is antibiotic therapy effective for Psoriatic Arthritis?

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone,

I have had psoriatic arthritis for 30 years and I’ve been taking all the usual medication – anti-inflammatories and panadeine forte, progressing to NSAIDS, prednisone, methotrexate and oxycontin. Eventually my Rheumatologist tried me on Enbrel which was unsuccessful then Humira. I’ve recently been taken off Humira as my blood tests revealed too high a level of inflammation-an indicator that the Humira wasn’t working.

Besides pain, the things that are affecting me is that my weight increased from 105 kg to 160kg. When I was using Enbrel my weight increased by 1 to 2 kilos every week. Another side effect is that I now have insulin resistance (type 2 Diabetes). My effort tolerance is very poor and any attempt at minimal exercise results in severe inflammation and pain and breathlessness.

I’m no longer working and in receipt of a Disability pension. I’m crying every day and feeling very sorry for myself.

I want to lose 70 kilos but my inability to do exercise involving even minor exertion combined with the effects of insulin resitance has me
‘snookered’.

Does anyone know of a way forward for me? My Rheumatoloigist has no plans to see for for another 6 months and my GP is treating the symptoms.

thanking you
Debera

This post has been moved from the Personal History and Progress section of the Forum. That area is for people to journal their progress on AP and threads there cannot generate responses from others. It has been moved to the General Discussion area where others can reply. RBFV

[marypart]

Debera,

Others with more knowledge of psoriasis will weigh in, but I wanted to welcome you to Roadback. Lots of people on this website have been helped with antibiotics– and some have had psoriasis and arthritis.

My son didn’t have psoriasis but he had arthritis and he got better with antibiotics. His story is in the personal progress section and it is called “My Son’s Story.”

When I first read your post the first thing I thought was that juicing might help. If you look at the other thread posted this week, by gordbentley, about psoriasis, there are some comments from dragonslayer that might be helpful for you.

Good luck, and keep posting. This board is incredibly helpful. If you can, find a doctor that will treat arthritis with antibiotics. Maybe your rheumatologist would be willing to try minocycline.

Mary

[DragonSlayer]

Hello, Debera:

I would answer YES!

Because I am nearly certain that there is either no or very little difference between PsA and AS and even if the germ is not the same, the molecular mimicry mechanism is identical and in fact if You are HLA B27 positive the disease should be called AS and NOT PsA.

Problem with antibiotics: Some people have not paid enough attention to DIET when taking the antibiotics and this has sometimes led to a very rapid recolonization by resistive strains of the provocative bacterium (Klebsiella pneumoniae).

So while I am quite optimistic about using antibiotics, I highly recommend first doing the diet (this sounds like the evolution of Dr. Mercola–enough so that I have some confidence: Certainly, check out his dietary recommendations): “The IBS Low-Starch Diet,” by Carol Sinclair with foreword by Professor Alan Ebringer. The diet is discussed at length on NSD Forum http://www.kickas.org.

The bactericidal antibiotics (like Cipro and Flagyl in my arsenal) should be taken with some more strict attention to diet before and during the short course, however, bacteriostatic agents (like tetracycline, doxycycline, etc) are less likely to produce (select-out) resistive strains, so diet can be a little less-strict when taking these during the cycle that should be called ‘maintenance.’ It takes a series of treatment and maintenance cycles to properly treat these diseases: When I began (by lengthy fasting) my ESR (inflammation marker along with CRP) was >100 and today measures between 1 and 9 and I am no longer so strict with diet, but if AS rears its ugly head again, I know exactly how to treat it/beat it back into submission!

My recommendations are of course diet, but have the B27 antigen test done (Fc or ELISA or dna-level testing; the ‘serological’ method is very unreliable, producing many false-negatives). And if You can look over the diagnostic help file in my dropbox page (active link should be in my signature: “AS Resources” or something) for other important symptoms that can help support the AS-(family) diagnosis.

But certainly keep to a diet and do some supplementation: VitD, lysine, vitC, vitE, niacin/niacinamide and good probiotic yoghurt like Stonyfield Farms or Brown Cow brands and at first You might not tolerate too much yoghurt but take 2oz each time 2X daily.

These diseases are gut-mediated or highly dependent upon the condition of the intestinal tract: Drugs which increase permeability of the gut will increase disease activity (NSAIDs even including aspirin) foods that are the worst are popcorn, and breaded-deep-fried things–onion rings, fish and chips, etc. I see these “Funnel Cakes” and “Fried Bread” signs at carnivals and just recoil in horror! But for 75% of the population that kind of stuff is not so poisonous, as are the interiors of supermarkets; but our foods are found along the margins of these stores–the produce and meat sections.

All physicians can do is treat symptoms; we must very actively participate in our own recoveries as there has been no pill invented that can undo the effects of our lifestyle.

HEALTH,
John

[jims]

Hi Debera. I am glad you found this place. I was Rx’d with Psa in 2007. My RA factor always negative, HLA-B27 negative as well. I have also been on the Biologics. Somethings about PsA seems vague to me. First Remicade for 10 months, then 2 months of Enbrel when remicade became ineffective.No prior psoriasis. I only developed pustular Kerratoderma Belachrium (sp) after 4 months on Remicade. I went up to 325 pounds while on the biologics and ended up with pneumonia.(Now 230 lbs) I would advise you to find minocycline and a doctor willing to prescribe it. (One that knows AP would be best) The video about doctor Brown and AP treatment is informative and so are the books. I have read them several times and watched the video several times as well. Lyme disease seems to be heavily related to rheumatic conditions. Chronic lyme becomes a journey I think as not many have years of symptoms and get a miracle, but gain and improve. There a few folks here that have, or are very close to remission in my opinion. I am still trying to figure all this out. My last CRP was 1.9, which at one time was 30. I have traveled all over the country seeing several doctors. I no longer believe in Rheumatologists. My last one told me if I didn’t go back on the biologics I couldn’t be her patient anymore. A couple months later she dropped me. (Thank Goodness!) Minocycline, LDN, Probiotics, Allinia, Greens, Juicing, Earthing, Licorice root, garlic, sun soaked mushrooms(vit d-3) massage, infrared lamps, infrared sauna, light exercise, hot tub, high cocao chocolate, are some of the tools I have used. I found a doctor MD ND (not AP however) that I pay cash for visits. He listens to me. We work together. There are many folks here way smarter than me, AP Science wise. I hope something I said helps. Yours Truly, jims P.S. I am now looking into Pulsed Electro magnetic frequency therapy, (PEMF) as another adjunct.

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