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might this be brucella?

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Posted 4/21/2022 12:18 PM (GMT 0)
Curious for everyones thoughts here.

The reason I ask about Brucella is because this back/muscle/tendon pain is becoming extremely severe. Living on nsaids/prednisone/bendaryl. The back pain has gotten intense, its like my whole spine is on fire.

I saw my rheumatologist again yesterday and he was baffled, said it's not ankylosing spondylitis, and gave me a diagnosis of "non-specific spondyloarthritis", my second non-specific autoimmune diagnosis, which is a red flag in my opinion.

But the thing which make me think of brucella is that i recalled Dr Philips battle with brucella from his book Chronic, and the splitting muscle/back pain he describes. It's also known to cause tensovytis/enthesitis like I'm having. I was in a brucella endemic area (costa rica) before this began.

I dont really have fevers/fatigue though. Fatigue maybe a little but, but that's a new symptom and probably related to my chelating with glutathione.

Curious if anyone had Brucella? What were your symptoms? What lab did you get diagnosed through and was testing positive? Can you get neurological issues from Brucella?

Thanks
Posted 4/21/2022 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
I think you need a agglutination test for that. Seems like Quest has it available:

https://testdirectory.questdiagnostics.com/test/test-detail/982/brucella-antibody-agglutination?cc=master

Very generally speaking I would be weary of a "non-specific" diagnosis that the doctor gave you.
It's often a go to for a doctor that can't explain something. So I agree with the red flag.
Posted 4/21/2022 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
dcd - Have you treated Bartonella ?
I believe the treatment for Brucella is the same?
Posted 4/21/2022 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
hey girlie i havent treated bartonella. I suspect it, but dont think i'd be able to handle the drugs. Even tiny amounts of serrapeptse were too much for me to handle, let alone rifabutin! Not sure what to do ugh will speak to Dr K about it next week

Rainy thank you for that. im gonna ask dr k to run this. I know he did run it in 2019, but that was before these symptoms and my guess is its hit or miss. my immune system is also quite low, i didnt even make the covid antibody after 2 shots!
Posted 4/22/2022 11:14 AM (GMT 0)
seems the agglutination test (SAT) is pretty sensitive and specific in acute cases - most papers seem to suggest above 80% or more for both - which is good for co-infections!

but then references also state that low SAT titres may be present in healthy people who previously suffered infection and in patients suffering chronic brucellosis or a relapse making diagnosis of chronic cases with SAT v tricky - the usual story with serology unfortunately

i think i would still run it if i could afford it - as having a clear target helps a lot even mentally with dealing with these illnesses - but at the same time being aware of the tests limitations

Post Edited (Garzie) : 4/22/2022 5:45:20 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/23/2022 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
dcd - If I recall correctly from another thread awhile ago, did you say your illness started after GI issues when traveling abroad? If so, I thought there might be an interesting connection there, since Brucella can be transmitted through food (at least raw milk, I'm not sure what else).

Also, just wanted to share my experience because I am super sensitive to treatment and never thought I'd be able to tolerate Bart meds, either. I originally felt like I was dying on Zithromax when I first tried it and stayed away from abx for several years. But after treating ~2 years with herbs, I was able to tolerate Zithro with doxy, switch to clarithromycin, and now am taking and tolerating tiny doses of Rifampin. I'm hoping I won't hit a wall when I try to titrate the Rifampin up further, but am hopeful that I might be able to pursue Bart treatment at last. It is making me think/hope that sometimes an extremely slow and measured approach may help overcome initial sensitivities.
Posted 4/23/2022 4:43 PM (GMT 0)
1yrinVA, good memory! I had issues before (migraines, restless legs, some anxiety/depression) but the issues really exploded and became real when I went to costa rica and caught something and got super stomach sick. We had a local chef preparing family style food the whole time, who knows what was in it. I also drank the tap water when I wasnt supposed to by accident.

This is very good news wrt to bart meds! What herbs did you start with?
Posted 4/23/2022 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
I was loosely following Buhner's bartonella recommendations - JK and houttuynia were my mainstays that I took daily for nearly two years (never at huge doses bc I'm sensitive; houttuynia I never got above ~15 drops per day total). Also cycled through alchornea, isatis, and sida (though I could never tolerate more than 1-2 drops of sida at a time). I also experimented with milk thistle and hawthorne as supportive herbs but didn't take them consistently over long periods. So I credit nearly all of the improvement to JK and houtt.
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