could smoking be holding me back?

[gordbentley]

I feel great for a few weeks or a month and then I have a short stretch 4 days usually where my legs feel horrible. can ciggarette smoking hold AP people back from complete success? or is it because I miss one dose and everything gets thrown out of wack? I swear it feels like i have blood clots or something in my legs. the tendons feel so swollen 🙁 I need to figure something out to get rid of these sore days I get, they really set my outlook back.

[kerry23]

Sounds like a typical herx reaction to me. I have read most people herx on a monthly basis so you are right on schedule.
I quit smoking a few months after I learned about my illness, it really is easy when you get through the first few days. Smoking slows the healing process of any illness even the common cold.

[A Friend]

@gordbentley wrote:

I feel great for a few weeks or a month and then I have a short stretch 4 days usually where my legs feel horrible. can ciggarette smoking hold AP people back from complete success? or is it because I miss one dose and everything gets thrown out of wack? I swear it feels like i have blood clots or something in my legs. the tendons feel so swollen 🙁 I need to figure something out to get rid of these sore days I get, they really set my outlook back.

Hi Gord,

I didn’t see information in your profile about how long you have been on AP treatment. Based on many posts by patients in the past, it can take a number of months to really begin feeling better and for symptoms to begin turning around — but when they do start happening for the better, we patients definitely seem to sense/know it! And how sweet it is!

During many years of reading about aspects of our problems and treatments, etc., I accept it as true that our blood can be thicker than normal, and this can be related to biofilm, etc. causing a thickening of blood and hiding of organisms to protect themselves.

Dr. Brown and other astute physicians for chronic illness have written about some helps for AP getting to where it needs to get to address these unfriendly organisms. In some of Dr. Brown’s writings, he suggested taking such as ibuprofen (an anti-inflammatory) about 30 minutes before taking the antibiotic. Somewhere, I’ve also read/learned that taking enzymes such as Bromelain (taken a certain way for this purpose, I believe on an empty stomach between meals) can also facilitate the AP reaching the unfriendly organisms.

Some of us, and perhaps from different causes, can have developed problems with our capillaries also not functioning ideally. You can do a search on capillaries and study this a bit, if you are interested. This topic really came to the forefront for me about 3 years ago when I began having unexplained profuse nosebleeds, ending up in the ER. My ENT, when I asked him what I could do to correct whatever had gone wrong, told me there was nothing I could do. [How wrong he was! I’m afraid I don’t give up that easy…lol]

I did all kinds of searches and found a young man slolam skier who had had nosebleeds since a young age. He too was stubborn apparently, and had finally cured himself of it, and created a web site to share his information. I can share details/links with anyone who needs this. But, the key for me to overcome this (nosebleeds were happening constantly for two or three weeks), was to begin taking Citrus Bioflavinoids and Vitamin C in larger doses,Vitamin K (I was apparently a bit depleted of this from being on longterm AP), PLUS using Cayenne Pepper in a hot tea to which lemon and stevia were added. Cayenne Pepper can actually (I learned) stop hemorrhaging from gunshot wounds, etc. PLUS Cayenne Pepper has an amazing amount nutrients in it and is very healthful. Enough for this now, but it might be that capillaries in smokers may be affected in several ways. So, you might look into your circulation — both blood flow in the body and in capillaries. There is lots of information out there on these subjects.

AF

[dianne-sunshinecoast]

hi all, i wonder if you could be affected even if you had smoked and given up some time ago, if their could be irreversable damage to a person, also wondering does it matter what time of the day you take the abx? ..kind regards ,,di.

[gordbentley]

Hi a friend, lol

I have been on AP for 6 months and 3 days exactly. the improvement has been pretty dramatic in my upper body in which there is 0 pain 0 inflammation and 0 joint pain! which is great. and i have had periods ranging from 3 months to a month to two weeks where my legs feel just as great. its just when they start to hurt i get discouraged and I always wonder if I am doing something wrong. my swollen lymph nodes are gone, scratchy eyes are gone, fatigue is gone too. legs persist with long periods of feeling well to short bursts of pain which is more like a 6 or 7 on the 1-10 scale. i forgot to take my meds last wednesday cuz i was feeling good but by friday it was too late to take my meds. i woke up and the pain started, its almost dying down now but it still hurts. i go back to work full time at the end of this week so Im hoping it goes away quick. im developing a plan so that I ensure I never miss my meds again. Im also considering going back to not eating grains again. i still dont touch sugar but grains may be a problem. i always notice my legs hurt after eating potatoes so those are now officially out as of 4 days ago. I just gotta hang in there cuz I know this will be the answer soon. this is going to go away, my gut says so. he is usually right 🙂 im going to remain on the 50mg MWF cuz I feel this leaves me with a better shot long term of not developing any hypersensitivitys or resistance. just gotta get over this hump!

[A Friend]

@gordbentley wrote:

Hi a friend, lol

I have been on AP for 6 months and 3 days exactly. the improvement has been pretty dramatic in my upper body in which there is 0 pain 0 inflammation and 0 joint pain! which is great. and i have had periods ranging from 3 months to a month to two weeks where my legs feel just as great. its just when they start to hurt i get discouraged and I always wonder if I am doing something wrong. my swollen lymph nodes are gone, scratchy eyes are gone, fatigue is gone too. legs persist with long periods of feeling well to short bursts of pain which is more like a 6 or 7 on the 1-10 scale. i forgot to take my meds last wednesday cuz i was feeling good but by friday it was too late to take my meds. i woke up and the pain started, its almost dying down now but it still hurts. i go back to work full time at the end of this week so Im hoping it goes away quick. im developing a plan so that I ensure I never miss my meds again. Im also considering going back to not eating grains again. i still dont touch sugar but grains may be a problem. i always notice my legs hurt after eating potatoes so those are now officially out as of 4 days ago. I just gotta hang in there cuz I know this will be the answer soon. this is going to go away, my gut says so. he is usually right 🙂 im going to remain on the 50mg MWF cuz I feel this leaves me with a better shot long term of not developing any hypersensitivitys or resistance. just gotta get over this hump!

