First Visit With the AP Doctor

Monday and my first visit with Dr K. I really have no idea what to expect, but I'm hopeful.
Dr K's nurse calls my husband, David, and me into a room. She spends the next half hour going over every detail of my health history and my family health history. She asked questions about things I forgot I had . Dr K came in all smiles. She starts looking at my history and asking questions. She seemed particularly interested in the ulcers I had some 20 years ago and the food poisoning I had last year. She said you only get ulcers from the H Pylori bacteria. That and the food poisoning were leading factors as to what type of antibiotic she was initially going to use. She believes that you hit the initial offending bacteria hard. Whether it be from your gut such as my case with H pylori, or strep, or staph or any other bacteria. Then after that bacteria has been blasted, she starts the minocycline. So she gave me two weeks worth of tetracycline and metronidazol to attack the H Pylori. She also asked me to fast gluten for 30 days. She had suspicions I might be gluten intolerant. After thirty days I was to eat a gluten meal and see what happens. Pretty full proof test. She went into great detail explaining what gluten free meant. Now for me, this was the worst news. I love my pasta and breads. How in the world am I ever going to eat out again? Oh well, ya do what ya gotta do. She then sent me for blood work. I was to come back in two weeks for a follow up. She told me that I was going to be pretty sick as the antibiotics start to do their job.

Well, she wasn't just whistlin Dixie! Let me tell you something, you go from feeling pretty good and eating anything you want, to feeling like you wished you were dead and not eating at all. I started the meds that Monday evening. By Wed I started getting nauseous. I mean from the time I woke up in the morning to the time I went to bed, I was nauseous. I had to eat to take the meds. What do I eat? I can't eat toast, it's got wheat. I can't have cereal, because she has me off of dairy because it affects the absorption of the antibiotics. No eggs, no cheese, no milk, no crackers. I tried Tapioca and Rice bread. Uh.....not on a nauseous stomach, not ever. So, one morning it was a corn tortilla. The next it was Van Camps pork and beans. There was fruit and then I found shredded potatoes. The potatoes sat the best. I had shredded in the morning and baked for lunch and dinner. I lost nine pounds in two weeks. I also developed chills that lasted a week and felt very fatigued. I just felt absolutely miserable. I wrote on my FB wall,"Just shoot me. Put me out of my misery". As bad as I felt, I was glad it was happening. It meant the antibiotics had found their target and we're destroying the buggers. I just had to hang in there.

I went to see DR K two weeks later. She took me off the tetracycline and metronidazol like I knew she would. She also wanted me to extend my gluten fast for another month so I could give my digestive system a rest. I have to admit, I feel better not eating wheat. I don't have the hard bloat in my tummy and I don't have gas. She also gave me the results of my blood work. My liver, kidneys, all ok. Just slightly hyperthyroid, but not worth treating at this time. The next result I could have gone the rest of my life never hearing. My CCP was over 250. She said she hadn't seen one that high in a long time. She said that it wasn't good. It means my RA is very aggressive and destructive. The RA Factor however was negative. Go figure. So she put me on 100mg of minocycline twice a day instead of the three day a week prescription. She wanted to hit the mycoplasmas pretty hard.

So I'm thinking this just gets worse. Lord you said You were going to heal me and things just get worse. This is shaking me up a little. But then I see that precious church sign on the way home that says, "In Christ Jesus the victory is won before the battle even begins". I already have the victory through Jesus Christ. Why am I whining about this? I'm not defeated. I will do what I have to do and keep my eyes on the prize.

I am starting week two with mino today and am feeling good. I had a little dizziness the first week. Kept walking like I was and old drunken sailor. Kind of like a reel. Stick one leg out for balance and around and around we go. But that is all gone now. I have no problems with nausea as long as I take the mino with food. I can have dairy again but I have to space it between dosages. I have some mild stiffness in the one finger that has always been the worst. But no swelling and no pain. There is the occasional tenderness in the big toe where it all started. But I have no fatigue or metho brain fog. I have no bloat and constant hunger from the pred. My round face is even gone and I recognize myself again. In fact, I've been pred free for three weeks and methotrexate free for a month.

Like I said, I take it one day at a time. Next I want to share with you the importance of a gluten free diet if you are even remotely gluten intolerant. If you are a true Celiac then it's very important to be gluten free if you have RA. There is a connection.