How Do You Get Bartonella & What Can You Do To Treat It?

• What Is Bartonella?|
• How Do You Get Bartonella?|
• Symptoms|
• Testing|
• Cure|

You’ve built a solid foundation with diet, lifestyle, and gut health. But do you still struggle with symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, joint pain, and depression? 

A chronic infection caused by a pathogen called Bartonella could be to blame. But how do you get bartonella, and how do you know if you have it?

Over the past couple years, I’ve had more and more clients with chronic infections. And I’ve honed in on certain infections that seem to be the root cause of symptoms for a decent subset of people—bartonella being one of them. 

In this article, I’ll focus on bartonella specifically: what it is, how you might get it, and what its telltale symptoms are. I’ll also briefly share how it’s treated and what you can do to enhance your resilience. 

What Is Bartonella?

Bartonella spp. (the spp. means several species) is a gram-negative bacterium humans can get from other animals, or vectors. It’s typically carried by cats, cat fleas, lice, sand flies, and possibly blacklegged (Ixodes) ticks 1 2. Many Bartonella species can cause human disease; for example:

• Bartonella henselae: Carried by animals like cats that get fleas, it causes cat scratch disease. 
• Bartonella quintana: Carried by the human body louse (aka lice), it causes trench fever.
• Bartonella bacilliformis: Carried by sand flies, it causes Carrion’s disease, which includes Oroya fever (the first phase of infection causing high fever and anemia) and verruga peruana or Peruvian warts (the second phase of infection causing skin nodules).

The Bartonella henselae infection is probably the most common and well-known. 

How Do You Get Bartonella?

Bartonella bacteria hide inside a non-human host, often a cat who’s had fleas. When the host bites or scratches someone, that person can end up with bartonellosis. This is a zoonotic infection, meaning it’s spread from animals to humans. 

In bartonellosis, Bartonella bacteria invade the endothelial cells (inner lining) of blood vessels, bone marrow, and blood 1. When a person’s immune system is working well, the infection is usually mild, self-limiting, and short-lived, and it requires no treatment 3.

But for some people, bartonellosis can cause chronic or relapsing symptoms as the bacteria periodically cycle into the red blood cells 3.

What Are the Symptoms of Bartonella?

Some people with a bartonella infection may only have very mild symptoms that are common to infectious diseases, like 2:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Poor appetite
• Lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes in the head, neck, and arms)

An additional symptom that may clue someone into bartonellosis as the culprit is a streaked rash resembling stretch marks from pregnancy.

People with bartonellosis can also develop symptoms related to the nervous system, such as 2 3:

• Brain fog
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Muscle cramps
• Uncontrollable muscle contractions
• Tingling, weakness, numbness, and pain in the hands and feet

Outside of neurological symptoms, bartonellosis can cause: 

• Shin pain
• Tooth pain
• Pain on the soles of the feet upon waking

• Eye redness
• Spider veins 

Many of these symptoms can be attributed to other conditions, so a bartonella infection may easily be overlooked. This is especially true if you haven’t had an obvious event, like a cat bite from an infected cat.

In more serious cases, bartonellosis may cause:

• Endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the heart)
• Bacillary angiomatosis (tumor-like wounds on the skin and internal organs)
• Peliosis (blood-filled pockets in the liver)

In the clinic, we don’t automatically jump to chronic infections as a cause of symptoms. But it’s definitely something we investigate when our clients don’t fully respond to our first-line therapies.

Is Bartonella the Same as Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is another vector-borne microbial infection. It’s caused by the spiral-shaped bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which we can get from black-legged tick bites.

Bartonella does not cause Lyme disease, but it may be possible to get both bartonella and borrelia from a tick and have a co-infection 1 2.

If you want to have a better understanding of chronic infections like Lyme and bartonellosis, you may want to check out 9 Warning Signs of Lyme Disease. In this video, I cover what organisms cause chronic infections (not just Lyme), provide a checklist of symptoms, and explain testing and treatment.

How Do You Test for Bartonella?

Vector-borne microbial infections are one area where I feel testing is important, since it can help determine the right type of treatment. What is bartonella testing like? 

Identifying bartonella can be a challenge. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing may be the most accurate. But assessing the blood for antibodies with serology tests or for microorganisms with blood cultures are other options. 

If you believe you’ve been exposed to Bartonella, it’s important to discuss possible testing options with your provider.

