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My mom has Hashimoto’s which she's managed successfully for years using a low daily dosage of doxycycline. This suggests a mechanism for why that seems to work
by eloff 9y ago
My mom has Hashimoto’s which she's managed successfully for years using a low daily dosage of doxycycline. This suggests a mechanism for why that seems to work for her.
- fest 9y agoDid her endocrinologist prescribe her antibiotic? I'm asking this because I have Hashimoto's myself and none of the endocrinologists I've seen recommended anything else besides levothyroxine.
- aviv 9y agoDepends on the pharma rep in their area.
- eloff 9y agoNo, she and my dad just did their own research online and gave it a try. Seems to have worked out really well for her. Her goiter shrank and she had to reduce her thyroid meds. Low dose doxycycline seems who tolerated, and has an interesting side effect of reducing inflammation to near zero in the body (CRP levels of actually zero). Given the role of inflammation in heart disease, that might be helpful for longevity too. There's actually a drug, periostat that's prescribed in this way for oral health. It's 20mg doxycycline taken daily long term. There are studies on it available online.
- throwaway5752 9y agoThis is why we have drug resistant bacteria, in a nutshell. Glad your mother's health is better, but if even a small number of people started following this regimen, it would be come useless in a relatively small number of years. edit: I would love it if just one person could tell me how I'm wrong instead of downvoting. Long term low dose antibiotic treatment (doxy is a tetracycline) is how this happens. If you look up how I'm wrong before downvoting, I suspect you will end up not doing so, and perhaps learn something new.
- _tulpa 9y agoSo... People shouldn't use drugs that work for them because the bacteria will develop drug resistance to the drugs which are already useless because you can't use them otherwise the bacteria will become resistant?
- smallnamespace 9y agoJust because there are some bacteria that are already resistant to doxy doesn't mean that shifting the entire ecology of human bacteria so that resistance against doxy is selected for is a great idea. If you have a garden and use pesticides, there are probably some weeds that will be resistant to it. But the mere existence of resistant weeds is not an argument for continued indiscriminate use of pesticides, as you will end up with even more. Degree matters.
- smallnamespace 9y agoNot sure why you're getting downvoted actually. Yes, this treatment can probably help some people, but it's probably also true that deploying this en masse would not be a great idea from a long-term ecological perspective. Low-dose antibiotics are already widely used today in farm animals because it lets them gain weight more quickly ( = more profit for the farmer). And now the bacteria have spread out of farms and into the ER rooms and are killing people. Another form of socialized externalities.
- throwaway5752 9y agoI found a few NIH papers after posting, and it appears the available data shows it doesn't result in drug resistance at these dosages. There are a few studies that tracked resistance among patient populations for several years and saw fewer changes than periodic high doses. I don't know.
- eloff 9y agoThis is my understanding as well.
- tyingq 9y agoInteresting. Also have Hashimoto's. But the only thing they give me is Levothyroxine. Though, I suppose it's in the mild category. I mostly only experience lethargy, swelling in my neck, and itchy calves.