What are RA joint symptoms?

[Anonymous]

Could several of you give me feedback on what your first symptoms were of RA, esp in the joints?
Was there fluid in your joints? Swelling?

I have something going on in both my knees – they are swollen and red/hot, and feel like something is slipping and jamming under the kneecaps when they go from being bent to standing (but even bending them is hard, because the ligaments/tendons that lead into the kneecaps suddenly have weakness and feel like they are going to rip when I bend my knees)

My hands have several joints that are very swollen, and seem to have hard fluid on them – so swollen, that the fingers are being bent, and the nailbed is indented and deformed.

Can someone have RA and not have a positive RF test? (I have read that CCP-1 is THE current test to have  done, not RF?)  Would certain meds or supplements suppress RF, that it might not appear elevated on a test? Thank you – Les

[Maz]

[user=382]lmaz[/user] wrote:

Could several of you give me feedback on what your first symptoms were of RA, esp in the joints?
Was there fluid in your joints? Swelling?

I have something going on in both my knees – they are swollen and red/hot, and feel like something is slipping and jamming under the kneecaps when they go from being bent to standing (but even bending them is hard, because the ligaments/tendons that lead into the kneecaps suddenly have weakness and feel like they are going to rip when I bend my knees)

My hands have several joints that are very swollen, and seem to have hard fluid on them – so swollen, that the fingers are being bent, and the nailbed is indented and deformed.

Can someone have RA and not have a positive RF test? (I have read that CCP-1 is THE current test to have  done, not RF?)  Would certain meds or supplements suppress RF, that it might not appear elevated on a test? Thank you – Les

Hi Imaz….hey, I thought I was Maz! 😉   

RA begins in different ways for different folk…sometimes onset is slow and gradual, for others it begins palindromically and remains that way and for others it's onset can be swift and severe with lots of degrees of variation between them all. In my case, it was the latter.

To begin with, it started as a typical manifestation of Lyme…migrating to different joints in a palindromic fashion (moving from joint to joint)…hot, red-looking joints that were painful, burning and stiff and adjoining muscles and tendons were incredibly painful, too. Then, within a period of about 2 months, these migrating joint pains became fixed and bilateral (both hands, both shoulders, both knees and ankles). The swelling crept up, but became most evident at this time and it was at this point that my bloodwork confirmed RA. This pattern was unique to me and there's a lot of variation between individuals.

I have also had a “slipping sensation” in my knees…which feels like the joint is “swivelling” in it's socket. This sensation has been at its worst when the inflammation was bad and, as the inflammation has receeded, it's disappeared along with the tight band feeling around the knee joints. I've also noticed that as the inflammation comes down that I experience lots of loud clicking in my joints. The physical therapist said clicking is nothing to worry about. It may be permanent, but is just gases being released from joint spaces or it may disappear over time as the muscles and tendons regain their joint-supporting strength. This has been true for my finger joints which clicked alot and it's now gone as they've regained almost normal strength.

From what I understand, Rheumatoid Factor (RF) can be elevated in any number of conditions, even with Lyme, so it's not always specific to RA. For this reason, the newer anti-CCP test is considered to be confirmation of RA. That said, it's also possible to be seronegative and still have RA, so in these cases diagnosis is usually based on clinical presentation and is one of exclusion (ruling out other possibilties). It's also felt that, in general, seronegativity corresponds with a better prognosis.  

Are you currently on AP and/or taking any other meds?

Peace, Maz

 

[Tiff]

I don't have much to add to Maz's post it is so complete.  I just wanted to say that I have had a positive CCP with a borderline RF.  I was being treated with antibiotics for a long time for adult acne, but not the tetracycline family oddly enough.  I think those ABx kept my RF down and confounded getting diagnosed for a while.  I have no proof of that, but it is my theory, so yes, I think other meds can influence those tests.  Again, just my opinion!

