http://www.quackwatch.com/11Ind/mercola.html

There's this one, too. Footnoted, if you want to read more.

i second the vote for potential quackery. it's a great idea to research online, but it's important to verify sources. when you do academic research, you learn how to determine if a source is credible or not. one of the first clues a site may not credible is if it's selling something. that means they have a vested interest in the information they are selling. always look for cross references - if you can find other sources that have the same recommendations without the sales pitch, you may be on to something.

but, yeah.

Yes. I took Minocycline the first year I was diagnosed. I went from severe joint pain everyday to complete remission within six months. Unfortunately, I developed a severe reaction to the minocycline and had to stop taking it. I was heartbroken, but at least I got a year of remission under my belt before everything went south. If you're interested in this try www.roadback.org for more info.

By the way - the minocycline treatment I took had nothing to due with Mercola's claims. I saw a rheumy in DC who prescribed it and had good success with it.

Very interesting. I would really like to try the minocycline. I think I will ask my rheumy next week. I have seen a close friend who has lupus and was taking 10 mtx/week, prednisone, hydra condone, and periodic blood transfusions due to the lupus get off all the drugs by going to a gluten & sugar free and alkaline diet. She veggie juices twice a day with alkaline based foods for dinner. She says most of the time her pain level is about a 2, but if she eats a hamburger or cheese or something acid forming that with 5-10 min the pain level goes to 8, but sometimes she just can't resist the craving. I have read about the evils of gluten and sugar especially in regard to any autoimmune disease in several books. I didn't see anything on Mercolas site that I was reading selling anything. His book on nutritional typing was free to download and said with eating right you shouldn't need supplements. It's sounds like there may be some credence to his suggestions.

The Mercola site made several references to road back.org and said that was the basis of his premise. Thanks for the info. I'm going to go read it.

RA Sally - I developed a condition called Minocycline-Induced Pneumonitis. I was hospitalized for a week and on oxygen for six weeks after that. At first I thought I had a cold that had turned into bronchitis. Over the course of a couple of weeks I had more and more trouble breathing. By the time I went to the doctor and they did a chest x-ray my lungs were filled with infilitrates and they immediately put me in the hospital. I had very painful bouts of plueresy. They put me on high doses of prednisone and oxygen. A few months later I tried to take one dose of the Minocycline because I wanted to restart the treatment. Within five hours my symptoms were back and I was having trouble breathing again. My understanding is that this is a very rare thing, but it does happen unfortunately.

Thanks RA Sally, I appreciate your kind words. The episode I described happened about 7-8 years ago. I guess I've just put it behind me! : ) Honestly, the worst part was having to stop taking the minocycline. I felt like it had basically "cured" me and I had to give it up. Sigh. I hope you get some good results from it! Keep us updated. : )

I'm curious I've heard of others going the minocycline route but compared to other treatments it's rare.
Anyone have any clue if this is something Rhuemotogists consider using?
I sure would be interested. Although I'm wondering how long before you feel relief after stopping treatments like Enbrel.
Sammy

I asked my PCP to try me on minocycline while I was waiting to get in to see a rheumatologist 14 yrs ago. I had read info about it on-line, and since I was running a low grade fever everyday, my doc agreed. I stayed on it until I had my appt with the rheumy (a period of about 2 months). The rheumy was not impressed at all by it and advised me to discontinue it---and since I hadn't seen any improvement in my symptoms I was happy to oblige.

Great information!! Thank you so much!!

I asked my rheumy about minocycline last year. Her explanation was that it has a very mild effect, especially compared to biologics. Her thought was that since my own RA is on the severe end, it was very unlikely to make much difference, but for someone with mild disease (like someone whose disease might also be controlled with Plaquenil or Sulfasalazine alone), it might work.
Caren