Although I hate the term, it is so cliche, I had an "Ah ha! Moment" the other day. I listen to the news on the radio on my way to work in the mornings. It is just enough to reassure me that our country didn't go to war over night, we are still a "democracy," and what to expect from the weather. There is also a little medical blip once a week on some illness or syndrome. Last week it was IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). I have made no effort to hide the fact that I have a delicate digestive system. Oh, nothing as bad as IBS, or Crohn's, or Leaky Gut. Mostly I just have to be careful of what I eat, and understand the ramifications if I throw caution to the wind (like last Sunday... read my previous post). Anyhoo, enough rambling, IBS radio blip. The woman being interviewed was a specialist on IBS and other gastrointestinal maladies, so I paid attention to what she was saying. Here was my Ah Ha! She said that IBS can be triggered by bacteria such as E-coli or Salmonella. Nearly 5 years ago I had an up close and personal experience with Salmonella. It wasn't severe enough that I sought medial treatment, choosing homeopathic and natural treatment (bland diet, plenty of clear liquids, etc). But it was quite literally gut wrenching. I had nearly two weeks of cramping, diarrhea, and eventually even blood in my stool. I lost 10 pounds, and it made me feel weak as a kitten. But it passed, and I got better.
After listening to the radio interview I started thinking, and realized that most of my digestive started about 4 months after the Salmonella Incident. True, I had stopped eating wheat more than a year before that, and my 20 year case of heartburn finally cleared up, so that is a whole different story. I started looking into the relationship between Salmonella and chronic digestive issues. Now, here is where it gets a bit weird. Salmonella is also a trigger for what is now called "Reactive Arthritis," previously known as "Reiter's Syndrome." I was familiar with Reiter's Syndrome, a doctor suggested my younger son had it back when he was about 10. The common symptoms are joint pain that is asymmetrical and often in the ankles and feet, conjunctivitis (eye inflammation), and urethritis, as well as gut issues, and ulcerations of the mucous membrane. The doctor said at the time, "You can have a bout once or twice and never again, but if you have a bout more than 3 times it is likely to effect you the rest of your life." Fortunately, my son only had the one bout. In the last few years I have looked at Reiter's as a possible explanation of all the weird shit my body does, but then I also thought maybe I was hearing hooves and thinking Zebra instead of the simple explanation of Horse. Know what I mean?
So, back to Salmonella and Reactive Arthritis. Reiter's has been renamed, since Dr. Reiter was a Nazi therefore not PC to have a syndrome named after him. It was when I was clicking through links on Salmonella that I found that it is a common trigger for Reactive Arthritis. I hadn't heard this in relation to Reiter's, but then I wasn't thinking along these lines. Now I am beginning to wonder.
Now, here is another weird little coincidence. A few weeks ago I cut my shin with a scythe. Yeah, I know, pretty stoopid. The cut ended up getting infected with cellulitis, a bacteria that infects the tissue just beneath the skin, and if left untreated can get nasty enough that you can lose a limb. Not cool. As much as I hate taking antibiotics I went on a 10 day course of Oxytetracycline. This is the first antibiotic I've taken in decades. Honestly. Here is the weird part, Oxytetracycline is used to treat Salmonella in pigs, who's physiology closely resembles a human. But wait, there's more. Usually antibiotics screw up the gut flora, so you need to take some probiotics to try and rebalance the whole thing. Getting to the weird part now, since being on the antibiotic I haven't had nearly the weird digestive issues that I normally do. Seriously. Coincidence? I don't know. Have I been suffering the effects of dragging around some residual Salmonella in my system for the last 5 years?
Now I am wondering if I will have any clearing of arthritis issues? That would be awesome, though not likely. All the research on Reactive Arthritis says that once you have it you have it, it isn't going away. Oddly enough though, I am a little encouraged by all of this. Why? You may well ask. Because Reactive Arthritis isn't nearly as degenerative as Rheumatoid Arthritis. These last few months I have been pretty sure that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and it has been depressing as hell. One way or another, I will be dealing with the chronic pain for the rest of my life, I just need to learn better ways to manage it.
The thing is, I could go to a rheumatologist, have a slew of tests done, and still likely not have any answers. The recommendation would likely be pharmaceuticals, very expensive pharmaceuticals. Instead I will continue to do what I do: eat healthy, take appropriate supplements, try new things now and then, keep researching, keep working out despite pain, and hope that it is is merely pain and not something degenerative. As painful as things are now, I can deal with it. What I fear is if it is this bad now, what will it be like in 10 years? 20 years? I have been looking into stem cell treatment for joint tissue regrowth, hoping to find some clinical trials that might need a vigorous test subject. I just need to grow some new soft tissue, that's all. That's all.
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