Understanding Chronic Babesia Symptoms and How to Reverse Them

• Babesiosis|
• Symptoms|
• Treatment|
• Foundational Support|
• Prevention|

We’ve noticed a decent subset of people in the clinic who are battling chronic symptoms like anxiety, brain fog, and digestive issues. This is despite working hard on the foundational pillars of gut health, diet, and lifestyle.

To help our clients regain optimal health, we’ve been honing in on certain types of chronic infections caused by bacteria or parasites that seem to be the root cause of these stubborn symptoms.

So let’s talk about babesiosis, an infection caused by the parasite, Babesia. After some helpful background information, I’ll get into a roadmap for successfully overcoming chronic Babesia symptoms. 

What is Babesiosis?

Babesiosis is a vector-borne microbial infectious disease. It’s caused by Babesia protozoa (microscopic, single-celled parasites). 

Vector-borne means the pathogen enters the body through a scratch or bite from an animal or insect—like a black-legged deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the case of Babesia. It’s also possible to get babesiosis from a blood transfusion if the blood donor is infected with Babesia 1. 

Babesia invades the red blood cells, damaging the mitochondria (powerhouses of cells) 1. Damaged mitochondria mean less energy is available to our cells, which can contribute to a whole host of uncomfortable relapsing symptoms 2. 

There are many species of Babesia, but Babesia microti (or B. microti for short) is responsible for most cases of babesiosis in the United States 3.

Is Babesiosis the Same as Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is probably the most well-known vector-borne microbial infection. But Babesia doesn’t cause Lyme disease—the spiral-shaped bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi does 1. 

However, it is possible to have both Lyme disease and babesiosis (referred to as a co-infection) if the biting tick carries both Borrelia and Babesia 1.

What are the Symptoms of Babesiosis?

As with other vector-borne microbial infections, people with babesiosis can experience flu-like symptoms such as 2:

• High fever
• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Body aches
• Swollen lymph nodes 

With a strong immune system, most Babesia infections are mild and self-limiting, meaning no formal treatment is needed 4. Symptoms can appear within 1–6 weeks of transmission, and last as long as three months 4.

If the immune system isn’t able to effectively deal with the infection for some reason, it’s possible to develop chronic Babesia symptoms. 

This table provides a breakdown of key chronic Babesia symptoms and how they might affect someone:

In severe cases of babesiosis, people can experience life-threatening issues such as disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), liver and heart failure, and renal failure 5. 

If someone is unaware of being bitten by a black-legged tick (or hasn’t had a blood transfusion or organ transplant), many of these symptoms could be attributed to other causes. 

And in fact, we see clients in the clinic who have unknowingly struggled with chronic Babesia symptoms for years. It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of trying different supplements and therapies to feel better, but true healing takes targeting the root cause—the Babesia parasite.

So, if someone has one or more of these symptoms on a consistent basis despite following an overall healthy lifestyle, this might prompt them to take action and encourage their healthcare provider to look further into a possible diagnosis of babesiosis. 

Diagnosing babesiosis is done easily with a blood test. Your healthcare provider will take a blood sample and send it to a lab to see if the Babesia parasite is in your red blood cells.

What is the Treatment for Chronic Babesia Symptoms?

If formal treatment is needed for chronic Babesia symptoms or severe babesiosis, antibiotic medications—typically atovaquone plus azithromycin—are used for 7–10 days 1.

While antibiotics can be effective, they may not lead to complete healing. 

Antibiotics tend to reduce the concentrations of microbes enough to improve symptoms, but they may not eliminate the microbes completely. Research suggests up to 35% of people treated with prescription antibiotics don’t fully recover 6.

I prefer to add in herbal antimicrobials (natural antibiotics) because they have the ability to help suppress harmful microbes, modulate the immune system, and promote an environment for damaged cells to recover more easily 6 7 8.

There isn’t much human data on the use of herbs for Babesia treatment. But the herbal antimicrobials with the strongest evidence against Babesia include 6:

• Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
• Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood)
• Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)

If someone is struggling with what may be chronic Babesia symptoms, it may be tempting to try out herbal antimicrobials on their own. But it’s very important to always speak with a healthcare provider before adding this therapy. 

Other Steps to Help You Overcome Chronic Babesia Symptoms

If needed, it’s important to seek formal treatment (prescription and natural antibiotics) for chronic Babesia symptoms. 

But there are additional steps that can help improve the quality of life during treatment and how well the medications and herbs work to clear the infection. 