[superperroRA]

Addition to Maz's excellent reply. I've had RA with severe liquid retention (edema). Turns out I had very low albumin. which causes edema, and can often be overcome by going on a high protein diet. Have your doctor measure your albumin. If it's low, what I've done is to go on a high protein diet 150g/day (high protein powders made from whey, soy or rice can help to achieve this).

[linda]

Hi Imaz,
Sorry your joints are hurting right now. Have you tested negative for rh? There are other types of arthritis that are seronegative. One is psoriatic arthritis (PsA). When you mentioned your nails I saw a red flag. In PsA the nails are pitted or dented, and may have psoriasis under the bed, and that may be the only place you would have psoriasis. The other thing that caught my attention is that you said the tendons and ligaments are involved. That is classic PsA, it causes inflammation of the bones, ligaments, tendons and joints, which can make it more painful than RA. The good news is that it does not cause nearly the amt of joint damage as RA. It can be symmetrical, or not. The classic shape of a finger or toe is the shape of a sausage because of the inflammation of the connective tissue around the joint, instead of the knobby looking joint of RA. It is treated the same as RA, but from my own experience and what I've rad from other posts, it does take longer to respond to AP, maybe because there is more inflammation. If you can see the redness and swelling in a large joint like the knee, you've got some pretty significant inflammation going on there. What anti-inflammatory are you taking?

linda

[Maz]

[user=11]linda[/user] wrote:

There are other types of arthritis that are seronegative. One is psoriatic arthritis (PsA). When you mentioned your nails I saw a red flag. In PsA the nails are pitted or dented, and may have psoriasis under the bed, and that may be the only place you would have psoriasis. The other thing that caught my attention is that you said the tendons and ligaments are involved. That is classic PsA, it causes inflammation of the bones, ligaments, tendons and joints, which can make it more painful than RA. The good news is that it does not cause nearly the amt of joint damage as RA. It can be symmetrical, or not. The classic shape of a finger or toe is the shape of a sausage because of the inflammation of the connective tissue around the joint, instead of the knobby looking joint of RA.

Hi Linda…you makes some really good points, although I find the line can at times be blurred between RA and PsA.

I have pitted, ridged nails (lengthwise) and very definitely have RA. Maybe the one thing that seems to differentiate PsA from RA is that RF is rarely, if ever, elevated in PsA….but even then you can be seronegative for RA and still have it, too. Probably the most definitive test for RA is the anti-CCP test and I don't think all RA patients have a postive test, either…it's confirmation of RA, but doesn't exclude it if negative.

Pain is a pretty relative thing, I guess…but my mother-in-law has aggressive PsA and I have aggressive RA – we've both experienced pretty similar excruciating pain levels. I've also had tendon and ligament involvement around my shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles…still have visibly swollen tendons in my ankles. Before the antibiotics kicked in, I also had sausage fingers and deep bone pain shooting from my left knee to my ankle. So, in many ways, the two can also be mysteriously alike in presentation…except that I don't have psoriasis of the skin or nails and have had a very elevated RF and anti-CCP.

The other thing is that my mother-in-law who takes conventional meds has very disfigured hands…her thumbs now bend at sideways right angles at the middle joint. Mind you, she also has ankylosing spondylitis, so this may complicate the picture for her as far as joint damage?

I dunno…I'm no expert but when comparing notes with my mother-in-law, the line seems quite fine when differentiating between PsA and RA, especially in the early stages if there is no psoriasis of the skin. They took years to diagnose my mother-in-law and she had psoriasis for years before her joints became involved! :sick: 

Worth checking out, though, as you say, if only because there is so much crossover. 😉

Peace, Maz

[linda]

