Re: Re: autoimmune stuff

[Guest guest]

Wow, Tenayahh, you certainly have an interesting background with diseases in

such. And now you have to add this wonderful disease to the pot. Lucky,

you!

And btw, I STILL have severe (and I do mean SEVERE) acne that wreaks havoc on

my self-esteem. I've had it since being in elementary school and it's worse

now than ever. I just don't get it. I'm 29.....when will I outgrow this

stuff?? Thank God that when I wear make-up it at least hides the redness of

the acne....you can still see all the bumps, though.

Dawn

tenayahh wrote:

> Since Lynn asked ... I, too, have autoimmunity in my family.

>

> Family History:

>

> Maternal: Osteoporosis in my mother's generation (my aunt's ribs rest

> on her hipbones due to collapse of her spine.)

> Gr-gr aunt had profound scoliosis

> Grgrandfather contracted a virus in a hospital on a visit to NYC

> that in retrospect may have been polio (remember they misdiagnosed

> FDR because even then they thought only kids got it.)

> Grandmother had benign brain tumor under a scar on her scalp from a

> blow to the head as a toddler.

> No clear autoimmune diseases that I know of.

>

> Paternal:

> 1. photo of grgrandmother with gnarled hands of arthritis

> 2. Grandmother had some arthritis pain

> 3. Father Dxed with rheumatoid arthritis at 45, hands quite deformed

> He's lived with RA for almost 40 years. MTX helps a lot.

> 4.Aunt died of ILD, we thought the pain she suffered was RA but it

> probably was polymyalgia, which her dtr (my 1st cousin) has now

> 5. Same cousin also has Sjogren's Syndrome

> 6. Uncle had severe psoriasis and arthritis, died of ILD

> 7. Female 1st cousin uses a walker in her early 60s, not sure why

> 8. Female 1st cousin, formerly athletic, 55, has burning pain in her

> thighs, tendinitis in her arms negative for MS tests and antibody

> tests, no DX

> 9. Aunt has arthritis with three knee replacements (one had to be

> redone.)

> 10. All six boys of my dad's sibs have had serious heartdisease which

> is now thought to be caused at least in part by inflammation.

>

> I had a severe, unknown virus at about age 11 that was originally

> thought to be mumps but then not, because only one side of my face

> swelled. My energy level was never the same after that. I remember

> being 13 and wondering if I'd ever be energetic again ... nope. I was

> tired all through high school, all through college, all through the

> early years of growing a family, all the way up till now. Can't say

> for sure, of course, if that was the cause of my autoimmunity. Had

> both kinds of measles before age two.

>

> Often had hoarse voice at Christmas time, as early as 4 years old,

> strep a few times. Can't remember really having bronchitis regularly

> till my 30s, when one year it turned into walking pneumonia. Since we

> moved from Stockton, haven't had it as severely. Had all the usual

> childhood vaccinations.

>

> In highschool I was given a penicillin shot that sent a burning pain

> down my leg ... the nurse must have hit the sciatic nerve. From that

> time on, the nerve hurt every month with my terrible cramps (so severe

> they nearly made me faint several times.)

>

> We also have a very strong strain of perfectionism. It was not a

> surprise to find my body was destroying itself, since I have that

> inner critical voice as a legacy of my childhood. I don't blame my

> parents because they didn't know the importance of positive

> reinforcement and real self-esteem in kids. They did the best they

> could at the time.

>

> I wonder how many of us with autoimmune conditions have that

> destructive inner voice that takes over the role of critic from our

> families and unenlightened teachers and others? It's very strong in my

> extended family.

>

> (My sisters and I also had bad acne, which didn't help the self-esteem

> in the teen years.)

>

> I suppose if we are going to have diseases, they might as well be

> interesting ones!

>

> Tenayahh

>

>

> > My mother developed severe rheumatoid arthritis when she was about

> my age,

> > perhaps just a bit younger. Her sister, my only living aunt,

> developed

> > polymyalgia rheumatic about a year to a year and a half ago and has

> been on

> > prednisone. Her sed rate is still high, so she has to stay on it.

> She can't

> > walk far, often, and has had a few bad falls lately. She's now 69.

> > On my father's side of the family has been psoriasis and his uncle

> had

> > Parkinson's )or 's- no , it was Parkinson's. Possibly other

> things,

> > but not sure.

> > I had scarlet fever when I was about 6. Our family was quarantined

> but I

> > was the only one in the family to get it. I also had bronchitis a

> lot as a

> > kid, seemed to be born with eczema and it was pretty bad as a child.

> I've had

> > strep throat and pneumonia a few times. I never was particularly

> strong as a

> > kid.

>

>

>

>