Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Lyme

i have really been researching lyme disease alot lately. it seems to me that a portion of us may have lyme arthritis rather than AS. a couple things you may want to ask yourself:

1. am i HLA-B27 negative?
2. is my blood work normal?
3. do i have any signs of fusing?

my answers are yes, yes, and no. my next step is to get tests done for lyme. however, the problem with lyme testing is that it has high rates of false negatives. so if you have many lyme symtpoms and have been tested for lyme with a negative result, you may still be positive for lyme.

there are many similarities between lyme and AS as well. Namely:

1. NSD helps some people.
2. lyme can cause joint sclerosing.
3. lyme affects bowel function.
4. lyme causes fatigue.

and on and on. my point is this:

if you have lyme and not AS, you are probably treating the problem incorrectly. immunosuppresants are not good to treat lyme and the disease requires intensive antibiotic therapy.

andy

HI...Andy.....good info...
had my tests done...came back Negatve...
Take Care

Hey, andy:

I asked a friend who works for the Orange County Vector Control, and he said that they have collected over 10,000 Ixodes ticks in SoCal. Only one, caught in San Clemente in 1989, was positive for the Borrelia germ. In California, the affected area begins a bit north of Point Reyes, but the entire Pacific Northwest has the potential, but only produces a total of <5% (entire tri-state Western Coast) of the annual Lyme cases in US.

If you found a tick and did not remove it in time, or developed a rash from it, you would have more of a case for suspecting Lyme.

Even after proper treatments, an AS-susceptible individual could still develop AS as the direct result of having had Lyme. And vaccines are certainly also triggers for AS (hepatitis B is the one that is most common).

If I were B27 negative and had follow-on tests to perform, I would certainly do a total donor workup and repeat the B27 test because there are MANY false negatives.

I don't disagree with your point, but I would also say that immunosuppressants are not especially the best way to treat AS either, and antibiotics would be much better at addressing the cause of AS.


Good luck with your further testing and I hope that you will find the answers; please keep us informed as to your progress,

John

john,

i grew up on the east coast in the philadelpha area. heavy lyme area. my initial symptoms started there.

Reactive arthritis is a member of the spondyloarthropathy family, the family of conditions which includes AS. Giardia is an intestinal parasite which is common in certain areas of the world. It is usually spread through contact with contaminated water. Giardia-induced reactive arthritis is a treatable form of spondyloarthropathy- eradication of the parasite results in remission of the associated arthritis. Giardia-induced reactive arthritis is probably underdiagnosed, since it is not often considered. Metronidazole (Flagyl ) is often used as the treatment for giardia, and in many cases only a short course is needed .

Here are links to previous posts that describe our experience in more detail and provide links re:giardia and giardia induced reactive arthritis

https://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=152548&page=&vc=1

https://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=16396&page=&vc=1

https://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=185050&page=&vc=1

thanks evelyn. i tested negative several times for giardia but may have another test.

andy