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Lyme arthritis joint destruction

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Posted 1/9/2020 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone ever had a joint destroyed by lyme arthritis. Rheumie said lyme makes joints painful but doesn't actually destroy. What is your lyme arthritis experience and the condition of your joints?

Post Edited (momofthreee) : 1/9/2020 3:17:31 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/10/2020 12:06 AM (GMT 0)

momofthreee said...
Has anyone ever had a joint destroyed by lyme arthritis. Rheumie said lyme makes joints painful but doesn't actually destroy. What is your lyme arthritis experience and the condition of your joints?

Is this a lyme Literate Rheumie?
If not - I doubt if he/she would know.

I had joint pain but don’t know if it was true arthritis - ie no X-rays.
Knees, elbows, fingers.
It has resolved - except for minor pain sometimes in the fingers of my right hand after sleeping.

I had arthritis in my right big toe prior to lyme - X-ray showed it.
I still have that.
Posted 1/10/2020 3:03 PM (GMT 0)
Two years before I was diagnosed with Lyme I had pain in tips of my fingers in the left hand and an x-ray showed changes in the joints. My GP did test for RA that came negative, she concluded it was fast progressing osteoarthritis. The pain stopped 3 months after I started antibiotic treatment. Two months ago I developed mucous cyst on the joint of the pinky, the GP send me to hand surgeon, he did x-ray that show no cartridge in the last joints of my fingers, the only solution is to fuse the joints. I am not ready for this since the only hobby remaining is knitting.

It looks that even with no pain, my joints kept destructing. So to answer your question, in my opinion Lyme disease can cause joint destruction. I am right handed, so I don't know why left hand is more affected.

I now worry about my knee since it gives me a lot pain, I had ACL reconstruction sugary years ago, after the tennis accident.

Post Edited (Duza) : 1/10/2020 8:17:38 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/11/2020 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Girlie and Duza, for your responses. Rheumie is not lyme literate, so probably doesn't know. Sure seems like lyme can destroy joints.
Posted 1/11/2020 8:20 PM (GMT 0)
please dont let that rhuemy suppress your immune with roids or biologics. seeing a mri of my sisters spine with 20+yrs of lyme eating collegen and bartonella calcification there are bulging disks , artersclerosis and measured loss and protrusion . so definitely yes affects joints . so says my knees and shoulder that pop out . ask all the ethler danlos syndrome dx if lyme affects joints ?....
Posted 1/20/2020 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
Just saw this thread. I've wondered if anyone has toes or fingers looking like they are a little bent. The toes on my right foot have looked a but "crooked" for years, which I attributed to running so many races on the forefoot. Since I was a kid, I would actually get higher and involve my toes more than they should have been. Right foot was used to push more in curve on track.

Toes on left foot look normal.

Does anyone have the "bent" look to toes or fingers? They do not hurt, though bottoms of feet do, possibly from loss of fat (padding).
Posted 1/20/2020 11:57 PM (GMT 0)
My mom has pain in her knees and ankles. Her shoulder pain is resolving somewhat. Is anyone here on anti-inflammatories for the joint pain? If anyone is taking anti-inflammatories, how do you know if the pain is going away due to the anti-inflammatory effect or from the bacteria/co-infections being killed off?
Posted 1/21/2020 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
For two years, I lived with hip pain thinking it was Lyme arthritis. My Lyme doctor thought it was, too. I've taken a variety of antibiotics, and nothing helped to cut the pain. On Dec 11, 2019, I had a total hip replacement, and that hip is pain free. At this point, I still don't know if the arthritis is Lyme related or not. Now, my good hip is bothering me, and I will need a replacement before too long. Who knows? Maybe hip trouble was in my cards, or maybe the Lyme caused it or made it happen sooner than it might have. I'll never know, but I still have Lyme.
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