Re: Where did it all begin?

[Guest guest]

Mine came on after the birth of my son. He was 5 months old. However, 3

RD's agree that I've had RA " most likely " since high school (I graduated in

'77) at least. Never had any problems or aches and pains until then. Tery

[Guest guest]

had surgery on his club foot at 10 months old and then developed

asthsma after the surgery and had many trips to the er for it. when he was 3

he started having the pains in his legs so bad he couldn't walk. he had to

kind put a diaper on him when he was like that until he was about 5. when he

was 4 he went to H.L. Moffit cancer hospital in tampa FL. where they said he

had a high rheumatoid count and he had JRA.

hope this can help you.

shelly

[Guest guest]

i just read what susie wrote and it hit me. when i was pregnant for jesse i

alway had a kidney or bladder infection. i only gained like 18 pounds the

whole pregnacy and jesse only weighed 5lbs13ozs. i was always on an

antibiotic.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/8/00 1:49:02 PM Central Daylight Time,

aA@... writes:

<< Out of curiosity, how many people on the list can trace the beginnings of

their health problems after an infection? Flu? Surgical procedure?

I hope our questions of why are one day answered.

a >>

I think I could but there was so much going on within that one year time

frame it is hard to pin down. I had a total hysterectomy in 1996, met my

husband, moved to his town in Dec. 1996, had problems with my step daughter

to be, quit my job, got a new job, was preparing for our wedding, developed

very bad asthma for several months before getting it under control and that

is when I started Prednisone. Now I could pick and choose or say all of

these together triggered my FMS and RA. ?????????

Jeannette

[Guest guest]

a,

Unlike many others in our group, I can't say that anything of note seemed to

precipitate my illness. I had begun extensive dental work at the end of 1994

and I often wonder if there is a connection. It could be that all my

problems began insidiously at that point. On the other hand, maybe my dental

problems were caused by a systemic process that I wasn't aware of yet. It's

that damn chicken and egg situation.

I became acutely ill in the fall of 1996, but, at the time, my marriage was

OK and my dental procedures were running smoothly (no terrible abscesses or

infections). No flu, no surgeries, no car accidents, no work stress -

nothing! After I became ill, my marriage starting going to hell quickly, and

I can say that the stress of the marital strife made things much worse.

And I do believe that our questions will be answered!

----- Original Message -----

From: " a " <aA@...>

< egroups>

Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 12:39 PM

Subject: [ ] Where did it all begin?

> Out of curiosity, how many people on the list can trace the beginnings of

> their health problems after an infection? Flu? Surgical procedure?

>

> I hope our questions of why are one day answered.

>

> a

[Guest guest]

Actually mine was very noticed in 1977. I had my 2nd child in April

1977. I never did bounce back, as I did with first child. Pregnance

normal. Gained about 22 lbs. Lost weight relitavely fast (for some

reason I always did. I always assumed it was because I returned to

psyical job within a week of delivery).

But with 2nd baby, did not perk up. Kept running low grade fevers. Went

back to OBGYN several times. He said, oh it is just due to birth...your

blood is a little low. Take vitamins.

I did, it did not help. By time July rolled around, I could hardly drag

around. The fatigue was absolutely unbelivable, and very alarming to

me.

This is when I went to a friend of my mother's who was a surgeon (she

was a nurse). He examined me. He surprised to find a bad infection in

Uterus. He said ongoing since delivery. In fact, very life threatening.

Seems some tissue, etc. did not expel, and was just getting more and

more infection. He started me on massive antibiotics. I felt wonderful

by the middle of August. Then... I found out I was pregnant AGAIN! (did

not ever suspect antibiotcs could help that along! Ha!)

ANyway, I felt like crap the first 4 months of pregnancy. (not morning

sickness, just tired.) The rest of pregnancy went well. My 3rd daughter

was born, but with all kinds of allergies!

Then a couple of years later, I got hurt, and it all flared up again.

Then again in 1989, I started having severe muscular problems, fatigue

to the point I could not drag around, low grade fevers... a doctor

wanted to to RA and LUPUS tests on me. He suspected this then. Due to

divorce, I declined to do this at that time. Then in 1994, I was " bit

by the cat " while working as Vet Assistant in clinic. That is when my

troubles became FULL BLOWN. Then after a couple of surgeries on arm for

that, I was hopeless mess!

And the rest is history in the making.

Now, after this fall down the stairs this past May, I am actually

feeling " home bound " and totally useless. The pain is undiscribable. And

fatigue. I guess my little body has finally hit its limit.

But still, people (and MOST doctors) only think this all is " a big

headache...now go watch your soaps, and let me take care of sick

people... " (at least that is the way they come across to me these last

couple of years.)

Susie

a wrote:

>

>

[eGroups] My Groups | Main Page | Start a new

group!

>

> Out of curiosity, how many people on the list can trace the beginnings

> of

> their health problems after an infection? Flu? Surgical procedure?

>

> I hope our questions of why are one day answered.