Hi Maz,

You bring up some very interesting points. The 2 diseases do have a lot of crossover, I've had more than one physician question my diagnosis of PsA over RA. I think the most accurate diagnosis I've been given is rheumatoid-like PsA. I do not have the genetic marker HLA-I'm having a blonde moment here:blush:-whatever those last few letters and numbers are; but I do have AS, which is supposed to be associated with that gene. In the long run, I guess it really doesn't matter as far as treatment goes btn RA and PsA. I think I've mentioned before that I had 2 friends when I was 5 y/o that got chicken pox the same time as me, but I also got a really bad tick bite a few yrs later that was treated with short term abx. They developed RA, I developed PsA. The AP doctor I saw in Scottsdale was convinced that I had a babesia infection, but I never tested positive for it. There are so many variables that can cause the disease to change location and severity; genetics, different strains of microbes, trigger factors. I suppose the important thing to focus on is the commonalities- the bacteria or viruses that need to be treated with abx. Thanks for the post,

linda

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all your replies, and such useful info!
Linda – Yes, I have tested negative for rh (altho, I have several types of immune system cells that are 'deficient' in their action/output, and I am suspicious that this can alter lab test results, yet no one is looking at the total picture). Only the nailbeds on  the bent/swollen fingers are indented and warped; the nailbeds on fingers that aren't so affected look fine. My fingers don't look like sausages; the joints are definitely knobby/swollen(and red).

I am not on any anti-inflammatory; I have adverse reactions to all of them. The only thing that has helped with pain is prednisone ; I have taken just a TINY amt of the smallest dose, and it was amazing how it affected the pain! But it caused total insomnia (I have sleep problems to begin with), so taking pred is out (even just a tiny bit)

Maz, I am not on any med for this . I have tried taking Minocin, but have gotten CREAMED with just a little bit, even taking the doses every third day (and I used to take minocin for acne, a LOT of it, every day!) The pain gets so excrutiating, the fatigue gets a lot worse, and the flu like symptoms are off the charts. This is from taking just a small dose of a 50 mg pill, once a day, like every third day. I have tried to 'do' the AP several times, but it takes me so long to recover from these setbacks, that I literally am down for at least a wk trying to recover from a 'trial run' of perhaps two or three doses. I have tried doxycycline, and have had same response.

Maz, thanks for the explanation abt how your knees feel; mine feel that way also, but I can't hear clicking in mine. One strange thing I have noticed (and I don't know if this is related or not), my neck vertebrae, esp the higher ones, seem to really slip in and out very easily (like there's something wrong with the ligaments that are supposed to hold the vertebrae in place?) – this is driving me nuts, in addition to being very painful and debilitating (affects balance, vision, I get nauseous, etc)

Diagnosis, then, seems to be pretty iffy? It depends on the dr that one sees, as to how they evaluate it? Seems like there is a lot of room for interpretation of symptoms and lab results.

What, exactly, causes the inflammation in the joints? Does this same thing cause the inflammation in the ligaments, tendons, etc? Or is there a different causal relationship? Les

 

[Maz]

[user=382]lmaz[/user] wrote:

What, exactly, causes the inflammation in the joints? Does this same thing cause the inflammation in the ligaments, tendons, etc? Or is there a different causal relationship?  

Hi Les,

Really sorry to hear you're having these hypersensitivity reactions to minocin and doxy. A few people here on the board have experienced similar reactions and may be able to provide some useful insight on what they had to do to lower their doses with the aim of gradually increasing it over time. There are also alternative antibiotics and combos that an experienced AP doc could prescribe that may help in the beginning to avert this reaction, but still exert some pressure on the mycoplasma.

Have you read “The New Arthritis Breakthrough” by Henry Scammell? This explains the hypersensitivity state in some detail and there is a brief explanation here on the RBF site:

https://www.roadback.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=studies.display&display_id=184#Anchor-The-14210

Rest assured, you're not alone in this. Dr Brown described this kind of reaction as being a kind of hyper-allergenic response caused by the infection. To some degree, many of us experience this, so hang around for a while and ask away…others will chime in to tell you how they've managed this issue.

