BK Virus

[DanL]

Just checking to see if anybody out there has any experience with the Bk Virus. I have had it for about 35 days and was asymptomatic until about 2 weeks ago. I have been drinking a lot and trying to avoid caffeine, but any other ideas on treatment? It is still probably a little too early for me to be reducing Tacrolimus levels too much at this point as I am only at day +60. Since there is not a lot of blood in my urine, they don't really want to pursue the other options available. So for now, it is oxycodone, water, some cranberry juice added in just to see.

Thnaks.

[Marlene]

Hi DanL,

So sorry to hear you got hit with the BK virus. John had it too along with haemorrhagic cystitis from the Cytoxan. His circumstances are different in that he did not have a BMT but he was without a white count for about 3 months. I can't claim that cranberries had anything to do with his healing of the bladder but after consuming a variety of cranberry dishes over a 4 week period, his bleeding stopped.

As you know, hydration is critical as is a good white count.

It will clear at some point.

[DanL]

Thanks for the information Marlene, My white counts are up and doing their part, every white component is above the low range of normal, but the tacrolimus keeps them all from taking care of the infection

I just asked my doctor about adding cranberry juice, etc, to my diet to try and assist, even if it is only psychological and he said sure, won't hurt anything to do so.

It is nice to get confirmation from someone who tried the cranberry approach and that it may have had a positive impact. This is a nasty little infection that I would not wish on anyone, and I am willing to try just about anything to help it out the door.

[Marlene]

It is nasty. It was by chance that I started feeding John cranberry everything. It was fall and fresh cranberries were in season. I made him cranberry tarts and chutney, preserves, etc...

Not that you would want to take another pill but they do have cranberry capsules. You can also look into D-Mannose. It's the substance in cranberries responsible for the effectiveness of cranberries on bladder infections. It's a powder that you can mix in water or juice. It a simple sugar that doesn't mess with your blood sugar.

Here's an article on a clinical trial where they used D-mannose for UTI's and speaks to how it works. Of course this is not what you're dealing with but will give you insight to the safety of D-mannos/cranberries. I'm sure there never was and will never be trail on this for the BK virus.
http://clinicaltrialsfeeds.org/clini...ow/NCT01808755

Blueberries can also be helpful.

Glad your white count is up there. Hope you see relief soon.