Hi everyone, I'm trying to make the post as short as possible, anyway in the last couple of months I've had to have two courses of antibacterial antibiotics, for a infected toe and lastly antibiotic cover for teeth extractions. Whilst on them I've felt better in myself, dressing isn't as painful and feel ' lighter' in my legs. After I've finished them without me realising I'm back to normal again.
I believe its to do with the bacteria in the gut, I've always been sceptical about RA and diet, but I think there is something definitely connected. After 42 years of having RA I'm willing to try a change in diet, so I will be doing some research 😁 so far I'm trying to cut out sugar and additives. Best wishes to all Sarah
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A previous rheumatologist of mine once told me that antibiotics does appear to ease RA symptoms for some people. She never mentioned anything about gut bacteria though.
I developed RA after a strong dose of Antibiotics over a 6 month period. Antibiotics also kill good gut bacteria so not always the answer! I eat plenty of natural yoghurt regularly which appears to help my digestion and if Prescribed antibiotics take natural Yakult for at least a month to help build up good bacteria in my gut.
I think.i remember reading somewhere that sulphasalazine , which a lot of us take for RA , contains an antibiotic ( among other stuff in it !) ? Best wishes 😊
meant Sarilumab, too early to have brain on full function it would seem! The other one was a real early drug in my journey and is on my never again list due to the insidious away with the fairies side effects! Not everything works for everyone as we all know.
That is interesting as I was on sulphasalazine for three months and I felt great but then I developed high liver levels and had to stop it and onto other dmards instead..
Sulfasalazine is used to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and other types of inflammatory bowel disease. It can also be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It belongs to a group of medicines called aminosalicylates. Google..
I've had RA for 17 years and only in the last year experienced bad guy problems. Loads of tests and finally I was diagnosed with Pancreatis which came as a shock. No I rarely touched alcohol so it wasn't that. I had another blood test which showed no secondary auto immune disease but likely RA attacked the Pancreas. I'm not saying that's what you've got so please don't take it the wrong way. My diet is obviously no alcohol,low fat and Pro biotics. I find the latter two have made a big difference to the gut and helped my Diverticulor disease. It's trial and error to find things that suit. I've also given up any product containing lactose and that's helped .
Interestingly, there's a whole group of people discussing something similar on Twitter in relation to ME/CFS and Long Covid (which may or may not have similar disease mechanisms to systemic autoimmune conditions).
A number of people have reported a temporary or sometimes permanent improvements in their symptoms due to antibiotics, therefore a group have been attempting to coordinate a sort of citizen science experiment.
If you're on Twitter, @remissionbiome is a good place to start. They're working on a whole antibiotics-based protocol related to gut health, etc, which does get a bit complex, but the basic premise of targeting the microbiome to improve disease symptoms does seem to be promising based on the self-reported case studies shared.
Thanks, that's so interesting, hopefully they will find lots of new information 👍
Wonderful to read your post. I have had RA for over 35 years. In 2014 I had a small bowel bacterial overgrowth which rears its ugly head now and again and the only course of action is antibiotics. Sadly I also have peridontal disease and when my gums are inflamed my gut plays up and so does my RA. I have good oral hygiene. Use indental brushes , water pick , see the hygienist every 3 months etc . I am convinced of a link . If only a dentist, RA consultant or bowel specialist would find a solution. Kefir, Kimchi, and probiotics help me. Keep me updated.
I was always under the impression that antibiotics destroyed your gut bacteria. I take probiotics if I have to take antibiotics.
I think you’re right to try and alter your diet. Sugar does your body no good and you are best to stick to good home cooking with as few additives as you can, along the lines of ‘if you can’t pronounce an ingredient or aren’t sure what something is then don’t eat it.’
I found going totally gluten free when I developed a second autoimmune condition had the added result of really helping my IBS - that wasn’t why I went GF I’m not coeliac but it’s one reason I won’t go back to eating gluten.
Yes, I think it kills all the bacteria, I can't really understand how I feel better for it, but hopefully a change in diet will help, I've been eating yoghurt to try to help the bowels, thanks for your reply 👍
Antibiotics do destroy gut bacteria.In our gut we have bacteria and fungi and this starts in the mouth. In my case I had an excess of bad bacteria (SIBO) in the small intestine, which turned my gut into a fermentation chamber and the good guys were overwhelmed. It resulted in the villi or little hairs in the gut being destroyed and made me lactose intolerant. Any sugar fed the bad guys . The antibiotics treatment killed the good and bad followed by a diet containing probiotics and anti inflammatory foods to support the good bacteria was essential and a slow process. However a bad case of SIBO can make the bowel longer and loopy. In my case a healthy gut means less inflammation throughout my body.
