Breast Implants

[karin1013]

So, some of you may remember me. In 2005 I had my daughter and then 2 root canals. Then I got very bad RA about 2 months later. I have been on AP since beginning of 2006. I was 33 when diagnosed. I went on AP right away. I never did biologics thank God. I was on clindy IVs for 6 months and azithromycin 3x per week for many years. Within 6 months I was much better. In a year I was near remission. I stayed great for many years. In 2015, I had another root canal :(. I had no choice, it was new years day, I was in severe pain, and I was leaving to get married the next day. I hoped that RA was behind me but I was a little worried. Sure enough a couple months later the RA came back again. After being in remission for about 10 years. I had a biologic dentist redo a couple of the root canals with BC sealer. One of them had been infected for at least 12 years because the original endodontist had missed one of my 5 roots completely!! I am sure this ongoing infection triggered my RA. I started an iodine protocol recently for hypothyroidism and it might be aggravating the RA? I have also had breast implants since about 1995. I had them replaced in 2011. I never really thought the implants could be causing the RA because I got better with Ap and it seemed so tied to the root canals. Now I am wondering if it is a combination of the two things. I am considering explant. Any thoughts on this? Do you think implants could worsen my RA?

[PhilC]

Hi Karin,

karin1013 wrote:

I started an iodine protocol recently for hypothyroidism and it might be aggravating the RA?

What does that iodine protocol entail?

karin1013 wrote:

Do you think implants could worsen my RA?

It’s possible, but not likely.

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[Maz]

Karin, that is really sad to hear that your RA relapsed on the heels of an emergency root canal, the day before your wedding day. Agh…you poor thing.

Would be hard to know if your iodine protocol is aggravating your RA…did you have your iodine levels tested prior to starting the protocol to get a baseline level? One thing I can share from personal experience is that when I had to have a radioactive iodine scan for toxic multinodular goiter a couple years ago, I had a very serious reaction in the days following. It felt like an horrendous herxheimer reaction with chills, extreme joint and muscle pain and general malaise. It was the main reason that both the surgeon and endocrinologist advised me not to take the radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) to ablate my thyroid and recommended thyroidectomy instead. I think a high dose of RAI would have done me in. So, I’m wondering if you’re experiencing a similar reaction to the one I had by supplementing with iodine?

Have you considered cutting out gluten from your diet, a protein which is believed to cross-react with thyroid cells and lead to thyroid problems? I’m not sure where you’re at with your thyroid researches, so you may be well ahead of the game on all this. There are so many environmental toxic exposures that are leading to exponential increases in thyroid diseases today (leaky gut, GMOs, fluoride, heavy metals, infections, etc). I have found Izabella Wentz’s site to be very informative in regards to thyroid issues. A pharmacist, she was able to reverse her Hashimoto’s and shares what she has learned on her site/blog…here is a video lecture she gave at the Functional Health Summit:

Dr. Izabella Wentz at Functional Health Summit on Root Causes of Thyroid Disease

I have a slightly different view from Phil on breast implants (or any type of implant). Implants are foreign to the body and can be repositories for biofilm formation. This is acknowledged with respect to knee implants, for example, which is why orthopedists recommend taking antibiotics whenever any dental work is done. Dental infections travel in the body and will hang out anywhere they can find a comfortable nesting place. A dear, younger friend of mine had got Lyme some years ago and, after the birth of her third and final child, decided to get breast implants. Within 6 months, she started developing all the signs and symptoms of CREST scleroderma. Hard to say if it would have happened anyway, but after the trauma of a difficult caesarean birth (and funky post-natal hormones), one can’t help but wonder if breast implant surgery shortly could be a cause of reactivating Lyme disease (or other chronic infections) and setting off autoimmunity. I have encountered a few women with various rheumatic diseases who have questioned if their breast implants may have set off or caused a relapse. If rectifying the root canal doesn’t help, then looking at all the possibilities may be worth your while.

