Rheumatoid Arthritis

I was diagnosed with RA in 1987 and within one year I was bedridden. I first heard about Dr. Brown and antibiotic treatment when he was interviewed on the television program”2020″ with Barbara Walters in 1988. But first—- When I was 13, I had an appendectomy. 20 years later after the birth of our second daughter, blood tests revealed I had an overactive thyroid {Hyperthyroidism}. My resting heartrate was 140 beats per minute. I always felt like I had been running and out of breath. I probably had this condition for years, it just wasn’t diagnosed. My thyroid was chemically removed with radioactive iodine.I have also experienced migraine headaches with nausea since e I was a teen. In 1982 we moved to a beautiful home on 2 acres of land with lots of grass to cut. We bought a riding lawn mower and one day while I was cutting the lawn, I stopped the mower and put in neutral to get off and move a board. As I swung my legs to the side, it jumped into gear throwing my left foot under the blades. I did not not feel any pain and did not realize I was cut. I remember wondering why I was sitting on the ground and then I saw the bood, part of my foot was almost severed, the bones just exploding. Fortunately my husband was home. I spent the next 8 days in the hospital not knowing if my foot would have to be amputated. We had horses and there must have been so many germs on those blades. It took many months to heal and the infection was awful, but I did not lose my foot. I do have nerve damage and it is somewhat deformed. To this day it still swells and is sometimes painful. I was on different antibiotics for months because of infection. I mention this because I think this injury and infection may be related to my RA. About 3 years later, my left thumb became so painful that the throbbing would wake me at night. I was taking many aspirin every day. After a couple of months I went to my family Dr. He x-rayed it and thought it might have been a sprain. Another year passed and I again went to Dr. My thumb still painful and now my left hip also and very fatigued. He gave me vitamins and thought I might have arthritis in my thumb. A few months later I saw a Rheumatologist. He x-rayed me from head to toe and said I needed a left hip replacement and eventually would need the right one also. He thought I had Rheumatoid Arthritis. I went to the library and came home with several books on arthritis. I thought arthritis was just something older people got and a few aspirin would take care of it. I learned there are over 100 different types that fall under the umbrella term “Arthritis” and even babies can have it. Rheumatoid is the type that can cripple and cause deformity. Over the next few months, I was given 8 or 9 different anti-inflamatory drugs along with percocette for pain. Nothing was working and now the deterioration was like a speeding train. I could not turn my head or close my hands, My jaw was in almost locked position, it was difficult to talk or eat, lost 30 pounds. I am 5ft.7in. tall and then weighed 87 pounds. My left femur pushed right through my pelvis to within an inch of my spine. Rheumatologist called this a protrusion. I was in continous flare that never went away and was not functioning at all. At this point I was hospitalized, not able to eat, lethargic and anemic. Hemoglobin was 9 and sed rate was 98. I just wanted to go to sleep forever. A friend who had not seen me for a while went home and cried, she thought I was near death. Soon after I saw Dr. Browns interview and after reading his book I called his office and made an appointment even though he was booked a year in advance. I ask my rheumatologist if he would start me on the tetracycline until I saw Dr. Brown. He called him a quack and would not even discuss it. I was in so much pain I ask him for gold, he said it was to dangerous and I was too ill. I never went back. My family DR. read the book and put me on oral tetracycline. I took this for about 10 months before going to Dr. Brown’s office in Washington DC area. Sadly he passed away 6 weeks before my appointment. 1989, I saw his associate Dr. Oliver. My husband drove me there and I remember laying on the back seat with pillows, any bumps were painful. I was there for a week and received IV clindamycin everyday. I came home with perscriptions for oral tetracycline and IV clindamycin. 1990 I had total left hip replacement. My progress was slow on the antibiotics and I was still in pain. I had to keep reminding myself the book said “2 years to turn the corner”. 1992 I fell and broke my left leg, balance not great after replacement. After 3 years I was so much better, able to clean my house again by myself, go fishing in the boat, paint my landscapes again. My dear family Dr. was amazed at my recovery and started putting his other patients on antibiotics, and he would tell they were getting better and free from pain. He even talked to other doctors, asking them why they were not using this treatment. They told him, ” it was not what they had been taught in medical school”. 19993 REMISSION- 1994, I stopped all medication. (BAD MISTAKE). 1996- I had a benign tumor removed along with the parotid gland it became entangled with. 1997 Sinus infection again. Dr. wanted to do surgery, he thoughtit might have been caused by fungus. (Could this be Yeast)? Another Dr. gave me sporonox and I did not have to have surgery. Have been taking care of my Mom after her stroke, very stressful.1998 After being off antibiotics for 4 years I begant to feel stiff again in the mornings. I took this as a serious warning and immediately went back on oral and IV antibiotics. My AP Dr. tells me it is more difficult to get it under control again after stopping antibiotics. Others have found this to be true also. Now I will stay on a maintenance dose forever. I learned a very important lesson. 1988 my sed rate was 98-today 10- 1988 hemoglobin was 9-today 13. Today I am still in remission, doing very well and so grateful to Dr Brown and Henry. Without the book I would never have seen the interview on “2020”. I wish for you all NO MORE PAIN and remission.