Minocin results

[Guest guest]

Hello, everyone,

I joined this list early in September and have found the posts to be very

useful. Some background, my husband was diagnosed with atypical RA in

September of 1999, and after some energetic discussion, convinced his

internist to prescribe the minocin. I just wanted to get back to the group

on his progress.

For about 6 weeks, Al took 100mg 2X every second day, along with 10

capsules of fish oil, and various other vitamins. During this time, he

suffered from extreme fatigue and lethargy, along with 4 - 5 hours of

stiffness every morning in all large joints. The bursas in his elbows

swelled to the size of golfballs and the backs of his knees didn't look

normal, either. He managed to work most days, but it didn't look like he

was going to be able to continue for long. He is 6 foot tall and went from

205lbs to 167lbs in 3 months. At this point, Al dropped wheat, dairy and

beef from his diet. He increased his dosage of minocin (after reading the

Arthritis Foundation guidelines for DMARDS) to 100mg 2X daily and after

about 3 weeks at this level, noticed a profound change in his condition.

He has very little stiffness in his hips, knees and shoulders, but he has

developed occasional foot problems and stiffness in his hands (manageable).

The swollen bursas have disappeared. As he says, on a scale of 1 - 10, he

went from a 1 to a 6 or 7. From my perspective, the change has been

dramatic.

We haven't done all the tests, he is just happy to be feeling better. When

he sees his internist on December 15, he will be asking for those.

I wanted to thank everybody who contributes to this list, because I believe

it is the constant encouragement that we received that keep us going with

the minocin. I will keep you updated re: Al's progress. We wish all of

you the very best of health during this special season.

Al and Lynda

Sault Ste. Marie,

Ontario, Canada