Results back after taking minocycline for RA

[Carolyn]

I am a new follower to this group, just a little over a year. Within this past year, I have gotten so much good info and appreciate each one of you that have been on this journey longer than me and share your stories.
I started Torrent minocycline gradually August 2017 with just 50 mg and worked up to 100 mg twice a day on MWF over the next months. April 2018 I had finally reached this goal and I have remained there since. I have noticed gradual things that I thought maybe I was getting a little better but wanted to get my labs done again to see what has changed. The biggest thing I noticed a few months ago is that I was able to get my rings on again where as last summer they did not fit at all.
I had labs done in December 2017 after just being on minocycline a couple of months and there was no improvement and my Sed Rate jumped to 74 and crp jumped to 18.5. I never did experience a major Herx but I just didn’t feel well overall.
In August 2018, my doc repeated labs again. My Sed Rate is down to 39 and crp was 0.8. I was surprised to see these numbers drop this much but was hoping that they would reflect how I have been feeling for the past few months. Since I am so new to this, I was wondering if it is premature to be thinking/hoping that I am going toward remission. Do labs usually fluctuate and go down and then go back up. I kept telling my husband I thought I was feeling a little beater each month and he was noticing some improvements since last summer.
Have any of your experienced a little improvement and then your labs get worse again? Thank you for any comments you may have.

Diagnosed 2014 RA and hypothyroid-no symptoms
2015-symptoms start and start treatment for thyroid
MTHFR- one copy of A1298C
Mycoplasma pneumonie, Ab, IgG
EBV- VCA IgG, EBV-EAIgG, NA igG
Current meds:Minocycline - Torrent 100 mg MWF- 2x, Levothyroxine 88mcg, Liothyronine 5 mcg - 2x daily Ranitidine 150mg -2x, Nasacort, ibuprofen-200 mg daily - nothing for pain since May 2018
Supplements: Thyrolife Optima, Fish oil, vitamin D -5000 daily, magnesium glycinate- 100 mg, probiotic 25 billion
Food sensitiv

[Maz]

Hi Carolyn,

Yes, labs do fluctuate over time but the long term trend should be down for all the RA labs. It is normal for labs to “Herx” at the outset of treatment and yours appear to be coming down gradually and this is reflected in your improved symptoms! So you’re right on track! If labs and symptoms aren’t showing signs of improvement by 6-8 months, the general recommendation is to go back to the drawing board and tweak the protocol with the doc. You sound to be doing just fine, though. I think the following FAQs will help to understand all this:

Check out FAQs 25 & 26

[Carolyn]

Thanks so much for commenting. I forgot to mention that my mycoplasma antibody (IgG) was at 1.51 in March 2017 and came down to <=.90 and the IgM came down from 184 to 134. Not sure of the significance here but in rereading sections of the book, it seems that the antibiotic is working in “killing” the mycoplasma. I haven’t had my follow up with my doc yet but she did comment on my patient portal that the result was great and shows very low reactivity. This all sounds encouraging to me but I didn’t want to get my hopes up in case I was hoping for too much too soon.

Diagnosed 2014 RA and hypothyroid-no symptoms
2015-symptoms start and start treatment for thyroid
MTHFR- one copy of A1298C
Mycoplasma pneumonie, Ab, IgG
EBV- VCA IgG, EBV-EAIgG, NA igG
Current meds:Minocycline - Torrent 100 mg MWF- 2x, Levothyroxine 88mcg, Liothyronine 5 mcg - 2x daily Ranitidine 150mg -2x, Nasacort, ibuprofen-200 mg daily - nothing for pain since May 2018
Supplements: Thyrolife Optima, Fish oil, vitamin D -5000 daily, magnesium glycinate- 100 mg, probiotic 25 billion
Food sensitiv

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