"Safe" antibiotic alternatives to Tetracycline in treatment of RA?

[anewday]

My dh has RA. We would like to concieve before he goes on Tetracycline therapy. However, we have not been able to as of yet and are wondering if there are any abx that are considered “safe” in pregnancy that are effective against the bacteria that is thought to cause RA? We're operating on the thought that if it's not safe for pregnant women, it may not be safe for conception if taken by the man since there are no stats on this for men (extra caution, basically).

Thanks!

[Cheryl F]

I would recommend that you either:

1)  Call and ask this question to your pharmacist; or,

2)  Call the manufacturer to ask this question.

I had the occasion to need to ask some questions about the drug Accutane, the person that I spoke with was extremely knowledgeable, not your standard customer service rep.

From what I understand the reason that the tetracyclines are not used during pregnancy and for children under the age of eight is the potential for tooth (and bone) discoloration.  That does not seem to relate to your situation, but it would be best to get the information from a medical professional or the manufacturer of the medication.

Good Luck!

Cheryl Ferguson

[anewday]

Regarding the tetracycline, he has spoken to his rhuemie and a chiropractor friend – both recommend not taking tetracycline and we've followed that.

My question was whether or not anyone knows of other abx that have been used to treat RA/infection. We don't know where else to get that information but from a community where RA is treated with abx. He can ask the pharmacist about specific contraindications for specific abx, but not knowing which abx have been shown to be effective on the infection (besides the tetracycline family), we're not really getting anywhere.

His rheumie is not an AP doctor. She is willing to RX him the tetracycline on the basis that it has shown to be effective against inflammation.

Anyhow, sorry if my question was unclear. 🙂

[anewday]

I just realized – you are the one who emailed me information about a year ago on an AP doc in the Sacramento area! :D:D:D:D

[Cheryl F]

[user=230]anewday[/user] wrote:

We're operating on the thought that if it's not safe for pregnant women, it may not be safe for conception if taken by the man since there are no stats on this for men (extra caution, basically).

Your question was not unclear, I was responding to the above quote from your original post.  Others will answer with feedback on alternate antibiotics.  Several of the other antibiotics that I know of are also not indicated for pregnant women.

Cheryl Ferguson

[Maz]

[user=230]anewday[/user] wrote:

wondering if there are any abx that are considered “safe” in pregnancy that are effective against the bacteria that is thought to cause RA?

Hi Anewday,

I'm sure you've already probably checked out sites describing abx use prior to and during pregnancy in women, but thought the list on this site might be helpful:

“Commonly used antibiotics during pregnancy.”

http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5314,00.html

The lists given are aimed specifically at pregnant women, so I would think if you really want to be on the safe side, it would be best for your husband to consult with a urologist to see which ones, if any, affect sperm quality/count prior to conception, including how long before conception would be needed to ensure a healthy baby. After conception, then I wouldn't think this to be a concern, because the baby is all cocooned inside the womb, protected from 'the outside world', so to speak. After conception, it's all to do with maternal health and wellbeing.

The tetracycline alternatives I've personally come across as being used in RA (sometimes in combos in different protocols and not specifically for when one is pregnant or prior to pregnancy) are:

azithromycin

clarithromycin

erythromycin

clindamycin (oral or IV)

There are others I've heard of being used for RA, including rifampin, flagyl and the sulpha drugs, like bactrim), however, these carry a higher rate of side-effects that need close monitoring and wouldn't like to even fathom a guess as to how safe they'd be for a guy trying to conceive. 

Suggest you recheck the final section of “The New Arthritis Breakthrough” where alternative abx to the tetracyclines are given mention. I vaguely recall Scammell also mentioning the “mycin” class of antibiotics being used as substitutes, which would include the four above…there may be others. However, would re-emphasize that to be on the safe side, a consult with a urologist on this wouldn't be remiss just to put your mind at rest.

Good luck in your researches!

Peace, Maz

PS I was a bit creeped out by the link name above….wasn't Dr Spock that weird child psychologist who advocated corporal type punishment of children in the 60s? I'm sure there's no connection here but it did give me a bit of a shudder….

 

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