Diseases and conditions

I am 28 and have never had a UTI!! except for the past 6 months i
have 3 of the same strain (pneumonieu). now they are putting me on a
14 days of cipro to knock it out. its probably the same infection.
the intersting thing is my dermatomyositis symptoms have been greatly
flaring during this time...and they wanted to start me on
methotrexate. BUT one doc said he thought my increased joint
swelling weakness pain and fever may be an infection. so come to
find out...it is but it was aggravating the DM and increasing the
symptoms. this further proves the infectious theory to be right on.
is it ok to take a course of cipro with the AP. my docs say its
fine. just wondering if it will more likely cause a herx. thanks.
i hope i feel better once that infection is gone. wanted to
add...woman beware...i did not have the normal symptoms of a UTI...i
had DM symptoms along with VERY slight burning. i just decided on a
hunch to get tested. it should be ruled out if even slightly
suspected. hope everyone is well.
rachael

Dear Gang,
An American Lyme patient suggested we do a gall-bladder and liver flush.
Over the years I have has several severe gall-bladder attacks, but nothing
ever showed up on x-ray or ultrasound, so I was sent home with no treatment.
Apparently you can have stones in your liver before they get to the
gall-bladder. There are some amazing photos on www.curezone.com We have
been reading about people recovering from allergies and all sorts of
illnesses when they get their livers working properly.
This week we did it! Vic got over a tablespoon of stones and I got 6 dark
green ones. Often more stones come out on the second flush.
Two of mine were over a cm and very firm. No wonder I haven't been able to
recover! I think this is the tip of the ice-berg. We are going to do some
more flushes soon.
I made the mistake of wizzing the Olive Oil and Lemon juice up with a Bamix
blender. It really aerated it and it was so revolting. I hardly slept all
night as I felt like I was going to throw up and I was very acidic. I had
to prop myself up on pillows whilst trying to lie on my right side. It was
uncomfortable but not painful. I am a coward when it comes to pain! This
certainly beats having surgery for gall-stones! Vic just shook his lemon
juice/olive-oil mixture up and drank it. He did not have the problems I
had.
It was worth it.
It must be nearly impossible to recover from Lyme or anything else if your
liver is clogged full of stones. Apparently you can have deposits of
mercury and other heavy metals in the stones along with cholesterol! I can
remember as a child going to the dentist and actually swallowing a large
chunk of mercury filling.
If the liver is working properly, we will cope much better with
anti-biotics, Rife die-off and anything else we might try.
I am quite hopeful now that we might recover.
Regards,
Rosemary

Hi - I have met a young woman thru our local Arthritis group who has
MCTD with Lupus and Scleroderma . She is keen to try Antibiotic therapy
but her Dr says it would not be suitable for her. I dont know enough
about MCTD to help her with info. I have checked out the case studies on
the rheumatic site but what she really needs is medically oriented info
to take to her rheumy. She is in quite a bad way and is on some very
toxic IV treatment. She would need to educate her Dr and also know where
to start given her present situation. I would really appreciate some
help getting together info for her. She approached me after hearing a
talk I gave at the Arthritis society about AP. She does not have
internet access so I will print off any info for her. Her name is Donna.
Thanks
Barbara

I previously found some information on plantar fasciitis being caused by
mycoplasmal infection, but can't locate this now. If anyone has any information
on this subject, I would be very grateful. You can email me direct at dex3703 at
eskimo dot com.
Thanks,
Derek

In a message dated 1/23/03 10:01:24 AM, socjog@... writes:
<< DMARDs
What are DMARDS?
Pris, new to the world of RA

Hi group ,
I have a question here if this is put out by the University College of
Dentistry from 1998 how does this pertain to us ?? Plus "chemically modified
analogues" is referring to an altered tetracycline in which they use for
dentistry and not for RA or what we all use for auto immune disease . Please
explain I'm a bit confused here thanks ,
socjog
Effects of tetracyclines on bone metabolism.

