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Hello everybody,

My mom has had RA for a little over a year now and has been getting

progressively worse, even with the methotrexate therapy. She also did

not respond well to the malaria drug (I forget what it's called) she

was first given. Her doctor wants her to start on enbril, but her

insurance will only cover a small portion of it and it looks like it

will be prohibitively expensive for her, especially since she just

had to quit her job because she was no longer physically able to do

it.

I have been reading through the information on the Road Back

Foundation regarding long-term antibiotic therapy for mycoplasma

infections that are reportedly common in RA and the information there

looks promising. I was wondering if any here had tried anything

along that line and how well it worked for them. I'm also finding

lots of supposed " cures " out there -- vitamin suppliments, emu oil,

hydrogen peroxide IV's, etc. I'm sure most of these are shams, but

if any of you have found something useful in alleviating some

symptoms, I'd be interested in hearing it.

I was also wondering about any connections between RA and thyroid

disease. Most of the women in my family have Hashimoto's thyroiditis

and I have encouraged my mom to start adding a small amount of

cytomel to her medications. She says that it's helped increase her

energy and alleviate some of the brain fog, but has not done much for

her pain and swelling. I know that these autoimmune diseases travel

in packs, can the symptoms of one aggrivate the other or can treating

one help the other?

Thanks in advance for your answers,

JenL