COuld these things be related somehow and to the Lyme ? My gums have dramatically thinned in a few months, so my dentist is recomending surgery. My LLMD in hearing of this ordered a bone density test, and I have lots less bone mass than I should have (-1.9) and seem headed to premature osteoperosis.
I am 45 years old, walk regulary, thought Ive been eating well, not to menopause yet...
I thought I was doing much better, and I am better and better every year to some extent. But, summer is over, syptoms are up a bit and now this...
So, I think Ive heard of Lyme affecting tissue connectivity. Are these 2 things affected by tissue connectivity ?
And, more to the point, what should I be doing to improve the situation ?
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
You might want to ask your LLMD or a gastroenterologist to test you for celiac disease (genetic autoimmune gluten intolerance).
Osteoporosis and anemia are often signs of celiac disease because nutrients are not be absorbed. Celiac disease is a disease of malabsorption.
Other things can cause malabsorption such as candida, leaky gut, etc.
Many people with Lyme develop celiac disease or celiac-like gluten sensitivities.
Of course we all know the antibiotics can lead to candida and leaky gut.
Magnesium is important for bone health (even though calcium is the one pushed most by mainstream doctors) and Lyme depletes magnesium and all kinds of nutrients.
Are you on Synthroid (for any thyroid disease?) because that can cause osteoporosis.
I did improve my bone density results greatly, and the only thing I can attribute it to was going gluten-free.
Are you doing any strength training? My LLMD wants me to, and I'm at the age that I need to start preventing osteoporosis, but I just haven't felt well enough to. But that's good for the bones.
I don't know about the gum thinning, except my dental hygienist said I'm getting a little, but it could just be aging. But I basically blame everything on Lyme.
Hope this helps in some way.
Jill
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Here's the gum connection - elastase(one of them):
Your body is acidic due to lyme. It is yelling for help to counter and using our most abundant mineral to do this: calcium -> osteoporosis as Ca is removed from the bones.
IMO.
Posted by stymielymie (Member # 10044) on :
thinning gums is a strange description, do you mean receeding gums???
periodontal disease aka gum disease is not necessarily related to lyme but is more or a by product of lyme.
many things can cause dry mouth( xerostomia) in the mouth without you even knowing it. many meds, antidepressants, anticholinergic, antihistamines, quinadine based, many heart, and blood pressure meds cause dry mouth.
this dryness can be extreme to the point of having to drink water constantly or unknown.
lyme along with its autoimmune componetnt can spin off Sjorgren's syndrome which causes dry mouth, eyes and sweat glands.
dry mouth is a major problem for dentists and hygienist(cavey) , because without saliva to coat the teeth, they are extremely vunerable to acid producing bacteria.
any addition of sugars makes the production of decay even quicker.
along with decay, saliva also protects the gum tissue. it washes out the bacteria between the gums and the teeth. without this bacteria buildup will cause inflamation and then recession of the bone and increase in the periodontal pocket.
also 45 is almost perimenopausal so the lack of estrogen will cause a decrease in the density of bone. you must read very carefully about hormone replacemnt therapy, including black cohosh, estrogen therapy has been linked to breast cancer. you can do a search on my previous posts estrogen, fosamax, or breast cancer.