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Calcific Tendonitis

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Posted 9/30/2019 8:49 PM (GMT -5)
Hi has anyone had to deal with calcification in the shoulder, causing tendonitis and bursitis? I have been dealing with a shoulder problem for years. The first time it came about was when I was intially diagnosed with lyme. It has been an on again off again issue since (2013). At this point in time, it has become a chronic problem. The pain is unbearable. I am trying to figure out if the calcification is the cause of the pain, or just lyme, or if the calcification is causing the lyme to resurface because of the chronic inflammation. I know they must be related. I just can't seem to fix it. I was trying different herbal protocols, but everything only made it worse. Even epson salt baths made it worse. I was so desperate that I got a steroid shot, and that didn't work. I have an appt with an osteopathic PT who only takes cash or check for each visit. I am out of options!! Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or can maybe help me solve this puzzle? TIA
Posted 9/30/2019 10:44 PM (GMT -5)
i had horrible calcification bart cysts in my hips low back and shoulders . one even required surgery. i say bart because they went down with zhang and bvt . the bvt gave me full mobility again and i have a cut achilles and torn acl !! you can go with d. mau method of msm , chanca piedra, dragons blood) cinnamon, ooo topically and internally etc ..only breakup biofilm if u have a strong killer on board imho.

i also had this shockwave treatment on my spine with ozone injections seemed to help after it hurt . it has a supersonic magnetic hammer like gun that does hundreds of hits per second. it about 5 to 7 min little torture but lidocaine cream helps.. nbd compared to venom .as far as anti inflammatory venom is 4x more powerful than corticosteroids.

another cheap trick is francenscence oil followed by dmso if inflammation is the root .
a duc at painpuzzle.com uses bv injections like rainy cloud is doing on the other thread . i remember that excruciating pain and hope you get some relief soon

Post Edited (bluelyme) : 9/30/2019 9:49:12 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/1/2019 4:46 AM (GMT -5)
Hi bluelyme thx for your input. What are you referring to when you say zhang and bvt? I know zhang is a Dr? I find your post very interesting bc I was suspecting Bart too since I was clinically diagnosed with it back in 2013 and if there is anything holding me back from healing its that. I just reacted terribly to ABart. I know it could have been a herx but my shoulder hurt like I saw stars in the sky everytime I took it, it was unbearable. I have all if my probs on my rt side and I read Bart can do that, cause issues on only one side of the body

Post Edited (Chapelle) : 10/1/2019 3:53:00 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/1/2019 4:53 AM (GMT -5)
If the inflammatory process in your shoulder is so acidic that the bicarbonate can't buffer all the acid, the only way to buffer it is with calcium phosphate. The phosphate buffers the acid and the calcium is left to form a calcification. You need to alkalize your body and that starts with not eating acids.
Posted 10/1/2019 4:56 AM (GMT -5)
So avoid acidic food? Will do. I couldn't move my shoulder this morning it was so bad. It doesnt help that I sleep on it the wrong way all night. Anything I can take to help the process? Would alkaseltzer gold help or no? Thx GH
Posted 10/1/2019 5:20 AM (GMT -5)

Chapelle said...
So avoid acidic food? Will do. I couldn't move my shoulder this morning it was so bad. It doesnt help that I sleep on it the wrong way all night. Anything I can take to help the process? Would alkaseltzer gold help or no? Thx GH

I don't think it would help at this point, but it helps in general. Ice for 15 minutes, heat for 15 minutes and sleep in a sling to try to immobilize the shoulder joint.
Posted 10/1/2019 5:22 AM (GMT -5)
I was thinking of the sling idea just seems rather uncomfortable and I was worried I might not sleep as well. Worth a shot!! Thx and i read your post on eating. Great info
Posted 10/1/2019 3:13 PM (GMT -5)
Do you know for fact that this is calcification? None of the Drs I seen would even be able to make that diagnosis.

