Bartonella Coinfection
Bartonella is a common Lyme disease co-infection. It is a gram-negative bacteria which contains two cell walls, rather than one like gram positive bacteria. This second cell wall makes bartonella harder to eradicate. Like Lyme disease, the bartonella bacteria generates genetic variants of itself in order to maximize its survival.
Bartonella can be transmitted by fleas, ticks, biting flies, and lice.
Symptoms of bartonella vary from person to person and can include lymph node inflammation, fever, photophobia, severe fatigue, muscle pain, arthritis, osteomyelitis, skin lesions, endocarditis, encephalopathy, headache, ataxia, memory loss, paresthesia, meningitis, dementia, acute psychiatric symptoms, anxiety, severe depression, brain fog, difficulty thinking, schizophrenic-like mental function, and bone pain, particularly in the soles of the feet.
According to Stephen Buhner in "Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections," if you reduce the cytokine cascade that bartonella causes, protect and normalize the endothelial lining of the blood vessels, protect the blood cells, protect the heart, spleen and liver, support the lymph system and immune system, the bartonella organisms cannot continue to survive in the body. Therefore, it is not essential to utilize antibacterials to treat bartonella. I would urge anyone with Lyme disease or bartonella to purchase "Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections."