Is this from RA?

[froggy]

I have been on minocycline since June 08.  I was diagnosed with RA in 05.  I have herxed several times and know what that feels like.  I have been having weird pains in my chest lately.  The pains are kind of sharp and my chest hurts to touch it.  The doctor did and echo, chest x-ray and stress test and said I am fine.  They gave me an antacid and that is not helping either/  My breasts hurt too which I don't understand.  Any thoughts?  Could this be a herx too?

Froggy

RA 05 ap 6/08 now at 100mg per day

[Maz]

Hi Froggy,

When I saw your post, I seemed to remember that you'd had quite a reaction to flagyl, which is a treatment commonly used to treat babesiosis and to it's possible that you were herxing.

http://www.rbfbb.org/view_topic.php?id=1556&forum_id=1&highlight=froggy+lyme

Babesia, one particular and very common coinfection of Lyme, can cause costochondritis and air hunger. If you do a websearch on “babesia and costochondritis,” lots of information comes up. Here's one:

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=476031&page=2

Also, do you get regular mammos? If so and they are clear, then it's possible you have some hormonal disruptions going on. Not uncommon with rheumatic diseases, but also not uncommon with Lyme. There are a lot of glands in the breasts and when these become inflammed, there is a lot of tenderness. Men don't get off scott free with Lyme either…tender testicles can also be the result of borreliosis. :sick:

Did you have a chance to figure out if Lyme was a part of your equation yet?

Peace, Maz

 

 

 

[froggy]

Maz,

I was okay on flagyl till the end, then I felt cruddy! :sick:  I absolutely think I have hormone issues.  Doc gave me something to take 5 days before my period to see if that helps(this was before the chest pains and I haven't made it to that time frame to take it yet).  I do not know if lyme is in my puzzle or not.  I do not have insurance and at the time cannot afford a LLMD or the testing out of pocket.

[John McDonald]

Froggy,

Best way to test for herx vs. other is to suspend antibiotics for enough time to clear it from the body, wait a bit, and then resume. A herx should have a time relationship with your dosing. Mino is substantially gone in 48 hours and pretty much completely gone in 72 hours.

The half life of mino is about 14 hours give or take a couple hours.

So 14 hours, half left

24 hours, half of that left, or 1/4

36 hours, half of that left or 1/8 of the dose

48 hours, 1/16 left and so on.

-john

[DragonSlayer]

Hi, froggy:

This sounds like costochondritis, more a complication of AS than RA I think, but certainly could be the result of intestinal activity and even a Herx, but more probably some sort of ReA.  If your RA symptoms have been asymmetrical, and you have morning stiffness and lumbago and are below age 45 or so, the chances are better you have AS or ReA than RA.

Good luck to You,
John

[froggy]

John,

I am 40 and my symptoms are stiffness and a stabbing pain in my shoulders and buttocks mostly (I always explain it as knives stabbing me from the inside out).  At times my ankles and wrists hurt.  Sometimes it symmetrical and others asymmetrical.

My bloodwork shows CCCp>100 and RA 321 down from 571.  I thought, and correct me if I am wrong, that CCP was RA specific?  At this point I just want to know what I am treating since some things need to be treat a little differently than others!:headbang:

Froggy

RA 05/AP 100mg daily 6/08

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