Technical descriptions aside, I had many stiff tendons that I treated with deep cross friction to break them down followed by DMSO as a carrier for Penetrex or Arnica gel.
Posted 10/1/2019 3:16 PM (GMT -5)
Well, I know I do have calcification - the Xray shows it clear as day. But am I sure that is the cause of all of my problems and pain? No. However most articles I read do claim that calcification under the rotator cuff can cause tremendous pain, so my symptoms match, but I am still not convinced......
Posted 10/1/2019 3:41 PM (GMT -5)
Chaoelle - Do you have any other symptoms in your shoulder besides pain? Popping / cracking / excess mobility, etc.
Posted 10/1/2019 3:46 PM (GMT -5)
my shoulder feels like it comes out of place on occasion, some snapping yes, the muscle on the top is very sore and achy, esp. in the am, and the most distinct pain is btwn my shoulder blade and chest (in the front). Also I have tons of muscle twitches going on all over my body, I get rib pain pretty regularly plus my body temp is normal in the morning, but after dinner it always goes anywhere btwn 99.3 to 99.7
Posted 10/1/2019 3:59 PM (GMT -5)
The muscle twitches all over could indicate active infection. Rib pain... Bart?
Also the low grade fever could indicate active infection.
Posted 10/1/2019 4:08 PM (GMT -5)
Right, I was suspecting Bart too - if you read my post above. I have been testing the waters. I tried A-Bart, all it did was cause the pain to intensify. I had no good days at all. I tried bactrim for a week and a half. No change. Doxy for a week and a half. No change. I took Diflucan - and herxed badly. It helped with my headaches, but didn't change my shoulder. I had to stop it bc my Dr told me only to take it for a max of 2 weeks. I was confused bc Diflucan is good for candida and works as a lyme cyst buster. I could not imagine Candida would cause all of this. So this is when I went in for the Cortisone shot. Here I am now, and I am trying one more thing - I started Augmentin this morning. The only way I can figure this out is via trial and error. I was sick in the spring, had to take augmentin for an eye infection. At that point, it actually helped my shoulder. When I stopped taking it (10 day course) is when I tanked. I was under the impression that Augmentin really isn't for Bart, but maybe whatever this is, it will respond to the Augmentin. If after a few days, I feel better again, then I am on the right track.

Girlie - I felt so bad that I took a long time to respond to the toddler post bc of my shoulder. I could barely type it was so bad. I hope the members got my response, bc nobody wrote anything afterwards......

I am managing the pain on my own which is why I am able to type again.....

Post Edited (Chapelle) : 10/1/2019 3:22:15 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/2/2019 4:03 AM (GMT -5)
I think augmentin can hit the extracellular bart, but it isn't as effective and doesn't hit the intracellular bart, which is supposedly where the majority of bart is. I think that considering your shoulder feels like it is going to pop out, you have hypermobile joints due to bartonella. This study will talk more about it. You need to take antibiotics for it for probably a year minimum. Some doctors pulse 2 weeks on 2 weeks off and others don't. Rifabutin and biaxin or rifabutin and clindamycin are the best combos I hear. You could also try disulfiram or dapsone + rifabutin + biaxin, or rifabutin + biaxin + pyrazinamide. See study here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5944489/
Posted 10/2/2019 7:57 AM (GMT -5)
Thx for the suggestions but I wont go near those meds. Too toxic. I will find another way. One step at a time!
Posted 10/2/2019 10:41 AM (GMT -5)

Chapelle said...
Well, I know I do have calcification - the Xray shows it clear as day. But am I sure that is the cause of all of my problems and pain? No. However most articles I read do claim that calcification under the rotator cuff can cause tremendous pain, so my symptoms match, but I am still not convinced......

Well...........anything wrong with any of the seven tendons attached at the rotator :cuff" can cause great pain and frozen shoulder.

The shoulder ball is in a way a "bearing" that needs to sit with even pressure in the socket (bearing cup). Any uneven pressure pulls it aside, makes it grind, snap and hurt.

Just uneven tension from only ONE of the seven tendons can and will do this. There is automatically seven chances to make shoulder pain in everyone.

Know what scoliosis is? Uneven muscle tension of unknown causes creating spine twist... But healthcare does not treat it as such.
Posted 10/2/2019 11:50 AM (GMT -5)
I see. Interesting. But I dont completely follow- are you saying anything including calcification or even a tear can cause so much pain? Bc I'm debating whether I should get an MRI to rule out a tear as well...
Posted 10/2/2019 12:33 PM (GMT -5)
“I tried bactrim for a week and a half. No change. Doxy for a week and a half. No change. ”


You do realize that really isn’t long enough - it can - and often does take longer for a response - either good or bad (herx)
Posted 10/2/2019 12:36 PM (GMT -5)
I don't know - when I first treated I herxed within the first few days. And I herxed on diflucan right away only a few weeks ago. I am just following my instincts - although it could be wrong. Like I said its all trial and error. Time will tell.
Posted 10/2/2019 12:36 PM (GMT -5)

Chapelle said...
Thx for the suggestions but I wont go near those meds. Too toxic. I will find another way. One step at a time!

“Rifabutin and biaxin or rifabutin and clindamycin are the best combos I hear. “

You find all those to be too toxic?

I was more concerned with Bactrim

Can you see your previous LLMD or another one?
Posted 10/2/2019 12:46 PM (GMT -5)
I am mostly concerned about Clindamycin - very high incidence of diarrhea and C Diff risk, I would not want to be on it long term. I cannot handle Biaxin, it kills my stomach. Rifabutin is strong as it was/is used for more serious infections - mainly used for HIV and TB

I feel much more comfortable with Bactrim - plus I have taken it before without any issues. My antibiotic choices are limited bc I am not a fan of antibiotics in the first place, so will only take what I am familiar with. Cephalasporins are excluded bc of my allergy to them and I won't touch fluroquinolones either. I healed from the doxy/zithromax then bactrim/zithromax 6 years ago, and I can handle augmentin, so I am going to work with only those for now. I am not that sick, so I think between the choice of these 4 plus herbs I can make this work.
Posted 10/2/2019 1:53 PM (GMT -5)

Chapelle said...
I was thinking of the sling idea just seems rather uncomfortable and I was worried I might not sleep as well. Worth a shot!! Thx and i read your post on eating. Great info


Be careful about using a sling as you could end up with frozen shoulder.

Have you thought about treatment to hit the calcifications?
There are some non or low invasive therapies:

https://www.healthline.com/health/calcific-tendonitis


Extracorporeal shock-wave therapy (ESWT): Your doctor will use a small handheld device to deliver mechanical shocks to your shoulder, near the site of calcification.

Higher frequency shocks are more effective, but can be painful, so speak up if you’re uncomfortable. Your doctor can adjust the shock waves to a level you can tolerate.

This therapy may be performed once a week for three weeks.

Radial shock-wave therapy (RSWT): Your doctorwill use a handheld device to deliver low- to medium-energy mechanical shocks to the affected part of the shoulder. This produces effects similar to ESWT.

Therapeutic ultrasound: Your doctorwill use a handheld device to direct a high frequency sound wave at the calcific deposit. This helps break down the calcium crystals and is usually painless.

Percutaneous needling: This therapy is more invasive than other nonsurgical methods. After administering local anesthesia to the area, your doctor will use a needle to make small holes in your skin. This will allow them to manually remove the deposit. This may be done in conjunction with ultrasound to help guide the needle into the correct position.

Surgery

about 10 percent of people will need surgery to remove the calcium deposit.
Posted 10/2/2019 2:12 PM (GMT -5)
Thank you Girlie! Yes, I came across these other treatments, but I need to find someone who will go this route, my orthopedist is not outside the box - if shot doesnt work, next step is surgery - no thx! esp. since i don't have insurance!

I decided to call to request an MRI of my shoulder as well. Want to make sure there is nothing else going on. If not, I will be ISO of a good PT or Dr who can go an alternate route.

I do believe that the calcification is causing inflammation, which is turn is putting my immune system in overdrive, which is then causing my lyme/bart symptoms to resurface.
Posted 10/2/2019 7:58 PM (GMT 0)

Chapelle said...
Thank you Girlie! Yes, I came across these other treatments, but I need to find someone who will go this route, my orthopedist is not outside the box - if shot doesnt work, next step is surgery - no thx! esp. since i don't have insurance!

I decided to call to request an MRI of my shoulder as well. Want to make sure there is nothing else going on. If not, I will be ISO of a good PT or Dr who can go an alternate route.

I do believe that the calcification is causing inflammation, which is turn is putting my immune system in overdrive, which is then causing my lyme/bart symptoms to resurface.

I agree the MRI is a good idea. It shows issues that an X-ray doesn't.

Maybe phone around and talk to some PT's? They could do the therapeutic ultrasound option. My PT did ultrasound on my shoulder a few years ago.
Posted 10/2/2019 3:03 PM (GMT -5)
did the PT help in any way?
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