I had put on a bit of weight as used to run a lot and now I walk. I changed to a low fat diet to fix my weight. A brilliant side effect is the pain in my hands has gone. I didn’t have a lot of weight to lose so it’s not likely to be the weight loss that’s the difference, it is the low sugar. Am on methotrexate and sulfasalazine but still had sore fingers. On a low fat diet I have no symptoms. So yes, definitely worth a try!
I have found in my 20+ years of having ra that if my stomach is happy my ra is much more tolerable. I also found out I have a severe intolerance of eggs, intolerance of lactose and alcohol is not at all helpful in that it makes me ache like I have drunk at least a bottle of wine if I have a couple of glasses. My gp recommended I look at the fodmap which highlights foods that are inflammatory, preservatives are in the avoidance list too.
Hi, I was diagnosed with RA in 2021 following 2 doses of covid vaccine, which I believe was the trigger.
I started to improve after a few months on Methotrexate but then had an enormous flare and was diagnosed with spondylo-arthropathy. At the same time I had terrible gut problems and after ruling out anything sinister the gastroenterologist recommended low Fodmap diet. I found the Monash University resources great for this.
It’s been a journey and I’ve added Imraldi to my drug regime but I am loads better now and even wonder if I could reduce the drugs at some point.
The gut is a very sensitive place and I do have to take care of it. I’ve also started more yoga and relaxation which definitely impact digestion. NRAS have helped with this. I also did an NRAS nutrition course which had loads of information.
Good luck to all you people out there trying to manage every day without pain.
From what I gather personally speaking taking a course of antibiotics wipes out all bacteria good and bad, so what you eat affects the type of bacteria that comes back, that's very simply put from what I understand, if you Google RA and gut health there have been lots of papers about it that have been published, hope this helps 😊
Tim Spector is incredible. Professor, immunologist, did the Zoe covid app. All around great man. He talks about 30 different vegetables, herbs etc…a day and promotes that which is where you will probably have heard it from originally tim-spector.co.uk/tim-spect...
I think gut health is certainly an issue for many people. Our Western diets are often full of additives and sugar. I am better on a ketogenic diet. No sugar, low carb. Grains are problematic for me as is sugar. Doesn't do any harm to try dietary changes...and may do good! 😊
There is an awful lot of reading to do for you, then!
I am at my best after 34 years of RA when I can keep to a near-Mediterranean diet, however much I can when not in the Mediterranean region.
Can I suggest you look at and listen to Yalda Alaoui's talks on My Arthritis? Yalda also has a website and probably YouTube. Yalda is highly qualified and has pursued this subject due to her health problems.
There are no guarantees it works for everyone because our immune systems are unique, but we can explore and find what works best for us.
It’s a very interesting post. I hope more information about gut health in relation to various diseases will eventually become more understood. It’s obviously a very complex subject, I just hope someone can link all of the pieces together and come up with a solution. Good luck with your reading. Thanks
It's always worthwhile to take a positive attitude to health matters, so I wish you well in your trial.
Good gut bacteria seem to have caught the attention of many people interested in healthy living. My daughter intoduced me to the benefits of Kefir fermented yogurt recently. Very good for the gut, she said.
I'm a great fan of all yogurts, so I was a willing disciple! In fact, I would have no difficulty in eating nothing but fruit and yogurt as a complete regime. I'm not about to try that, of course - I'm not that hair-brained! But my invariable breakfast consists of chopped fruit - whatever is in the fruit bowl - and large dollops of yogurt on top. And the same again as a dessert after a meal.
I'm not sure about the connection of all this with rheumatoid disease - but a healthy gut is not a bad thing to aim for whether you have RD or not.
My rheumy says that the gut and RA are definitely connected and is not the least surprised when I tell him that a bad bout of IBS coincides with an RA flare. He recommends basically the Tim Spector thing. Certainly I feel better with no sugar or bread. Have been having terrible IBS lately but now being tested for coeliac disease which my GP is sure I have. Another auto immune thing! Think I will splash out on the ZOE programme as you can only try these things and am fed up with joint pains everywhere and gut problems affecting me so negatively. One can only try.
Thanks for your reply, I know what you mean, I've been reading a book called its not a diet by Davinia Taylor it's very interesting and makes sense to me, it's a complete change in diet, so I will take some things from it and go from there 😊
There’s lots of interesting books available at the moment re diet (including gut health). Xand Van Tulekens book Ultra Processed Food was great. There was also an interesting podcast on the BBC with Michael Mosley and Tim Spector that had some great diet tips, it was part of the Just One Thing series.
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