Adele -The article uses the word "may" - "mycoplasma may be the cause and be
difficult to diagnose."  What I'm getting from it is that the lowered immune
system is leaving the person open to different types of infections,
mycoplasmas etc that might be the cause of different symptoms from
polyarthritis to gastrointestional problems.  As in all conditions, you
cannot blame everything on one problem.  I was asking why no one ever tested
my level of IG before not tested for mycoplasmas.  I do recall reading about
them before when I was first dx with RA esp because I've always felt
remarkably better on abx. My rheumy told me it was most likely the
anti-inflam component of the abx rather than it actually being curing some
sort of infection.  The reason I'm on IV abx now is because I had a severe
sinus infection for 3 months, a bronchial infection and an abscess tooth,
all at the same time that hadn't gone away after 5 rounds of different abx.
My arthritis and MS were getting worse as I was unable to continue the
Enbrel while being treated for the infections.  I was sent to an Infectious
Disease dr who recognized this type of infection as a sympton of someone
with low IGG levels and ran the appropriate blood tests.  English is not his
primary language so we have somewhat of a stilted communication pattern. But
I get the gist of what he is telling me. Plus the nurses are great at
answering my questions. I'll have plenty of time to talk with them Monday
when I get my first infusion of IVIG -- 4-5 hours!  He did tell me that
based on my history, I've probably had this since I was a child. I was
always sickly, seldom making it thru a whole week of school without missing
a day. I remember in third grade missing so many days of school that I was
almost not passed onto the next grade. My teacher used to come to my house
and tutor me to keep me up with the class. Constant sinus and tonsil
infections. I've lost track of how many times I've had pneumonia. And when I
was a kid, I remember getting shots of gamma gobblem to boost my immune
system, the last one being my freshman year in college. I remember them
because they hurt so bad. But that dr died and it was never anything I
thought about in all the years after until this ID mentioned it. Too bad. Of
course in those days I'm sure they did not have the sophisticated testing
available that they do now to break it all down.,  Kids like me were just
"sickly"

It would be nice if all my illness could be wrapped up in one package with
one name. My neuro at Mayo Clinic spent the good part of a year trying to do
just that.  She kept telling me that my symptoms and tests were never 100%
on target for either MS or RA and she kept looking for other dx that might
explain them together.  Tons of blood tests. But never this one except in my
spinal fluid. And it was low there I see now when I look back at it.  She
ended all the blood research with a 99.9 % dx of MS, leaving doubt for that
little bit that didn't make sense to her. I wonder what she is going to say
about this now?

I'm just going to have to wait and see what happens after I've been on IVIG
therapy for a bit. I've been on abx now for 3 weeks and the increase in red
and inflamed joints has slacked off. Of course the pain level is hard to
tell because of my fall.  My MS is still acting up but that is expected
because I still have infection.  It is definitely going to be interesting to
see how this all works out.

Diane,

Hi! The supposed presence of mycoplasma is the support/basis for ABX therapy
for RA. It is considered somewhat controversial, which is why no one ever
said it before. It is not a 'mainstream' idea.

Does the article specifically say "CAN show mycoplasma in SOME instances?"
That's very amorphous language. "DOES show mycoplasma in some instances,"
is more concrete and definitive. I wonder if this article is proffering
something that is a theory, but the researcher doesn't have proof, yet.

I searched out similar articles when ABX helped me so much. There is that
definite overlap in symptoms between MS, Lyme and RA that makes it hard to
tell one from the other and which makes the idea so appealing; life would
finally make sense. But the longer I'm on ABX, the less my heart can believe
it. Why?

My uncle (a pediatric RD) has been following the research on ABT. So far,
while it does show significant results in reducing inflammation, they have
not shown to have any efficacy in reducing joint erosion at all. They think
that it's the anti-inflammatory properties of the ABX which provides relief,
not the anti-microbial properties.

So maybe mycoplasma can be responsible for polyarthritis, but only in people
with CVID. Or maybe it's another causation theory that is being worked on
and not proven. Who knows?

Adelle

That's exactly my point. I've been to just about every other kind of
specialist including hemotologists and immunologists. Now the immunologist
tested me for other IG series but not the IGG. And the three he tested me
for were normal in 1990 and still are today. It's only the IGG and all the
sub-classes that are low.

Tomorrow is the big day for the infustion. I'm supposed to bring a blanket
and pillow as well as lunch.  I've also got a good book. Anyone used to
infusions got any other advice for me?

Wow, it sounds like these IGG injections might help a whole lot more than
the
recent infections.  Don't want to hope TOO much, but it would be so
wonderful.  This low IGG must be something that only a specific group of
docs
know about so far.  I don't know why though, they've been able to test for
it
for quite a while.  Maybe you can learn more over time from the office.
Surely would have been nice if someone had thought to check this out
earlier.