As to your neck involvement, it may be something totally unrelated – an injury, for instance – for which an MRI might provide some answers…or it may be a part of your bigger infection connection. Certainly, different docs will provide their own slant and diagnosis can be iffy where the bloodwork isn't definitive, as you say, but you may feel it is worth it to you to seek out a few opinions until you're satisfied that you know what you're dealing with. In truth, AP works for many forms of rheumatoid disease and it probably doesn't matter what your diagnosis is, if you're a “lumper,” (“lumpers” and “splitters” are also explained in the book). However, sometimes just for peace of mind, for some people it's better the devil you know, so to speak. Also, in the case of an infection like Lyme Disease (which can be the cause of a stiff, painful neck once it gets into the nervous system), it's important to know what coinfections might be involved, as treatments vary as per the microbe.

Only a suggestion, but the spondylarthropies can also involve the spine and neck, so this might be something to investigate with your doctor(s), if only to rule out. The Spondylitis Association of America has a good website that details symptoms:

http://www.spondylitis.org/about/as_sym.aspx

Others here may have some suggestions on what to check for…

As for what causes the inflammation (also explained in the book), it's basically caused by chemical messengers in the body, proteins or glycoproteins, called “cytokines.” Wikipedia describes them, thus:

“They (cytokines) are often secreted by immune cells which have encountered a pathogen as a way to as a way to activate and recruit more immune cells and increase the system's response to the pathogen.”

You can read more about cytokines here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine

In a normal, healthy immune system, these cytokines play an important role that tell the body when something needs cleaning up in the body…like an infection. However, when the infection is a stealth-like, intracellular pathogen, like mycoplasma, that are adept at hiding out in the body's own cells, the immune system reacts by responding to the toxins the microbes secrete into surrounding tissues, causing the body to attack its own tissues. In effect, the immune system is really doing the job it was designed to do, but just being waylaid by these very clever organisms that have the ability to morph into different forms…..and that also tend to have a proclivity for collagen-rich tissues (synovial tissues in the joint, tendons, ligaments, skin, brain, myelin sheath of the nerves, heart, etc).

Minocycline is the antibiotic of choice, but not because it directly kills mycoplasma as penicillin would kill strep. It's a bacteriostatic (with some added anti-inflammatory properties) and works by blocking certain proteins that mycoplasma need for growth and reproduction…so it's basically suppressing them, rather than killing them outrigh . In so doing, the goal of low dose, pulsing is to gradually retrain the immune system to do what it's supposed to do while also reducing the hypersensitive response. Bearing in mind, this is a very simplistic interpretation…;)

Some worsening can be expected while on AP and is considered to be a good sign that the mycos are dying off…so for the very hypsensitive, the goal would be to get the dose titrated to tolerable levels (presuming you aren't allergic to the tetracyclines, that is).

Do hope you find some answers soon, Les….not only with regard to your diagnosis, but also finding the right protocol that will work for you. You may find you'll need to recruit yourself a really experienced AP doc to help you with this.

Peace, Maz

[Michele]

Hi Imaz,

You have asked a great question! I've appreciated seeing how different we all are in symptomology.

My onset was slow. Over a couple years things trickled in before a full body flare hit with great vigor. My back and neck have bothered me the longest. Then I experienced Pre-ventricular contractions (PVC's) in my heart. I managed them with exercise. Then after my 3rd bout with pneumonia, I noticed my knees hurt on the treadmill, so I moved to the eliptical. Then my hips hurt, so I started walking in our hilly neighborhooed. My hands hurt for a couple weeks on one occasion and I mentioned it to a couple doctors who said it didn't look like arthritis. During this time I went on Dr. Crook's Yeast Connection diet because I thought the antibiotics used to recover from pneumonia had left me with a yeast infection. I started feeling much better for about a year. Then a full body flare hit last September. The pain was excrutiating and it moved fast. By the third day I started having trouble walking. Now, my knees and ankles have a bit of puffiness in them, but are cold. I've never had the red, swollen, hot joints. My calf muscles often hurt, too. I have extreme joint pain and stiffness and when herxing severe muscle pain. Other weird symptoms have been fleeting vertigo, fleeting night sweats, fleeting fatigue (not sleepy, weak feeling like I couldn't hold my hands up to my head to wash my hair.) and muscle twitching. And once I began herxing, I've had extreme rib cage pain.