And these foundational steps aren’t just for people with babesiosis. They can also help rebuild a weakened immune system so that it can resist a babesiosis infection in the first place. 

Step 1: Whole-Foods Diet and Gut-Supportive Lifestyle

In my book, Healthy Gut, Healthy You, I lay out in detail why improving gut health can be so impactful for creating a strong immune system. And it comes down to the sheer number of immune cells that reside in the small intestine—more than any other place in the body 9.

Without a healthy gut, it’s very difficult to prevent and recover from any chronic infection. Since food and lifestyle are major drivers of gut function, it just makes sense to include them in a treatment plan.

In my experience, diet is without question the most impactful intervention someone can use to regain their health. 

In the clinic, we tend to recommend starting with the Paleo diet because it removes common food allergens, lowers inflammation, and balances blood sugar—all important components for feeling better 10 11 12 13. 

That said, if following the Paleo diet for 2–3 weeks doesn’t move the needle much on symptoms, a low FODMAP diet is another option to check out. We help our clients in the clinic work through this process, and we’d be happy to help you determine which dietary strategy is best for you.

Moving toward a whole-food diet has a massive return on investment for improving gut health and creating a strong immune system. In addition, we recommend the following lifestyle habits that will support your gut and immune system and help magnify the results of diet changes:

• Avoid toxins as much as possible
• Get enough time in the sun
• Enjoy nature
• Get a healthy amount of exercise
• Walk as much as possible
• Get restful sleep
• Practice a daily stress management technique
• Spend time with loved ones 

This list may look daunting, especially if you’re not feeling well from chronic Babesia symptoms. But don’t aim for perfection with diet or feel the need to implement every strategy on this list to start feeling better.

Our approach in the clinic is to have clients pick out a few that they can be consistent with, and then add more as they start feeling better. It’s a steady march forward that tends to provide the most benefit. 

Step 2: Multi-Strain Probiotics

Diet and lifestyle lay the foundation for a healthy gut and a strong immune system. But multi-strain probiotics are a great next step because they can further reduce overzealous immune system activity and inflammation 14.

Just like with diet, there isn’t one specific probiotic strain for chronic Babesia symptoms. In general, research suggests that it’s best to use a multi-strain probiotic 15 16 17. 

Probiotics can be classified into one of three categories 18:

• Lactobacillus/Bifidobacterium blends
• Saccharomyces boulardii, a helpful yeast
• Soil-based Bacillus species

Adding any one of these categories can be helpful. But in the clinic, we’ve noticed that our clients tend to have the best results when they combine all three categories, what we call probiotic triple therapy. 

Here’s the evidence-based probiotic protocol we use:

You may be wondering if it’s ok to take probiotics while using natural or prescription antibiotics for chronic Babesia symptoms, and the answer is yes! Probiotics help antimicrobials and antibiotics work more effectively and reduce the side effects from antibiotics, so it’s a win-win 19.

What’s the Best Way to Prevent Babesiosis?

Chronic Babesia symptoms can significantly impact daily life, so it’s easy to think it’s best to forgo enjoying nature to avoid tick-borne diseases. 

But that’s the opposite of what I recommend. Instead, I encourage my clients to maintain a strong immune system with steps 1 and 2 above, which will allow the body to fight off and recover more quickly from chronic infections.

Time in nature is a wonderful way to manage stress and feel connected to the earth. Instead of avoiding the outdoors, consider putting some preventative measures in place such as 20:

• Finding out if you live or plan to visit an area with ticks that spread vector-borne microbes (for example, parts of Europe or the northeastern or upper midwest United States).
• Wearing appropriate clothing and using repellents to shield yourself from tick bites.
• Checking yourself for ticks after being outdoors.
• Learning signs to look for and how to remove ticks properly.
• Examining pets for ticks regularly and removing them if found.

Eliminate Chronic Babesia Symptoms 

Babesiosis is a tick-borne infection caused by Babesia, a protozoan parasite. Most of the time, formal treatment isn’t needed, but when it is, antibiotics are used for 7–10 days. 

Rather than using antibiotics alone, I prefer to add in herbal antimicrobials (natural antibiotics) and therapies such as diet, lifestyle, and probiotics to foster more complete healing. 

If you’ve been struggling with chronic Babesia symptoms, we’d love to partner with you on your healing journey—contact us at the Ruscio Institute for Functional Health for an appointment.

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