Yersinia Enterolitica, Hashimoto’s and Reactive Arthritis

[hopefulmama]

Hi there,

This is probably old news for most of you on the board but I’ve been actively investigating the connection between Yersenia Enterolitica and my Hashimoto’s disease. I read a long time ago that people with Hashimoto’s were 14x more likely to have antibodies to this infection.

I have had such a great systemic response to the doxycycline (tempered, unfortunately by the rashes that I continue to get – which seem to be worsening in severity, and which may ultimately prove to be an allergy). Other than the rashes though, the systemic benefits for me have been amazing. According to Dr. F and AP, this is because I’m actively tackling my mycoplasma infection… and also perhaps due to anti-inflammatory side effects from the doxy.

However when I went on azithromycin, which is also supposed to take care of mycoplasma and have some degree of immunomodulating effects, all of the good benefits I was experiencing on the doxy vanished.

This made me suspect that perhaps whatever bacteria I am being most affected by is not susceptible to azithromycin, and so I looked once again into the Yersinia Enterolitica angle. This is a very common bacteria and more documented outside of the USA. The kicker for me is that Yersinia is not susceptible to azithromycin but it IS susceptible to doxycycline. I’ve now looked at the full list of antibiotics it is historically susceptible to, and I have never taken any of them except for the doxy.

So… I’m definitely planning to ask Dr. F about this. I was reading tonight in this article (below) that Yersinia has been implicated in reactive arthritis as well along with a host of other conditions, so I thought I would mention this on the board to all those who suffer from either Hashimoto’s or that type of arthritis.

For me, this might prove to be a real answer. I did live outside of the United States during college in the Mediterranean region and could easily have picked up yersinia but thought I was suffering from the flu or food poisoning. In fact, I sort of remember getting really sick twice while I was there. So…

In the end, if you are taking doxy it probably doesn’t matter what your igniting infections are or were… since the tetracyclines will cover so many things – borrelia, mycoplasma, bartonella, yersinia. I just think it is good to put a face/name on the bugs we are tackling… especially because if I am allergic to doxy, I need to know what other abx will tackle my personal situation. I’m glad to see there are many antibiotics that will work for this particular bacteria, and I pray that one of them will prove the long-term solution to at least my Hashimotos 🙂

Dr. F did say that he has seen many patients Hashimoto’s antibodies return to normal and thyroid problems resolve with the use of doxycycline. So, if you’re lucky enough to be able to take doxycycline, you should end up in great shape – no matter what your particular trigger bacteria.

This article has a long-winded title but it is full of great information:

Prevalence of Yersinia plasmid-encoded outer protein (Yop) class-specific antibodies in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1469-0691.2001.00221.x/full

[Anonymous]

Hi,

A huge thanks for your post which has given me some hope!
I have been in Europe for a while now and am genetically predisposed to Hashimoto’s. I probably got it over here, like you did. Unfortunately, asking my doctor for specific testing and/or antibiotics just doesn’t seem to push him in the direction I would like to go in my treatment. But I’m still pushing.

I just wanted to let you know that your post made a few lightbulbs shine for me.
Thanks 🙂

How have you been going since the treatment?

[Author]

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