Posted 1/3/2012 11:34 PM (GMT 0)
I have recently been diagnosed with reactive arthritis. I went to live in Germany with my husband and got some kind of bug. It caused diarrhea and fever for three days. The fever went away but then the bad stomach problems continued for 5 weeks! I lost a lot of weight. In the meantime, I got conjunctivitis and my joints started swelling. The swelling got very bad, very quickly. I went to a rheumy in Germany. They took 15 viles of blood, tested me for everything, and I did not have anything wrong with my blood work except a c-reactive protein of 32 and a hemoglobin of 10. The German doctors would not give me an antibiotic because the 5 common bacteria that causes RA were not present. They did give me a two week round of steroids which did very little. I am also a lymphoma survivor and the docs in Germany began to panic and thought I needed to be hospitalized. At the time, it felt very traumatic. So, my husband and I came back home to Florida for the holidays. I began visiting my oncologist and then the rheumatologist he recommended. Both doctors immediately diagnosed me with reactive arthritis. We were relieved to have a confident diagnosis on what was happening to me. By this point I was in extreme pain, my right knee, hips, shoulder, wrist and hand were effected, as well as my left shoulder, back, hip and finger. I have been on doxycycline, prednisone, and celbrex, as well as pain meds as needed since December 26. I am getting better. What concerns me most is this....have I been given an accurate diagnosis? I have since learned that rheumatolgy and auto immune disorders are tricky and not black and white. Also, as a cancer survivor that has taken a lot of chemo I like to stay away from pharmaceuticals as much as possible. What do you all know about nutrition, allergies, acupuncture, or other natural therapies that might help me with this condition for the long term. So far the doctors do not know what triggered this response for me. I really want to avoid this happening, again if possible and I worry about what is happening inside my body to cause an auto immune response. Thanks for any advice, tips, or experiences you can offer.