Newbie needs your help.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My name is Leah and I have had RA for almost 30 years. I have just

recently heard of the antibotic therepy.

My family doctor is willing to treat me but admits although this

makes sense to her she has never used the AP so we will be learning

together. I would like to ask some questions to those who have

already started your therepy.

1. We suspect strep is invovled but here is my dilemma...I've been

on Humira since January of this year and have progressively gotten

worse. I have been on 2 rounds of antibiotics this past month for a

sore throat and cough that just won't go away. My doctor is going

to do 2 specialized test for strep (ANO and another test that has 3

initials and ends with -ase). How long should I wait to take these

test so that the antibiotics will be out of my system? My doc says

to wait 7 days but we are not really sure that this is long enough.

Any advise?

2. Everything that I've read about this protocol says that the

patient should be hospitalized for 5 days to 3 weeks for IV therepy.

Couple of questions here. First of all is it necessary? Could one

have a port put in and have the IVs administered at the Dr.'s office?

The second part of this question is can the antibiotic to kill the

strep be given at the same time as the IV therepy or should we treat

the strep first and then proceed with the IV treatment?

3. I am currently taking 20mg of Prednisone a day. Is it true that

I can only have 5mg a day while on this treatment? I really want to

get off the Prednisone altogether but I cannot imagine how I will

survive without it...coping with the pain from the inflamation. I

hate to sound like a baby but is there anything that I can take (meds

or alternative) to help with the pain until the AP starts working on

me?

4. How will the doctor know when to start decreasing the other meds?

5. Finally, the last bit of information that I need some help with

is this: I have a rheumatologist and he has NEVER said anything

about treating RA with antibiotics. I had to call him this morning

and ask him to refill my Prednisone and to call me out something for

pain (This is the first time I've asked for pain meds in 30 years).

I also told him that my family doctor was going to treat me with the

AP. I was expecting a fight but instead he called me out a

prescription for (excuse my spelling) doxycycline, 100mg per day, 7

days a week. Okay, I'm soooo new to all of this but everything that

I've read suggests treating strep (I lived with it nearly my entire

childhood) and to use the Minocin 2xs a day on Monday, Wednesday, and

Friday? Any advice here? I'm wondering if I should just use my

family doctor who is willing to follow the protocol.

I thank you all for you time and any advise that you can give or

personal experiences that you can share.

Good health to all,

Leah