Gord, several thoughts I had as I read your reply above:
1) Well, sounds like you must have been doing some things “right” to have this much improvement.
2) Short bursts of pain, so early in the game, could even be something that may even be improving… those nerves/nerve endings squawk sometimes and we are left to wonder why????
3) Your comments about dietary grains and sugar sound like a worthy plan, based on possibility of leaky gut and possible yeast/fungal problems — we don’t have to have celiac to have bad reactions to gluten grains, a very good AP lady physician is very knowledgeable and thinks that many patients can have what is referred to as “Celiac syndrome” (where the body reacts the same as if the patient had true Celiac… grains can be very hard on a battered gastrointestinal system). Now to the potatoes, if my memory is still working, potatoes are one of the nightshade vegetables, and some people can become very sensitive/allergic (???) to the nightshades. Dr. Sherry Rogers writes about her ordeal when she was trying to get well and having extreme sensitivity to nightshades. She wrote some of her symptoms such as this is why she had to get all those medical degrees/designations: in order to get herself well. If your library has “Painfree in Six Weeks” or “Detoxify or Die” (both written by her), these might be helpful, especially if you are sensitive to nightshades.
4) Gord, you can get a small round plastic pillbox or tiny bottle and put a few of your abx capsules in it and carry it in your pocket. If I had to bet, I’d have to bet that missing one dose of abx would not have been the culprit in this. As long as you don’t swallow that capsule and lie down immediately (the capsule can dissolve and cause some burning in the esophagus if it hasn’t gone far enough down the gastro system), am thinking you could take that make-up capsule even hours after you missed it. If you haven’t read about the killing cycle of abx in Dr. Brown’s work, I think you would find that very interesting, and he has written in some of his papers that pulsed dosing works really well.

Hope this brainstorming may possibly be helpful.

AF

[gordbentley]

in response to my new “friend”

1) yes I suppose I have made massive improvements early in the game. I suppose I’m on the hunt of nothing short of a miracle which could be getting me down. i know there are no overnight sensations but when i was 4 weeks in think i had a miraculous 3 months of nothing. and i mean nothing it was great and it gave my knees the time needed to heal to their fullest. they havnt gotten worse but since this three month mark i havnt had this miracle come back. only 1 month miracles at a time with a herx or two in between which is great because it doesnt leave my knees if it does happen and it doesnt go after the joint so much any more, now i just get muscle and tendon pain and the odd knee crack. (no where close to how they were cracking before AP) so this is great, my body isnt damaging itself like it was starting too. 🙂 muscle and tendon pain i think hurts alot more cuz it travels up the whole limb instead of just sticking with the joint. i also hear that the last joint to stop bugging me will be the first ones that started hurting. go figure thats my knees and legs.

2) I am still wondering why because it isnt happening anywhere else but the knees! lol

3) yeh im definitley cutting back on the grains. i hear some sites say brown rice is a go and some say its a no. even when i went on the candida diet last time i ate brown rice and i got rid of my yeast issues. (my gas stunk!) too much info i know but that was the hugest issue.
when it comes to nightshades potatoes are the one. i eat tomatoes with no problems and spinach with none either. if i eat potatoes i will know in about a half hour if its gunna be a bad idea or not. sometimes they dont bug me, more often when im on one of my miraculous recovery periods. if im herxing or what ever i cringe at the thought of potatoes.
4) i need something for my keychain which i had but broke. now i gotta find a new one. but im on this topic with an alarm on my phone.

thats pretty much it for a response. hopefully cutting back on grains and upping my probiotics will help. im gunna start taking my anti candida pills again as well just in case. they are made by NFH the same company that makes my probiotics. its all pretty reputable stuff.

thanks for the advice friend! 🙂

[DragonSlayer]

Hello, gordbently:

can ciggarette smoking hold AP people back from complete success?

Absolutely.

Understand how necessary blood flow and proper oxygenation is to healing, and You should know that nicotine is highly vasoconstrictive, allowing as little as 15% of the volume through capillaries, which are the primary blood source for the intestinal tract. And that meager blood flow is further complicated by the lower oxygenation of the blood itself.

When one of my best friends was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, I studied this partly because it was so similar to my own–I was chasing her symptoms with nearly identical ones. It turns out that, in one study there was an over 400% greater chance of a person with Crohn’s to be a smoker than in the general population.

I have no doubt that, especially a reactive arthritis, will be made much worse by smoking and healing will be spotty because of this habit. Regret my friend was never able to overcome it and was thus subjected to many indignities. And I am also convinced my mother had AS, also, and this plus her smoking actually led to her early death at age 42. With AS we can get aortitis, pericarditis, and other heart complications.

I hope You can resolve these issues for Your own
HEALTH,
John

[bonnielou]

Hi Gordon. The last thing I want to do is be

Bonnie Lou
RA 02/07,AP 10/07
Minocycline 200mg MWF; Plaquenil 100mg 3 days/week
Fish Oil, Ubiquinol, Turmeric, Vit C (2 grams) , MultiVit, Magnesium, Astaxanthin, D3 (5000), probiotics and a daily dose of yoga!

[Jan Lucinda1]

I agree with Bonnie Lou. Cigarette companies make billions by selling cigarettes which are harmful to the smoker and to everyone affected by second-hand smoke. I have a cousin who was a smoker and died of lung cancer. I hope you can find a way to stop and stop making cigarette companies rich.

Jan

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