He said he had put her on long-term oral antibiotics.

"But Lyme disease is not likely to be the cause, and long-term antibiotics are clearly not curative."

Much later, Ms. Samelson found a doctor who prescribed long-term, intravenous antibiotics, which can cost $3,000 a week and more.

Endocarditis is treated with long-term antibiotics or, in serious cases, with surgery to replace damaged heart valves.

Endocarditis is usually treated with long-term antibiotics.

Ms. Monsen and others believe that long-term antibiotics are the only way to deal with their disease.

He pointed to the absence of published studies showing benefits from the use of long-term antibiotics in large numbers by Lyme patients.

Although some doctors prescribe long-term, high-dose intravenous antibiotics, most do not.

For now, Margolis says doctors and patients have to consider the "risks vs. the benefits of using long-term oral antibiotics in acne patients."

I am living proof of the value of long-term antibiotics.