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I've just been to see a rheumatologist who thinks I might have palindromic rheumatism. It seems that this can have an autoimmune cause and I wondered whether this is a common occurence for someone with hashimoto's hypothyroidism.
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MtViewCatherine barbara98940
Posted
Barbara, I was recently at my chiropractor, and as it's become obvious that I have severe bone and joint problems, I mentioned to my chiropractor, the thought that I could have some arthritis issues. His comment? "Ya think?" Are you just figuring this out?
Seemed pretty obvious to him, I guess. Not sure exactly which variety (s) of arthritis I have. There's so much going on, it's hard to keep track.
Is is there any value in getting a diagnosis for this? Is there any effective treatment?
barbara98940 MtViewCatherine
Posted
I was researching this until 2:30am last night (this morning I wish I hadn't!)
There's a couple of good websites 'arthritis research UK' and 'arthritis'. There is value in getting a diagnosis as some types of arthritis damage the joints and there are medications that can be prescribed that help. There is a risk of it developing into rheumatoid arthritis - which definitely needs treatment. The two websites differ in what the risk is. One says 20-30% the other 50%. So at least now the doctors know what to look out for. There is a blood test for 'rheumatoid factor' that gives a good indication whether one is going to develop rheumatoid arthritis.
What was interesting was the research trail...
Palindromic rheumatoid arthritis has symptoms that include gastrointestinal problems...and is 'frequently the presentation for Whipple disease' (which if not treated can be fatal). Source = Wikipedia and needs further verification - I usually try to find 2-3 different sources.
Another cause of palindromic rheumatoid arthritis (the names seem to be used interchangeably) is a gut parasite.
After the destruction of the gut bacteria by all the antibiotics one gets for the frequent infections that arise if one has hypothyroidism, this doesn't come as a surprise.
Oh yes and there's an autoimmune link too..
Apparently palindromic rheumatism/Palindromic rheumatoid arthritis is very rare. Though as I've now been told that a number of times for other medical conditions I have, disbelief has set in..I just tend to think they havent yet got good at identifying all the people that have it. So yes, definitely worth investigatng.
MtViewCatherine barbara98940
Posted
Yes. It all seems so complicated.
After my experience with thyroid meds and with dealing with my mother's meds, and having worked in the pharmaceutical industry, I certainly will not seek or expect any sort of long term treatments for the arthritis, as the side effects are worse than the disease.
My bone deterioration is so severe, I suspect that the rate is 100% causal of many of these side effect diseases. It's only a matter of time and dose.
A lot of these problems are linked to low immunity, caused by hypothydroidism, worsened by the drugs. Stage system becomes so weak that you get many opportunist infectious microbes, that would not otherwise survive. As you said, treating with antibiotics only causes more problems.
The he only way to get ahead of the disease is to deal wit the causes: poor nutrition, toxicity, autoimmune disorder. Pills can't t rest these issues. I'm done with them.
barbara98940 MtViewCatherine
Posted
Surprisingly, I still think pills have their place. I would certainly be very poorly, if not dead, without thyroid hormone treatment - I'm just so glad I found ThyroGold. Four of my autoimmune diseases (thrombocytapenia, macular degeneration, Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, food allergies and intolerances) pre-date ThyroGold so it isn't ThyroGold that has caused them. Maybe if I'd found ThyroGold earlier, instead if struggling for years on thyrozine and still feeling unwell...
MtViewCatherine barbara98940
Posted