Can Bartonella Be Cured?

If a bartonella infection calls for treatment, it’s possible to recover completely with the right combination of prescription antibiotics, herbal antimicrobials, and diet and lifestyle support.

But not all bartonella infections require treatment. A robust immune system may be able to tackle any species of Bartonella (B. bacilliformis, B. quintana, or B. henselae).

One reason I recommend maintaining a healthy foundation with diet and lifestyle is that it can help keep us safe in the face of many types of infections. So, I’ll share what to expect if formal treatment is needed and also go over diet and lifestyle supports that can aid recovery.

Natural and Prescription Antibiotics for Bartonella

Antibiotic medications, such as rifampin or doxycycline 1, are commonly prescribed for bartonella, and they should kill the infection within 3–6 weeks 4.

However, research suggests that up to 35% of people may not fully recover from vector-borne microbial infections when using only prescription antibiotics 5. So, I favor using a combination of herbal antimicrobials (natural antibiotics) and conventional antibiotics.

Although we don’t have much human data on the use of herbal antimicrobials for bartonella, evidence suggests the following herbs may be the most effective at improving cure rates 5: 

• Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
• Juglans nigra (black walnut)
• Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)

It’s important to seek out the help of a qualified healthcare provider before trying prescription antibiotics or herbal antimicrobials.

Diet

There are many possible dietary options, but the most important strategy for using the diet as a therapy is to focus on whole foods and pay attention to symptoms. 

In the clinic, we tend to favor the Paleo diet as an initial option because it focuses on whole foods that can help lessen the burden on the immune system and reduce inflammation. Plus, it’s pretty easy to implement, which is an important feature when fighting an infection.

If following the Paleo diet for a few weeks doesn’t lead to significant improvement for our clients, we have other options, like a Mediterranean diet or a low FODMAP diet. If you’re working alone, it may be best to work with a registered dietitian or other nutrition professional to determine what works well for you. 

Healthy Sleep

Fighting a bartonella infection can make restful sleep seem out of reach. Who can sleep well when experiencing fever, pain, headaches, and muscle cramps? Nevertheless, trying to optimize sleep and rest will go a long way toward improving recovery. 

Here are some of the tips and strategies for optimizing sleep that I share in my book, Healthy Gut, Healthy You:

• Reduce blue light at night, use blue-light filters, or use blue-light filtering glasses
• Keep the sleeping environment cool
• Keep the bedroom quiet and dark
• Avoid stressful pre-bed activities (e.g., arguments, news, fight scenes on TV)
• Aim to be in bed by 10 or 11 and to wake up 7–9 hours later
• Schedule time for a nap if you need it

Exercise

Anyone fighting an infection may not feel up to a formal exercise routine. But that doesn’t mean physical activity is off the table. A common recommendation I make to my clients is to get outdoors and walk, preferably with a friend.

A simple walk in nature can do wonders for your immune system (and quality of life), so I often recommend that my clients start there. As they feel up to more, I recommend trying some zone-2 cardio and resistance training. 

Stress Management

It’s probably no surprise that unmanaged stress can negatively impact the immune system. While an active infection can certainly add to daily stress, finding ways to neutralize the stress may speed up recovery. 

Some of my favorite stress management activities include:

• Deep breathing
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Time in nature

Gut Health Supports

The gut’s effect on inflammation, immune system function, and nutrient absorption has far-reaching implications. So, improving gut health can have a tremendous impact on the rest of the body. 

For many of our clients, the diet and lifestyle-related changes suggested above are an effective way to improve gut health. But we also use these specific gut-health supports when needed:

• Probiotics
• Glutamine
• Elemental diet

Bartonella Doesn’t Have to Derail Your Life

What is Bartonella? It’s a bacterium carried by cats, cat fleas, sand flies, lice, and possibly ticks. If you get bitten or scratched by an infected host, you can get an infectious disease called bartonellosis. 

For some people, a bartonella infection is mild and requires no formal treatment. For others, bartonellosis can cause life-disrupting symptoms that come and go for a long time.

If treatment is required, a combination of conventional and natural antibacterials may be best, under a doctor’s supervision. I also encourage my clients to practice foundational supports like a wholesome diet, healthy lifestyle habits, and gut-specific measures (if needed).

If you’ve been struggling with the symptoms of a chronic infection, we’d be honored to partner with you. Contact us at the Ruscio Institute for Functional Health to make an appointment.

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