Think back to the very first onset of arthritis pain and/or swelling. You may not have even had the RA diagnosis yet......but in retrospect you now know that's what it was. Now think back to a month or a couple months before that. Did you have a strep or staph infection [perhaps a really, really bad cold]?
I'd love to know if you did. My brother who lives 3000 miles away and I both were tested and subsequently diagnosed with RA [Psoriatic Arthritis] within two months of each other [different doctors and with no knowledge of the other's condition]. Ironically, both of us caught a horrible cold that resulted in a bacterial infection when I was visiting him a couple months before the diagnosis.
Hello, this is my first post. This one caught my eye because I believe strep did cause my RA. I had strep early in July this year but I waited about a week or two to go to my doc. By then the majority of my joints were involved and I could barely walk or open the doorknob - I attributed it to the strep. My doc put me on zitromax and prednisone. I was better in 3 days and felt good for about 3-4 weeks. Then it came back worse than ever and I was referred out to a rheumatologist. I'm about to get a second opinion and see if I can get some more blood work done because the only thing positive is my ANA factor which is at the bottom level of being positive - everything else is negative. Right now I'm on Plaquenil 200mg 2x daily and Lyrica 75mg 2x daily and Cataflam.
Amazing. I'm told there is a new book out there. "RA, The Infection Connection," by Poehlmann [sic?]. There are a number of documented cases of autoimmune arthritis following a strep or staph infection.
We've all been bummed out by the spammers on this board and most of us have moved to a different site. Try the ww.rafriends.com website.
On the other website you will find that our test results run the gamut from negative to positive when they probably shouldn't have.
Love your avatar.
Don't post much but this one caught my eye. Yes, I had a horrible sinus infection couple of months before RA started to appear. Nastiest infection I've ever had in my life. AnnaYepper, 35 years ago just prior to being diagnosed w/JRA. I had strep throat & rhematic fever.
Then the joint pain/swelling started. Dr then (idiot) said I was being a "brat", thank God, my Dad blew him off and took me to ER.
Remission age 11. But the damage was done. Still trying to hold onto factory parts. So far so-so.
I am the only one "I" have ever know with JRA. That is before my Baby sister was diag and got into remission very shortly!!
This place, makes me feel, less like, an alien.
Thank God for all of you!
My son had back to back strep infections. Five months later the JRA hit him. All the docs have been saying they are not related because the JRA hit him 5 months after and it would have happened in about a month after the strep. I don't know about that?????
teech7
There is more and more scientific literature out there that is tying immune arthritis and bacterial infections together. Also, I just read an article a little while ago that offers more damning evidence that hypothyroidism often goes hand in hand with JRA.
I was in mid-age when I was diagnosed. Hypothyroidism, then a year later a step infection, and less than a year later immune arthritis.
And now I am starting to research any ties of tuberculosis and immune arthritis. [I was exposed as a kid and have latent TB, which is inactive and non-infectious at this time.] Sure, if you look hard enough you'll always find others with similar profiles - and I have. But I'm beginning to think that maybe TB [a bacterial infection again] might be a missing link.
But I know one thing: research and development has been stepped up dramatically and it's awesome what they're coming up with. So be optimistic, never give up, and make sure you've got the best possible RD for your child. And research, research, research. Knowledge is power.
Good luck.
My 9 year old daughter has hypothyroidism. She was diagnosed 2 years ago. Do you think there is a more likely chance that she will get JRA and that my 12 yr old son with jra could more likely get hypothyroidism?First, please understand that I am not an MD.
Hypothyroidism is a symptom - not a disease, per se. It is not at all unusual to see congenital hypothyroidism [as in Hashimoto's Thyroiditis] in kids. But you didn't say if your daughter has Hashimoto's or whether her hypothyroidism is secondary to another disease. Let's assume the worst - that hers is Hashimoto's.
There are kids with Hashimoto's who don't get immune arthritis and there are kids with immune arthritis that never become hypothyroid.
In a recent study of kids with JIA, their blood was checked for ATA [antithyroid antibodies]. Two common ATA's are anti-TG and anti-TPO. Of the participants that had JIA, the mean age was 11.7 years. Below are the percentages for each JIA group and the control group.
JIA Control ATA
11.3% 2.2% Anti-TG
7.9% 1.1% Anti-TPO
So you can see that kids with JIA are more inclined to also have hypothyroidism. So your son has roughly an 11% chance of hypothyroidism.
But what about your hypothyroid daughter? Will she ultimately get JIA? I don't have stats for that. You can make a lot of inferences, but none would be valid at this point. So far she hasn't followed her brother's path - so that could be a good thing.
Check out the following link:
http://www.jrheum.com/abstracts/abstracts06/164.html
I know as a parent you worry about this. My feeling is to just take it one day at a time. Be aware of symptoms of both diseases and if they present themselves, get medical treatment. Otherwise, no sense in worrying about something that just might very well not happen.
One other thing: based on this recent study, the scientific community is suggesting that all kids with immune arthritis be tested for TSH levels regularly.
Wish I could give you answers.....but if there's one thing we know about this disease is that it comes in all shapes and sizes.
Hmmm... Come to think of it. About 3 1/2 yrs ago , I had a very very bad kidney infection. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital. Since then, I have had all kinds of problems. Hypothryroidism and the RA. Just something to think about.. Food for thought!