I went to Aruba about 7 years ago. Upon returning my stomack ached and would not stop.
I went to every specilist I can think of only to have each find nothing.
Now I am diagnosed as having RA. Horrible each day. More pain.
It has been suggested to me by a nurse that I may have picked up a parasite that is causing my problems. Anybody know of any connection or where to find info? Doctors POO POO the idea.
Their solution is to live with it and pick a medicine that I knopw will cause my body more harm.
Thanks
Judy
I have a friend who's hubby is a marine and she walked around with H. Pylori for a long time before the Dr.s would figure it out. They checked for ulcers, IBS, spastic colon and many more. They can diagnose with a blood test if I remember right.
HTH Good Luck!
Hi there Judy,
OK.. so what doctor are you going to that let's you pick your own drugs? Call the AMA on him/her....LOL.
There are a some medical people who believe that RA could possibly be from certain Viruses... So I did a goggle search on it. A lot of different information out there on this thought... So, who is to say it is not possible.
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&q=RA%20and%20Virus es
...and there are some doctors who believe that high dose antibiotics will help with RA also. No real evidence to back that up either but still a good possibility.
http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthqa/f/minocycline.htm
Maybe that trip to Aruba, was the culprit. Every country has viruses and bacteria that we do not have here and they will and do make us ill...
RA is tricky, doesn't hand out a whole lot of information...That's why it is so hard to diagnose or treat with the right drugs.
I sure hope you get some better information, as to what is happening with you and of course better doctors.
Hope fully you will have an answer as to what is going on with you and then with the doctors expertise, you will be able to get on with a viable treatment and start feeling better.
Toni
As far as I know the theory goes something like this. RA is an autoimmune disorder which means the bodies natural defences turn in on themselves. This is often caused by an infection in someone with susceptibility. Through evolution many organisms share the same proteins and these can include the outer markers that our immune system recognises. When these are analogous to proteins in your own body the immune system doesn't know when to stop. So basically any infectious agent........bacteria, virus or parasite could cause this reaponse. That is why when you have an infection your RA seems to be worse. But RA is complicated and is not always triggered by an infection. H. pylori is a common stomach bacteria which when present in large numbers increases stomach acid and causes damage to the stomach lining which leads to ulcers. There is a quick blood test for it and it is treatable.
If your doctors will give you medication you should take it. Trying to get medication off my doc is like trying to get blood out of a stone!
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