After years of symptoms, confusion, treatment, improvement, setbacks, and more research than I ever wanted to do, three things stood out in my own experience: Ozone, Cryptolepis, and Artemisinin.
I built Beat Babesia because when I was sick, I wanted to hear from someone who had actually been through it. I still believe people should understand testing and established medical treatment first. But I also know how valuable it is to hear what helped another person.
The Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab at East Stroudsburg University offers qPCR-based testing for pathogen DNA in submitted ticks. Current panels include organisms associated with Lyme disease, Babesia, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi, RMSF, tularemia and others.
The tick does not have to be alive. The lab says dead or damaged ticks can generally be tested; place the specimen in a sealed plastic bag and follow the lab's current mailing instructions. Routine results are generally available within three business days after the lab receives the specimen.
Those are the three things I most wanted to see when I was searching for answers. I am not calling them proven cures. I am telling you, clearly, that they were the three approaches that stood out most in my experience.
I used ozone therapy as part of my Babesia treatment, and I consider it one of the biggest pieces of my recovery story. It is not standard CDC/IDSA babesiosis therapy, so I keep my experience separate from established care.
Read my ozone experienceCryptolepis became an important part of my personal approach. There is interesting laboratory research against Babesia duncani, but human clinical effectiveness has not been established.
Read about CryptolepisArtemisinin was another part of what I tried and one of the three things I believe helped me most. The research is mixed across Babesia species and experimental models, so I show both sides.
Read about Artemisinin
My treatment history included azithromycin, atovaquone, tafenoquine, other antimalarial treatment, and ozone therapy. At one point, azithromycin seemed to improve my symptoms after roughly two months. I had stretches where I felt normal for a couple of months, only to have symptoms return.
A persistent headache became one of the lingering problems I dealt with. Getting better, having symptoms come back, and trying to identify what actually moved the needle became a major part of my recovery experience.
Over time, the three approaches I came to think of as the biggest help in my own experience were Ozone, Cryptolepis, and Artemisinin.
Babesia is an intraerythrocytic apicomplexan parasite. In other words, it belongs to a group of single-celled parasites that use specialized invasion machinery to enter host cells, and its clinically important human stage reproduces inside red blood cells. That red-cell cycle drives hemolysis and interacts with the host inflammatory response. B. microti causes most recognized U.S. cases, but B. duncani, B. divergens and other species can infect humans. The deep-dive pages below explain the biology, testing and treatment with direct study links.
Species, apicomplexan biology, the tick–mammal life cycle, red-cell invasion, hemolysis, persistence and coinfection—with peer-reviewed sources.
Read the deep diveClinical spectrum, hemolysis labs, thrombocytopenia, smear morphology, PCR sensitivity, antibody limitations and post-treatment interpretation.
Read the deep diveThe randomized human trial, atovaquone + azithromycin, clindamycin + quinine, severe disease, exchange transfusion, relapse, resistance and tafenoquine research.
Read the evidencePeer-reviewed studies, clinical trials, public-health guidance and primary sources organized by topic.
See the sourcesMedical information is only useful if people can act on it. These pages help organize the first hours after a bite, questions for a doctor, lab results and prevention for the next time.
Removal, photos, exposure details, what to watch for and when the 72-hour Lyme prophylaxis window may matter.
Open Action CenterTick-bite checklist, symptom tracker, doctor questions and a lab-results organizer.
Open free toolsSee exactly which botanicals have peer-reviewed in-vitro or animal evidence, what organism was studied, and where human evidence is missing.
Open herbal evidenceThese are the Amazon-linked products connected to what I personally used. I am sharing them as part of my experience, not as proven babesiosis treatments or dosing recommendations. Browse all recommended products →
What I personally usedA commercial Cryptolepis product. Laboratory and animal evidence discussed here should not be confused with proven human treatment efficacy.
View Cryptolepis on Amazon
What I personally usedA commercial Artemisinin product. Experimental evidence discussed here is mixed and does not establish commercial supplements as proven human babesiosis treatment.
View Artemisinin on AmazonCryptolepis and artemisinin are the two products I personally used during my Babesia experience. I am sharing what I used, not prescribing a treatment. The other items are practical support products people may find useful while keeping track of medications, supplements, and hydration.
What I personally used
The Cryptolepis product I personally used. See the Cryptolepis page for the research, limitations, and my experience.
View Cryptolepis on AmazonWhat I personally used
The artemisinin product I personally used. See the Artemisinin page for the research, limitations, and my experience.
View Artemisinin on Amazon
Practical support
A simple way to keep prescriptions and supplements organized when a routine gets complicated.
View pill organizer on Amazon
Practical support
Convenient hydration support for people who want an easy electrolyte option. This is not a Babesia treatment.
View hydration packets on Amazon