There are some studies and discussions online about a potential link to autoimmunity and breast implants – mostly silicone, which were replaced by saline, but are now occasionally being used again – so you might be interested to look around the web to see what you can uncover, Karin.

http://www.medicalhealthtests.com/articles/88/breast-test/breast-implants-and-autoimmune-disease.html

[karin1013]

Maz: Thank you so much for the thoughtful response. Yes, I am just now learning about biofilms and I am looking into explant! My RA started in 2005 right after I had my daughter. I had had the implants about 10 years at that time. I brought them up to my AP doctor and he said lets try to get you better with antibiotics first. And I did get better! So I was sure it was bacteria from the root canals, mixed with post-pregnancy hormones that started my disease process. AP worked wonderfully for me until 2015. It is still working, by the way. I have never been as bad as I was that first bout (much like people in the book). But I am having some symptoms creep back and I am anxious to get well. I had two root canals redone by a biologic enododontist using BC sealer instead of gutta percha. I might need them removed altogether. It certainly sounds like your friend’s scleroderma was caused by the implants. My rheumatologist and endodontist said I am walking proof that root canals cause RA! However, I am sure the implants aren’t helping matters much, either, due to the biofilms and possible toxins being released. I have heard of joint pain with iodine and with thyroid meds. I don’t know what the connection is there, apparently hormones. However, iodine does kill bacteria, so maybe it is a herx? I might be toothless and boobless, but hey maybe I will have my health!! 😉

Thank you, thank you!
Karin

[Maz]

Karin, I wish you the very best in getting these creeping symptoms resolved. I can’t really remember why you didn’t use minocycline, but have you considered adding it to the zith?

I hear ya re: the root canals! I have done so much to sort out my teeth over the years, but also have a strong belief that there is a connection with dental health and RA, particularly in anti-CCP RA.

I haven’t done a lot of research on the effects of iodine and whether it causes arthralgia and myalgia, but I believe it can precipitate transient hypo or hyperthyroidism, both of which can lead to a worsening of RA pain. Interestingly, the Stop the Thyroid Madness site comments that in some folks there is a transient toxin release with the use of iodine and that this reaction might be worse when cortisol is running low (common in chronic illness).

Iodine and your thyroid

There is such a fine balance with thyroid hormones and rheumatic diseases and this has been made starkly clear to me since having had my thyroid removed and depending solely on exogenous thyroid hormone replacement. There is a slim window where the ideal is to be found with thyroid hormone replacement, because RA inflammation can go up and down and prevent proper hormone conversion from the inactive T4 to the active T3, meaning that inflammation blocks proper cellular metabolism and, in my experience, this can lead to slowed metabolism in pretty much every regard…nutrient absorption, med absorption and metabolism, toxin release, etc. Don’t know if you saw this blog, but it might help:

https://www.roadback.org/blog/your-thyroid-and-rheumatic-disease/

There was also one on dental infections and RA:

https://www.roadback.org/blog/jia-and-ra-p-gingivalis-and-anti-ccp/

Hope this helps a bit, Karin…please come back and let us know how you get on.

[PhilC]

Hi Karin,

Regarding implants and biofilms, biofilms are a potential problem whether you have implants or not, so I don’t see removing them as necessarily solving the problem. Once you are on an effective antibiotic protocol, and have begun recovering, you can add one or more biofilm-busting supplements to your regimen. If your implants have biofilm on them, once you begin attacking the biofilm you will probably notice pain and inflammation in your breasts.

It’s a shame that you spent all that money on those root canals. Fortunately, I’ve never had one — and knowing what I now know, I would never allow a dentist to perform one. I’d rather have the tooth pulled and replaced with a dental implant.

A friend of mine has had a lot of dental work done. He has had several root canals, and crowns on all of his teeth. Unfortunately, a few years ago his immune system began attacking the roots of his teeth, and he had to have them all pulled. The last few teeth that the dentist pulled out were infected. My friend had no idea that those teeth were infected, and neither did his dentists.

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[Maz]

Interestingly, this article and study just came up on my live feed today. It may or may not be helpful, but it discusses different types of breast implants, theorizing that silicone implants are associated with bacterial biofilms and there is some speculation that they may lead to anaplastic large cell lymphoma, though the risk is believed to be low:

http://www.livescience.com/58376-breast-implants-cancer.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26890506

Phil is right that the body is filled with biofilm colonies and some of these may even be protective, so to bust them open, in some cases, might even be harmful. I suspect that this is one of the reasons that many people find their rheumatic disease comes on after a stressful event or prolonged stress, which raises cortisol levels and may lead to biofilm breaking up and unleashing otherwise walled off infections…just a personal theory though.

In Europe, I’d read in some article that they were using a silver nitrate coating on knee implants to prevent biofilm formation and the risk of post-surgical infections. Would be amazing if they could do similar with breast implants, especially for women needing reconstruction after mastectomy or who suffer with co-morbidities.

[Author]

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