You may note that I have RA or Lyme in my signature line. After my IV Clindy, my friends begged me to get a second Rheumy opinion, I'm also a believer in backup plans, so I went for the second opinion. The blood tests Rheumy #2 took 7 weeks after the IV, showed all my blood markers for RA had gone to normal range! But I was still in excrutiating pain! This doc sent me on for another oinion. I just received word from rheumy #3 that they don't know what I have because my blood tests are in the normal range with only a slightly elevated RF. I will soon be getting those tests results in the mail so I can compare with pre-IV tests.

Tiff's assumption that the abx change the blood results have sure been my experience, too.

The third rheumy had NO curiousity about why the IV clindamycin may have changed my RA status. She just said the IV Clinda must have knocked some infection back. Since I didn't have RA, go to some other specialist for your symptoms. But the key words to me, “the IV Clinda must have knocked some infection back” are what I hold on to. Whatever disease label I have, it reacts to antibiotics.

So your thought that diagnosis are hard to make, has definitely been my experience. I suppose if I never sought a second opinion, I'd assume I had RA.

My own dx is that I have Th-1. A pea soup of microbes. Some folks would just move on with the pea soup philosophy and not bother to get the label. I'm not sure what I'll do. After talking with my benefits person regarding insurance today, I should probably get the LLMD's opinion in case this ever moves into a disability claim…which I hope to never need!! But, the dx of Lyme would greatly change my disability benefit.

You said, “What, exactly, causes the inflammation in the joints? Does this same thing cause the inflammation in the ligaments, tendons, etc? Or is there a different causal relationship?”

To me since I fit in-between the cracks of a dx., the pea soup theory of Th-1 disease explains the “cause” of my systemic inflammation. Like you, I couldn't even handle small doses of mino without having killer flares that took several weeks to calm down. I had worked up to 2 mg of mino.

Now I'm restarting with the help of Benicar. I'm hoping I can modulate the herxing better with benicar's assistance. Yesterday I started with a “previously mastered dose” of 1 mg and I did not notice a killer herx. Having been only on Benicar for three weeks, I also know what baseline disease is…well I think I do! The mild weather may just be kinder to me right now, too! But the last three weeks on Benicar have been the best three weeks standing since my flare started. The only negative is dizzyness due to a lowered BP and slight photosensitivity. My rib cage pain has been gone. Though I expect it will come back in future herxing.

Since MP treats both RA and Lyme, my PCP is helping me with that protocol. Having seen my whole progression, he still believes I have RA. He follows the CDC standard and doesn't believe it's lyme. But so far, having Maz's wonderful posts on Lyme, I certainly see the possibility of both and have put my life in the hands of MP because of the co-infections. I'm just dipping my toe in the MP waters now, so I sure hope I can handle it.

Sorry for the long post, but this thread pulled “my story” out.

Michele

Maz, your post above is brilliant!

[Maz]

[user=11]linda[/user] wrote:

I think I've mentioned before that I had 2 friends when I was 5 y/o that got chicken pox the same time as me, but I also got a really bad tick bite a few yrs later that was treated with short term abx. They developed RA, I developed PsA. The AP doctor I saw in Scottsdale was convinced that I had a babesia infection, but I never tested positive for it. There are so many variables that can cause the disease to change location and severity; genetics, different strains of microbes, trigger factors. I suppose the important thing to focus on is the commonalities- the bacteria or viruses that need to be treated with abx.

Hi Linda,

Interesting that you had a past tick exposure….my LLMD says that there is good evidence to suggest that PsA can be one manifestation of Lyme in addition to genetic predispostion, pathogen strains, existing pathogen load, etc., as you say.