Hi Paulette,
You can get another opinion from another AP dr as they all do have different
approaches . I wouldn't throw in the towel yet as there are some good options
that you have not exhausted yet according to Dr. W . Taking the DMARDs is not
always a bad idea . If progression is rapid and the AP is to slow to halt it
sometimes DMARDs can work well to clam inflammation and allow the minocin to
work on the bacteria and not try and calm the inflammation . They can at times
compliment each other . The key here is if you do have to use DMARDs you might
get away with very low dose short term as opposed to others NOT doing AP and
stay on these meds long term high dose and here is where most severe side
effects come into play . The main thing is exhaust all you safer options first
get another AP drs opinion and if progression still is not halted then adding
low dose short term DMARDS is still a viable option . We want to halt
progression unfortunate some of us the disease progresses to fast to wait for
mino to fully work . I would be throwing the towel in if you didn't have ANY
options but you do have many yet., Hang in there,
socjog
Message: 13
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 17:15:15 -0500
From: Warren Portnoy <wport@...
Subject: Doctor's appointment
Today I had my appointment with Dr. Whitman. I have been getting progressively
worse. Dr. Whitman said if I didn't do something soon I would wind up in a
wheelchair. I am going on Minocin every morning and Doxy every evening with the
sulphur drug 2 x a day, too. Also, I am trying to get set up for clindamycin
IV's. He feels I should go on Methotrexate or embrel immediately if the other
things don't help soon. He really has me very worried since he's never been an
alarmist type of doctor.
I am sitting here and just shaking - I don't know what to do. My son wants me
to go see Dr. Furman, who believes in juice fasts and a completely vegan diet
and has had success with people with RA. I don't know which way to turn.
Any suggestions? I am feeling terribly and I know things are really wrong
inside my body.
Thanks,
Paulette

Hi Gang! Geoff here.
We're thinking of forming an advisory board for our nonprofit,
HealingYou.org. This board would make suggestions for such things as
individual products, product lines, Web site design and usability, articles,
etc., with the purpose of making HealingYou.org more valuable and useful to
us all. Members of the advisory board may also be able to contribute in
other ways, for instance if one has the time, ability and willingness, by
digitally scanning in an article, or if able, to keyboard information. Thus
advisory board members would have the opportunity to involve themselves in
more than just an advisory capacity if they wanted to, but that would not be
required. If you are interested in being a member of this board, which is
being limited to a maximum of 5 people, please e-mail me privately.
Geoff
soli Deo gloria
www.HealingYou.org - Your nonprofit source for remedies and aids in fighting
these diseases, information on weaning from drugs, and nutritional kits for
repairing adrenal damage; 100% volunteer staffed.

Thanks Katherine...you said it all. Sometimes all of us have had to use
prednisone or cortizone to just function. I always looked at it as
temporary....a drug I would get off of as soon as I found what worked for me.
Too bad it took me eight years to find AP. Nevertheless, I always kept my
doses small. Even going off the pred occasionally (until pain drove me back
on).
As long as we know it is a very hard drug on the body, and keep an eye
out for side effects, we are doing our best. And that is all anyone can
expect. I have been prednisone free for 22 months....isn't AP great.
Martha

Paulette.....
Take a deep breath and stay calm. Before going on AP, I went to my old
Rheumy and she said she was "appalled" at the condition I had come to since
her last visit. I was having trouble walking, could not straighten my arms
out, etc, etc. She was ready to put me on MTX that very day!! I went out to
the car and cried. It took me 6 months to even get in to my AP docs office.
I was sure I was never going to be the same.
Surprisingly, for me, the months with AP slowly returned all but my right
hand and a few bones in my feet...to normal. It stopped the damage better
than anything else ever did. Obviously, if you are concerned with major
damage to your joints, you can also use both DMARDS and AP at the same time,
with the thought of weaning yourself off of the DMARDS after awhile. That
must be your decision, after your doc has his say.
I guess what I am trying to say is fear causes us to panic and when we
panic we tend to make bad decisions. I knew that I risked more damage by
waiting for the AP but I cant explain it, I just had a gut feeling that MTX
would be very bad for me personally. I took a deep breath... added up the
pros and cons and decided (for me) to wait for the AP. I was then amazed at
the bodies ability to heal itself. My feet and hand do not look "normal" but
they work fine.....(O
anymore. I did remain on my plaquenil for the first few months of AP
treatment to keep damage to a minimum even though it was not working well
anymore. Just make the decisions you are comfortable with and know that we
have all walked in your shoes. You will get better with time. Martha