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This Is For A Mild Case Of Lyme. I Am
Question: This is for a mild case of Lyme.
I am supposed to take doxycycline - 28 tabs in total - every twelve hours. I began my first dose at 7PM Sunday evening. Now it is 7PM Wednesday evening, and I foolishly have been taking my doses every 24 hours instead. Would I be okay if i started taking them correctly now, or do I need to take additional steps?
Also, my GP asked me today if the ER physician who prescribed them to me assigned me a three-week dose, to which i incorrectly responded yes. But this now adds up to two weeks total. Do I need to speak with my GP?
I am supposed to take doxycycline - 28 tabs in total - every twelve hours. I began my first dose at 7PM Sunday evening. Now it is 7PM Wednesday evening, and I foolishly have been taking my doses every 24 hours instead. Would I be okay if i started taking them correctly now, or do I need to take additional steps?
Also, my GP asked me today if the ER physician who prescribed them to me assigned me a three-week dose, to which i incorrectly responded yes. But this now adds up to two weeks total. Do I need to speak with my GP?
Brief Answer:
10 days is probably sufficient
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. Taking doxycycline every 24 hours is probably not going to give high enough levels in the blood to treat the disease, so I would not consider those doses as treating the Lyme disease. So I would start taking the doxycycline now every 12 hours, and consider this as day 1 of treatment. There is some debate on how long you should treat for Lyme disease, but some experts say that 10 days is sufficient, which you should have enough pills for. I would also agree that 10 days is enough to treat the disease, however, your GP may have another opinion, so you could contact them when you are able to. In the meantime, I would start taking the doxycycline every 12 hours.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
10 days is probably sufficient
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. Taking doxycycline every 24 hours is probably not going to give high enough levels in the blood to treat the disease, so I would not consider those doses as treating the Lyme disease. So I would start taking the doxycycline now every 12 hours, and consider this as day 1 of treatment. There is some debate on how long you should treat for Lyme disease, but some experts say that 10 days is sufficient, which you should have enough pills for. I would also agree that 10 days is enough to treat the disease, however, your GP may have another opinion, so you could contact them when you are able to. In the meantime, I would start taking the doxycycline every 12 hours.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
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