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Originally Posted by mskari85
Hi all -
So, okay, doctor tells me that my SFN has to be autoimmune mediated, but has no idea what is causing it........Just the RA markers, elevated inflammatory markers, and the positive ANA.
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So how was your RA diagnosed? By Rh factor or anti-CCP?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mskari85
My new doctor that prescribed me LDN wants to test for lyme through Igenex and for other co-infections and he wants me to start antibiotic therapy for connective tissue disease. Any thoughts on this?
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If you live in an endemic area for Lyme, then the Igenex test might be a good idea, if you can swing the cost of the test.
Your functional medicine doc is a bright one. One of the suspected causes of RA is bacterial. You could probably go down that worm hole on pubmed.
Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by a Proteus urinary tract infection. - PubMed - NCBI
In addition to the LDN, I know Paleo diets can be helpful for some people (especially if gluten is a suspect) and vegetarian diets are helpful for others. I've read that vegetarian diets reduce the Proteus mirabilis bacteria. So trying an antibiotic might help with the RA.
At the beginning of my illness, I thought I had RA, but then the burning started....and the end result is I have a few types of nerve damage due to Lyme.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mskari85
Any ideas or input would be fantastic. I saw a new neurologist who wants to send me to Mayo (which is an hour and a half away from me) and I'm willing to go, but I feel like they're just going to diagnose me with SFN and send me on my way with some gabapentin or something. Ugh.
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You can go back in the archives on this message board, and you won't see great reviews for Mayo with people who have SFN. I know there is at least one person on this message board who has CIPD and found Mayo to be excellent at making a diagnosis for that condition.