Familial Mediterranean Fever Causes Periodic Fever Symptoms, Colchicine Drug Treatment Side Effects

Familial Mediterranean fever is a rare inherited inflammatory disorder. Its prevalent symptoms are periodic fever coupled with painful abdomen, lung and joint inflammation.

And its sudden fever is not caused by an infectious disease.  Neither a virus nor bacteria causes your boost in body temperature.

Familial Mediterranean fever principally affects those of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent, typically:

  • Turks
  • Arabs
  • Armenians
  • Sephardic Jews

It’s gene, albeit seldom, is found among other populations as well, involving Italians, Greeks and Ashkenazi Jews.

The responsible gene affects a protein that participates in natural inflammation control. If this gene is defective, then regulating inflammation is a health issue.

Familial Mediterranean fever is regularly diagnosed during childhood, as this is when its symptoms tend to initially appear.  Periodic, recurrent and sudden high fever is this inherited disease’s chief symptom.

Symptoms, often referred to as attacks, may also include:

You may not experience all these symptoms, and your manifestations can change over time.

Familial Mediterranean fever attacks can last up to four days, often peaking within a day.  And between these periodic fever episodes, you’ll likely feel healthy.

Some encounter abdominal attacks so painful that appendicitis is feared. Others have difficulty breathing or have joint pain so bad that it’s misdiagnosed as rheumatic fever or juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Familial Mediterranean fever attacks occur sporadically, although these triggers have been reported:

Occasionally, Familial Mediterranean fever can cause some serious complications, like:

Yet, appropriate treatment substantially reduces your risk of developing these health demoting dilemmas.

Familial Mediterranean fever is incurable, but it is routinely controlled by the life long use of colchicine drug. Colchicine is used to relieve gout attacks too.

When colchicine is taken regularly, you can expect to live a normal life without this disease causing any cut in your years.

Side effects of colchicine are minor, and may encompass symptoms of:

If you struggle with bloating while on colchicine, try a lactose free diet for improvement of this colchicine treatment side effect.

Should you continue to have attacks or suffer from side effects despite your careful adherence to the prescribed colchicine protocal, get with your health care professional.  A dose adjustment, dietary changes or use of alternative drugs may need to be considered.

Some with Familial Mediterranean fever have discovered a low fat diet diminishes this periodic fever’s health affects.  Never know unless you give it a go.

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