You might find the Lyme video clips of interest that were posted earlier today, where pretty much all the experts agree that these stealth-like pathogens have the ability to evade standard tests. It really has to be a clinical diagnosis and, if babesia was suspected, such a shame you weren't treated in spite of negative tests. Also, while it's true that there are many microbe commonalities and pretty much the same antibiotics are used, babesia, as a parasitic coinfection to Lyme, is rather unique in that it's a protozoa and needs an anti-protozoal med….flagyl being one that comes to mind. It also has a bit of a liking for the spleen and liver tissues, tending to hide out in red blood cells. :sick: There's tons of info on babesia you can research…but here are a couple links in Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babesia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babesiosis

Peace, Maz

 

 

[Susan LymeRA]

Imaz,

Diet, diet, diet, diet.  Food sensitivities are often formed by those with chronic illness.  This is because a leaky gut is behind the illness.  Google Leaky Gut Syndrome and RA.

Interesting to read superperro's comments about protein.  When I first was diagnosed RA and began researching it, I quickly found a great article called Hope for Rheumatoid Arthritis which discussed diet, RA, LGS (leaky gut).  It was at http://www.mcdougall.com.  He supports a vegan (no animal products) diet.  But in my research, I spoke to many RA sufferers who got complete relief from the Atkins diet which is high protein. 

I didn't doubt them, but for me I knew I always felt better eating vegetables, so I went the McDougall route and within 2 weeks had 50% reduction in inflammation and pain.

You will have to research your own food needs to determine which route is best for you.  I highly recommend a medical doctor trained in leaky gut, nutrition, etc.  My wonderful doctor went back to school after practicing medicine for a number of years and learned about working with the body to heal it.  He is a member of ACAM (American College of Advanced Medicine).  http://www.acam.org has a section to find a physician in your area.

My rheumy of the time, who did not support AP or anything outside traditional meds, begrudingly prescribed mino for me at 100mg MWF but he would do nothing to monitor my progress.  My ACAM doctor would not prescribe any antibiotics, so for the first year, I worked mainly with him to heal my gut and clean up my body and used the rheumy for the AP protocol.

During this time, my RA went from high moderate (almost severe) to weak positive.  My pain just kept dropping.  For the first year it was a 1 step forward, 2 steps back kind of progress.  Diet was so key.  Diary can really set my joints aflame even now.

If I eat good quality (organic) meat cooked healthfully, I can enjoy some meat, but I do my very best with veggies, fruits, nuts and that is the majority of my diet.  I am a sweet lover and must have a sweet treat, but I do it with Stevia, Agave Necter (really yummy!) and Paul Newman sugar free cookies. 

It costs you nothing but time to learn which foods are healing you and which ones are making you sick.  It supports your other efforts to heal.

Like Maz, my RA was “explosive” to use my rheumy's term.  It was in all joints and I was inflamed everywhere.  I looked and felt like the Michelin Man.  😀  I was housebound and today I am riding and training horses and working.

Today, no swelling.  Some limitation and weakness in the joints that were damaged.  No visible deformity except two fingers at the first joint.  Drs all tell me this is not RA but OA.  It all happened at the same time and is all from the same source in my book.

We continue to detox me of metals, biotoxins, neurotoxins, and any other toxins I may forget to mention.  A gene test reveals I have a very defective detox ability.  I truly believe this is ultimately why I got sick.  Too much toxic build up. 

I also test positive for Lyme, Babesia, C. Pneumoniae, Mycoplasmas.  I think the H. Pylori is gone which was a huge source of my leaky gut woes.  Google RA and H. Pylori.  Big connection.  The gut seems well to me now, but I still take lots of collostrum, aloe vera juice, digestive enzymes, gastric aid.  A new rheumy who is also a lyme specialist and believes in infectious causes to RA has switched me from Minocin to Doxycyline because I had some lupus like flares on the Mino.  Luckily, I test negative for lupus.

I'm certainly not well yet but with so much going on, I have lots of hope for complete healing in my future.  My body's inability to detox will probably be something I will have to artificially support the remainder of my life.

