Bloodwork

[Spiffy1]

I just got my bloodwork back. I had not had it done in a year. My RA factor was about 37 last April. After moving across the country and renting and then moving again it was 49 this May. I was disappointed of course. But I had told my doctor that I would no longer get hung up on that number and go by how I feel. I now know that after five years of trying I have accepted that I will never be one of those to go negative. I have accepted this and instead I am just always going to try to manage it and feeling as well as possible. I am frustrated with Quest because they conveniently left off my vitamin d and ANA so I do not know about those. I still have a normal CRP and very low sed rate. I am assuming I am still Anti CCP negative. I am feeling really well considering what kind of year we have had. Stress is never a helper. I really can’t tell the difference between when my factor was in the 20’s to the forties. But I know how horrible I felt when it was 71. My body is fairly sensitive to it. Some people can have it in the hundreds and not feel a thing. That would not be my case. Now the good news is that I am going to say a lot of my labs stayed consistent or even improved. My Egfr is back up above 100. My ALT and AST are good. My thyroid seems to be good. My cholesterol panel was excellent. All good. I know my doc looks at my report and thinks if she did not have an RA factor she would have it made. It is kind of frustrating. My A1C was 5.1 and I am giving some credit for LDN for this because I have turned to sugar to help me through this year. So I don’t guess I will make any changes with my antibiotic. Sadly when my factor was the lowest was after giving up chocolate for five months. Plus it was in the early fall after summer and my factor is always lower then. If you have been able to shake off your RA factor would you please share how you did it? I am guessing it is a part of me. What I wish is that I knew whether I had always had it or did it develop when I got Lyme/mold issues? I will never know this. But as long as I am feeling well I just can’t fixate on it. Nothing hurts. Nothing is swollen. My energy has gotten me through this year. Anyway, just thought I would share. I have been on AP about 5 years. And by the way, this year I have taken no supplements…Not even a probiotic. I will start over at some point slowly.

Flare fall of 2014...muscle aches, joint pains, fatigue, hair loss, rashes, etc.
RA Factor 71 in Jan 2015 down to 25 as of September 2017
DR4/DQ8 HLA...biotoxin illness
IGG food allergy to wheat, egg, and dairy...probably all grains
Vit. C&D, probiotics, milk thistle, turmeric, fish oil, methyl b 12, methyl folate, digestive enzymes, Candisol, Ubiquinol, berberine, chlorella, Moducare, LDN, monolaurin, Triphala, Patriot Greens, Paractin
MTHFR compound heterozygous
Igenex IGM positive Lyme, minoMWF

[Luck20]

It sounds like things are going good for you overall. I think there is too much emphasis on labs. I don’t think our testing is as sophisticated and accurate as we think. I try to look for the good in them and mininize the negative. There are tests I wish I would have never had run because all they’ve done is cause me stress and havent change my course of treatment one bit.

As for chocolate, even at my strictest eating, I never gave up dark chocolate. I’ve eaten quite a bit, lost weight and repaired some food allergies I believe. I look for the hightest % and read how much sugar and fiber is in it. The less sugar and more fiber, the better. There are so many brands! I just randomly try brands and adapt to their own unique flavors. Sometimes I start off not liking a brand, but as the week goes on I develope a taste for it and end up buying it again. The good ones have fiber, so I count it as a vegetable. 🙂

Originally +Ana May 2018 (now negative Jan 2019), scleroderma or uctd, Morphea (now mostly gone!), Myositis ( better now) Probable Lyme w/coinfections, had Bartonella marks that disappeared,
Mild reflux, mostly gone,mild ild, skin hardening (continued softening and some parts normal again) Impaired liver function, now normal after 1 year and CK, LDH all normal again, 14 mo after starting ap.

Minocin m-f 2x, antibiotic rotation, ldn 4.5, cellcept 3000, probiotics, Monolaurens, Olive leaf extract, fish

[Spiffy1]

Thank you, Luck20. I do agree. There is just so much we don’t know. I know diet is huge. I was glad my folate levels were like 8. Something as opposed to above 20. I used to wonder why I had such high levels as did my father. Now I know it was because of my mTHFR status just storing all that fake folic acid. So I am happy to have normal levels now. Diet is huge. I will say I accidentally ate some garlic mashed potatoes that had cream in it and I did not fall apart so the next time I got them from my family I had a couple of more bites. I also just drank some almond milk coffee yesterday. I had not had coffee since Dec 2013. Something in me is just wanting to loosen up and not be so restrictive. I know I would never touch gluten with a ten foot pole and not dairy 99 percent of the time. I may get coffee back and I might be ready to try eggs in baked goods. If my factor is not going to go away maybe I should not try so hard. As long as I feel about the same. I have been so disciplined and I have to say I have felt so much better but maybe since it has been five years I could try reintroducing eggs in baked goods and coffee.

Flare fall of 2014...muscle aches, joint pains, fatigue, hair loss, rashes, etc.
RA Factor 71 in Jan 2015 down to 25 as of September 2017
DR4/DQ8 HLA...biotoxin illness
IGG food allergy to wheat, egg, and dairy...probably all grains
Vit. C&D, probiotics, milk thistle, turmeric, fish oil, methyl b 12, methyl folate, digestive enzymes, Candisol, Ubiquinol, berberine, chlorella, Moducare, LDN, monolaurin, Triphala, Patriot Greens, Paractin
MTHFR compound heterozygous
Igenex IGM positive Lyme, minoMWF

[Luck20]

Yes, its hard to know when enough time has past to reintroduce things. Also, dietery fatigue can set in. It will be a long time until I can enjoy certain dishes again. There are a couple things I used to make that I can’t stand the sight of anymore.

Its nice to hear other people’s approaches. Thats what I love about groups like, its the ability to hear and share a variety of ideas.

Originally +Ana May 2018 (now negative Jan 2019), scleroderma or uctd, Morphea (now mostly gone!), Myositis ( better now) Probable Lyme w/coinfections, had Bartonella marks that disappeared,
Mild reflux, mostly gone,mild ild, skin hardening (continued softening and some parts normal again) Impaired liver function, now normal after 1 year and CK, LDH all normal again, 14 mo after starting ap.

Minocin m-f 2x, antibiotic rotation, ldn 4.5, cellcept 3000, probiotics, Monolaurens, Olive leaf extract, fish

[Spiffy1]

Isn’t it the truth? All milk from the carton smells rotten to me so I have to let someone else decide when it is bad and I cannot stand the sight or smell of boiled or scrambled eggs. I used to eat these things daily. But eggs in baked goods would help the baked good to look and taste more like normal. This is what I am thinking about trying. But knowing me I will just stick to what I am used to. Not sure though…..

Flare fall of 2014...muscle aches, joint pains, fatigue, hair loss, rashes, etc.
RA Factor 71 in Jan 2015 down to 25 as of September 2017
DR4/DQ8 HLA...biotoxin illness
IGG food allergy to wheat, egg, and dairy...probably all grains
Vit. C&D, probiotics, milk thistle, turmeric, fish oil, methyl b 12, methyl folate, digestive enzymes, Candisol, Ubiquinol, berberine, chlorella, Moducare, LDN, monolaurin, Triphala, Patriot Greens, Paractin
MTHFR compound heterozygous
Igenex IGM positive Lyme, minoMWF

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