Rheumatoid Arthritis

Greetings, all!

I hear folks mention occasionally that their doctors have suspected rheumatoid arthritis and that they've even been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, but then their symptoms vanish when they treat Lyme with antimicrobials. Has this been the experience of anyone here? Anything folks can share with me about this?

How do people differentiate between RA and Lyme when both have such inexact testing? Is it possible?

My cursory research indicates that 20% of people diagnosed with RA have normal blood work and 10% of healthy people have the biomarkers of RA. My mother is riddled with disabling, inflamed joints, but she cannot get an RA diagnosis or treatment because her blood work is negative.

The knee pain I've had since last July has just begun to include swelling, which has me worried. I'll be seeing a new LLMD in July who can test me for autoimmune markers. While I know other joint issues can be bilateral (osteoarthritis, Lyme, etc.) it seems that being bilateral is more common in autoimmune disease. When my wrist and ankle issues flare, they're also bilateral. No other issues flare alongside these (no fatigue, digestive issues, headaches, etc.) but they do tend to be worse when I ovulate (which is the opposite of how autoimmune disease usually flares in terms of hormonal cycles).

I'm taking antimicrobials and getting significantly worse, which is so frustrating. Lyme logic says that means I'm "hitting" an infection and herxing, and should continue. Mainstream medicine logic says that the antimicrobials aren't helping and I should pursue other ideas.

My physical therapist said this didn't seem like autoimmune disease to him because there was no swelling, stiffness, heat, redness, other symptoms, aggravation with activity, etc. He said it didn't seem like osteoarthritis because it started suddenly. He wasn't well-versed with tick-borne disease but offered unprompted that an infection could be responsible, but that again that probably would involve other symptoms and would at least have started off with swelling. He evaluated my joints and found no evidence of injury or tight connective tissues. Religious adherence to physical therapy exercises made no difference for me.

(I'm holding off on prolotherapy and prolozone therapy until we have ruled out RA because they're contraindicated.)

Solomon's seal, MSM cream, BioSil, arnica, omega 3 fatty acids, curcumin, ginger, and changes to ergonomics and footwear made no difference. Antimicrobials targeting the three Bs made no difference. Normally I can take an ibuprofen and feel symptom-free for the day, but not anymore. It's freaking me out.

I think I'm just hoping someone here can tell me that the scary options are not the only possibilities.

Hi Saraeli,

I don't have RA but I have all my joints swollen internally, though it doesn't show externally. Ankles, knees, wrists, fingers... I went to an immunologist who thought I had RA, but tested negative in blood works. When I was taking abx all the inflammation went away, it was wonderful. I've had to stop taking them because I had a terrible neuropathy which caused a lot of pain, unbearable. After stopping, inflammation came back even stronger.

Docs don't know what they are diagnosing, they just want to put a name on it and start treating based on their knowledge.

If you are treating and are getting worse my bet is that what you have is something autoimmune. By treating you are probably stirring your autoimmune condition. In my case, I improved with treatment until everything started going thanks to my neuropathy. I bet you'll have to deal with the autoimmune problem before continuing treatment.

https://lymemd.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-difficult-patient.html

Check this post by Dr. Jaller. It's related to autoimmune encephalitis, but it applies to every autoimmune condition. Might help you.

Hi,

I would do Ozone injected directly on the knee, is good for infection and also inflammation of all types. Sure there must be a clinic of this wherever you live.

Bee.

Sara there are two types of RA, seronegative, meaning negative labs with positive physical findings by way of xrays & scans.

Seropositive RA has positive lab markers along with erosion & inflammation showing up on scans.

Treatment of the two are not always the same.

I would get a 2nd opinion with another rheumatologist for your mom, it sounds like she may be in the seronegative group.

There isn't one lab test that can diagnose RA, they are just markers. You may want to have yourself checked too.

Can you describe your pain when it started? What did it feel like and where was it? Is it predominantly in your knees or does it migrate to other places?

Is your lower back affected? Does it ever affect your tendons or muscles (sometimes this can feel like stiffness or achiness when it’s really your tendons)?

You said there’s swelling now yet you then said no heat or swelling. Is it swollen? Is there really no heat?

Is there a history of autoimmune or psoriasis in your family?

I would repeat the questions but for your mother, how does hers present?

Post Edited (dcd2103) : 4/27/2024 10:24:43 AM (GMT-8)