There are many possible causes for you to explore in your healing journey.  Getting inflammation down is one of the most challenging.  Watch out using NSAIDS.  Advil was a wonder drug for me, but it is well known for damaging the gut.  So many side effects.  The herbal anti-inflammatories just didn't work for me.  Diet and detox keep my inflammation at bay. 

Good luck to you.  Please post what works for you.  Reading what worked for others was such a big help to me and still is.

Susan

[bonnielou]

Hi Imaz. My first symptom was symmetrical pain in both shoulders. I thought I had injured myself moving ?had personally packed and hauled over 27 boxes of heavy books, for example. I saw an orthopedist at first, and he treated me as an orthopedic injury ? did mri?s, physical therapy, then wanted to do cortisone and surgery. Because of the shoulder pain I restricted movement and ended up with frozen shoulders as well. I could hardly move my arms, and was in great pain. I turned to alternative medicine at that time ? a great physiatrist in suburban Chicago. We didn?t know for sure it was RA until my knees also developed symptoms.

 

I woke up one morning with a knee that was swollen and would not bend. I knew I had not injured that knee ? but your mind plays tricks on you and looks for explanations. A few weeks later my other knee became uncomfortable ? I had swelling and a large bakers cyst on that knee.

 

I was lucky that I caught this so early. It was less than 6 months from my first symptoms to AP. My physiatrist also does the blood allergy/food typing, and so my diet has been adjusted also ? though not as drastically as many on the boards. I also receive bioidentical hormone therapy and supplements (fish oil, probiotics, etc.).

 

My rheumatologist put me on celebrex and plaquenil immediately when the RA diagnosis was confirmed ? but I only needed the celebrex for about 3 months, and the plaquenil has been cut by 50%. I am weaning off of that slowly. My RF was positive but the CCP was negative. The clinical diagnosis was the most important part.

 

My shoulders are almost completely normal now ? so are my knees. I still have some discomfort, and fatigue,  pain in my right hand  ? but I could easily live like this the rest of my life ?I still work full time and can meet all my personal responsibilities as well. Exercise (yoga and dance) and strength training are a big part of my wellness program. Whenever I am well enough to move I move. Stronger muscles help weakened joints. But don?t exercise when inflamed ? that can cause more damage. It?s tricky.

 

My best to you.

 

Bonnie Lou

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!

[linda]

Thanks Maz,

My AP doctor in Scottsdale was actually treating me with zith for the mycoplasma, and first rifampin then mepron for the babesia, before I fired him. It's definitely something I will explore when I get to tx and a new AP doctor.  I'll look into these links you 've given me.  The tick was on the back of my head, and I remeber it hurt but beyond that I don't remember why my parents took me to the ER. They avoided that place if they could because I was always in there for asthma, I was on a first name basis with the staff and knew exactly what meds I needed and what the dosage was. Back then, the inhalation therapy machines were big and bulky and had quite a few tubes, once I had to help the resp tech assemble the machine! Well, anyway that little journey into my childhood aside, there must've been something about the bite that scared my parents enough to go to the ER, it was probably that characteristic bull's eye rash. Looking at moving in Aug, so soon, very soon, I will be back on AP. I think I'll probably go to Lufkin, and then see if the doctor there will work with a local rheumy in SA that I have found that is willing to rx abx. He has an infusion center in his office, so I'm hoping he will do the Iv route for me. Also, I can't wait to get back to my wonderful pain specialist, my muscles are very weak right now and my weight and posture are terrible. He fixed all that before, so I'm hoping he'll work his magic again.

Thanks for the info Maz, you're the best,

linda

[Maz]

[user=11]linda[/user] wrote:

Thanks for the info Maz, you're the best,

Linda…so dear of you and the feeling is completely mutual…your posts are always full of wonderful insight, great info and support for others…I think you rock and the “dude” icon is definitely in order here! :dude:

And…I also can't wait for you to get to TX and get sorted out properly. No one should have to deal with all the medical roadblocks and setbacks that you've had to contend with and you deserve first class treatment to get you back and living life to the full again.

Peace, Maz

[Author]

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