"Cleaning out" joint

[Sierra]

Saw my rheumy today and I am doing so well on minocycline that I don't need to see her for a year! I'm hoping the liver and kidney tests are normal, because this medicine has really helped me and I want to stay on it.

The doctor talked with me about a persistent trouble spot I have at the base of a middle finger. The doctor injected it with cortisone once, but the area is still swollen and painful at times. Acupuncture helps, but the problem keeps returning. Today she suggested getting it “cleaned out” by a hand surgeon–“arthroscopic debridement” according to my Google search. If anyone here has had this procedure I would benefit from hearing about it.

Sierra

[Maz]

Hi Sierra,

Have you considered bee venom shots? My LLMD says they're as potent as cortisone without the nasty side-effects. I'm going to try them for my knees when I'm finished ultrasound therapy. Just wondering if there is any way to avert hand surgery?

Peace, Maz 

[linda]

Does anyone know if abx can be injected around the joint to get a more direct approach to affected joints? Seems like if they can do cortisone injections they should be able to do injections of abx.

[Maz]

[user=11]linda[/user] wrote:

Does anyone know if abx can be injected around the joint to get a more direct approach to affected joints? Seems like if they can do cortisone injections they should be able to do injections of abx.

Hi Linda,

Apparently, Dr Brown used to do this. Here is the schpeel from rheumatic.org:

>INJECTING THE JOINT Thomas McPherson Brown, M.D. et al in Antimycoplasma
>Approach to the Mechanism and the Control of Rheumatoid Disease from
>Inflammatory Diseases and Copper, The Humana Press 1982 states:
>'Intraarticular injections of clindamycin have been very effective when
>the reactive state of the joint is so intense that penetrance (of the
>antibiotic) is not achieved by the oral or IV route. The inflammation
>must be reduced in most instances for maximum clindamycin effect. The
>usual treatment plan for large joints, clindamycin 300 mg, plus
>dexamethasone 4 mg. A reduced amount of the same combination of these
>medications is used for smaller joints.'

Seems he also used a little cortisone mixed with clindamycin for these shots to get better penetration of the abx.

Meant to ask my LLMD about this at my last appt. Thanks for the reminder!

Peace, Maz

[suera]

So happy for you Sierra, I don't know anything about the surgery your doc has advised but I am wondering what is your dx and how long have you been on ap?

Sue

[John McDonald]

Sierra – I have had a few elective surgeries, a tonsilectomy and most recently doc repaired my fractured hip with some screws. My beloved has had a few surgeries. Overall I find that surgeons are extremely confident that they can make us better but the results don't always match the boasting. I tried twice to reverse a vasectomy and each surgeon told me that he had extraordinary success, 90% sort of claims, but neither followed up AT ALL and evidently neither succeeded with me. I guess if you are a surgeon then you think you can fix all sorts of things with your knife, and your success rate can be arbitrarily high if you never examine your results. I wonder too, how many of us acquired CWD bacteria from surgeries.

I think surgery is exactly the right thing to do in some cases, screwing together my fractured hip, for example. But I sure as hell wouldn't get a surgery because my surgeon thinks it is a good idea. I want surgery, if I do, because I am convinced it is a good idea. I like to think of surgery as a knife fight in which only one of us is armed, and the other is already out cold. I lose more of those fights than I win. I know a lot of people who think they were worse off after a corrective surgery than they were before. That doesn't include rheumatic patients. I don't know any. It might be a good idea for your joint. Then again…

Is there any chance that the joint will heal on its own after the inflammation is reduced through AP?

john

[Pip]

I'd be a bit hesitant to inject a toxin into my body.  We know there are environmental triggers at play too – no need to add anything to the pot!

Hugs,

Pip

[Sierra]

Diagnosis is RA. Have been on antibiotic for 1.5 years. Interesting to read people's responses to my question. Thanks for the food for thought!

Sierra

[Maz]

[user=23]Pip[/user] wrote:

I'd be a bit hesitant to inject a toxin into my body.  We know there are environmental triggers at play too – no need to add anything to the pot!

Hiya Pip,

Did you mean the bee venom shots as being a “toxin”? I'm interested to know more about this, if so. Do you have any research on this to share?

Just wondering, because Dr Brown mentioned bee venom as a promising therapy in tThe Road Back. Apparently, the mellitin in bee venom is a powerful, natural anti-inflammatory. MSers are using bee venom with pretty good results and apparently in the long history of bee-keeping, bee-keepers are said to never get arthritis, because they are stung so much. After a while they build of a resistance to the actual sting and don't even feel it anymore. The shots are a little different, I think, in that they're combined with a bit of local anesthetic to counter the effects of the sting.

There's a rehabilitation doctor about an 45 mins from me who does these shots for his rheumatoid patients, believing that it is a less aggressive way to relieve inflammation than cortisone shots, without the side-effects. I intend on calling to ask a lot of questions before making a decision, but after doing some online research, I'm inclined to feel it's a promising alternative therapy (providing one isn't allergic to bee stings, of course!).

Can you expand on your thoughts…if you meant “bee venom”, that is.;)

Thanks!

Peace, Maz

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