Complicated condition just got more complicated! May provide some good information to others

[Sonofjimmy]

Hi All,

Previously posted in relation to my dads condition with potential R/A & PMR 9/10 pain & many things tried twelve months (search for prev posts)

Over two months ago now my farther Ped dose was lifted from 20 - 40. Within a week his condition improved, however at the same time he was put on a antibiotic for a stomach infection and begun a course of Humira with his Mex he had ben on for six months (without success) supplementing. What was working!

After a three weeks of feeling ok (just fatigue, no pain), he made a planned family holiday to Turkey (Huge milestone for him). Unfortunately while in Turkey (last couple of days) he was infected with shingles which meant he had to come off the met & Humira due to the infection.

After seeing the doctor on return to the UK he was omitted to hospital with severe fatigue. Blood tests identified salmonella poisoning in the blood and he was treated with anti biotic and was allowed home after a week of testing and monitoring.

He is now home with no R/A / PMR symptoms full use of all his body without pain and the fatigue is improving by the day. Noting the antibiotic clearing the infection & shingles and still on the 40mg ped.

During his time in hospital we researched all possible connection with the Salmonella (Gamma negative rod) & R/A. This sowed a possible link between the infection and ARTHRITUS conditions which we hoped would provide the golden answer to the last 12 months (Based on the continuous feed back from the specialists that he has a complexed case with not many data points to clearly diagnose his condition (Apologise for waffling)

Any how, the specialist in the hospital informed us that there would be no link to the R/A with this infection and even though they have never carried out this type of blood test in the past they did not feel that he had this infection for long.

Current status is that he is not on the met/herira while on other meds and feels good, we have suggested that he now goes for a ped reduction programme without going on then other medication and see how he goes, he dropped 10mg about for weeks ago

Personally I believe that this condition is somehow linked to an infection in some way and the data points we have all lead to seeing an improvement for the first stomach infection medication to the current ones, it was just unfortunate that all the other medication was started at the same time?

The change in him over the last two months must be a big plus for everyone with similar conditions, although this can be a dreadful condition at times, things do improve and by staying positive around yourself and your loved ones it can make a difference!

extremely complicated condition and more awareness needed, without this site and support we would not have got through this BIG THANK YOU

[Nap1]

Wish you well. That is quite a history.