Systemic yeast may be one of those things that you have to just 'manage'.

 

Hang in there, it's not easy or quick to fix, but you're approaching it the right way!