Does infectious disease improve your rheumatic symptoms?

[felpeyu2]

Hello. Since more than a year, I have suffered joint pain every day. When I had Covid, my joint pain disappeared for almost a month. Now I have a cold and I have no joint pain. I was wondering if, in both cases, it could be because my immune system is fighting the infectious diseases and not my own body and I was wondering if the same happened to someone else.

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

I can't answer your question but I do think that my immensely stupid immune system has stopped me getting colds and flu as it seems to fight them off. It didn't fight off Covid but I didn't have it badly apart from losing taste for the best part of nine months.

I'll be interested to see others answers.

Take care - Scottie

[Linda196]

I rarely get infectious or viral diseases, but when I do it's usually quite severe symptoms, but luckily not long lasting. For example, I had RSV last year; severe cough with copious sputum, high fever (40.2C), muscle pain that nearly immobilized me, and a headache from you know where, but it lasted all of 48 hours and my recovery from those symptoms was fast. The fatigue however settled in for a few weeks but was manageable.

I think it comes down to which type of cells are at the basis of your autoimmune disease. T-cell mediated disease seems to be less focused, targeting any "danger", the invaders that pose a threat that the T-cells have no memory of or the tissue it battles on an ongoing basis aren't viewed any differently (in the case of autoimmunity, whichever tissue is involved in the disease, in Sjogren's, the exocrine glands). B-cell mediated disease creates memory of past encounters, so if a new threat presents, like a virus, the known threats are set aside to attack something new.

This is only my interpretation of the T vs B cell issue, and described very poorly , I'm afraid, because its a very complex issue. Basically if you have more T cells, you are prone to infection; more B cells, you don't get sick often. It would follow by my personal logic, that if you have higher T cells, and get sick, the attack on the native tissues continues at the same time, so symptoms continue or get worse; more B cells, the attack on native tissue is set aside so when you get a cold, your AI symptoms would decrease. As I said, this is a very very simplistic interpretation.
 

[deeindiana]

Must say I've noticed it too. Not so much when I get sick,  but when I hurt myself.  I've broke my leg twice in the last two years and both times my ss symptoms disappeared. I figured my immune system got distracted by a "real" problem and left the rest of me alone!