>

> a

>

> >

> > Yes, , this is a very important point. Why children? Also, why

>

> mostly,

> > but not exclusively, women? Whenever I think of all these questions,

> I do

> > think about what you have just wondered about , Rainy Sue,

> Esther,

> Kim,

> > and others who had disease onset in childhood. Why? Why? Why?

> >

> >

> >

> > ----- Original Message -----

> > From: <12372101@...>

> > < egroups>

> > Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 11:50 AM

> > Subject: Re: [ ] Genetics & more ??

> >

> >

> > > a,

> > >

> > > i can see where an adult's body would get tired and worn out like

> you

> said

> > > but what about the children. not to say that they can't be the

> same way

> > but

> > > in jesse's case it doesn't make sense to me. The jra i can see but

> it

> > moving

> > > into the lungs is what gets me. It could be cause iam mom and just

> don't

> > want

> > > to understand. lol.

> > >

> > > shelly

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Our websites: http://rheumatoid.arthritis.freehosting.net/

> > http://www.rasupport.webprovider.com/

> > Our chat room: www.delphi.com/RheumatoidArth1/start

> >

>

>

> Our websites: http://rheumatoid.arthritis.freehosting.net/

> http://www.rasupport.webprovider.com/

> Our chat room: www.delphi.com/RheumatoidArth1/start

[Guest guest]

Hi a,

A year before I was diagnosed with JRA, I had fallen on my back (twice)

really hard while playing volleyball. And right before that I had strep

throat. I heard somewhere that strep throat could also trigger RA. When I was

5 years old, I had open heart surgery. You can see here how my immune system

was probably exhausted!

5 years old - Open heart surgery

12 years old - Strep Throat & fell on my back

13 years old - Swollen knee which led to doctors and the diagnosis.

And somewhere in there I sprained my ankle really bad.

~Rainy Sue

> Out of curiosity, how many people on the list can trace the beginnings of

> their health problems after an infection? Flu? Surgical procedure?

>

> I hope our questions of why are one day answered.

>

> a

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/8/00 4:57:43 PM Central Daylight Time,

Matsumura_Clan@... writes:

<< Gee, Jeannette, no stress in that scenario!

>>

Oh heck , it was a cynch.............Ya, I'd shoot myself first before

going through all that again. LOLOL

Jeannette

[Guest guest]

question? where would that dr. put jesse since he is to young to be married.

HOW MANY TIMES WERE YOU MARRIED IN YOUR PREVIOUS LIFE?

that is so unreal. i would certainly have said something being the born smart

ass that iam.

shelly

[Guest guest]

jenna

LOL!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Gee, Jeannette, no stress in that scenario!

----- Original Message -----

From: <ednettieolson@...>

< egroups>

Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 3:55 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] Where did it all begin?

>

> I think I could but there was so much going on within that one year time

> frame it is hard to pin down. I had a total hysterectomy in 1996, met my

> husband, moved to his town in Dec. 1996, had problems with my step

daughter

> to be, quit my job, got a new job, was preparing for our wedding,

developed

> very bad asthma for several months before getting it under control and

that

> is when I started Prednisone. Now I could pick and choose or say all of

> these together triggered my FMS and RA. ?????????

>

> Jeannette

[Guest guest]

<aA@...> writes:

Out of curiosity, how many people on the list can trace the beginnings

of their health problems after an infection? Flu? Surgical procedure?

****I can trace mine to the flight or fight syndrome. I have heard that

this is true in Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. During the stressful

times the body can do marvelous things. It's afterward, when the body

feels safe once again, that it begins to fall apart.

Hubby says he thinks I got a disease while swimming in a waterfall pool

in Mexico during our honeymoon. I think he called is Shistocymasis (not

sure of the spelling)

Jenna

FREE SPIRIT - Starlight Writers Publications

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[Guest guest]

Susie,

Again, reading your letter makes me feel very fortunate. You poor thing.

Cyber hugs,

Jenna

FREE SPIRIT - Starlight Writers Publications

THE GUARDIANS OF GLEDE - SWP Editors Choice Award; SWP Stellar Award;

WordWeaving Award of Excellance

THE GREEN PUMPKIN - CrossroadsPub.com; furt Award Nominee

Homepage: www.geocities.com/jennakayfrancis

________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Yes , .....I too had bladder infection with that pregnancy. As

matter of fact, she weighed about 6 lb 3 oz. When I was about 6 mos.

preg. they put me in hospital with Pneumonia. I REFUSED to be x-rayed.

They were not happy with that. They gave me antibiotics for Pneumonia

and sent me home, then again, about 6 weeks before delivery, they

thought I was going into labor. It turned out to be Bladder Infection.

I swear~ I think WE on this list need to make a whole NEW LIST of

QUESTIONS to ask a patient when being diagnosed with FM, RA, or LUPUS,

or others in these categories. Why do they continue to ask those same

ol' lame stupid standard questions we all fill out in RA office? Do you

all know what was one of the questions on this last doctor's list I went

to a couple of weeks ago in Savannah? (Morley) It was,

1. How long have you been married to CURRENT spouse?

2. How long were you married to PREVIOUS spouse?

Now mind you, they did NOT have a previous blank space for " Married " or

" Single " or " Widowed " or " Divorced " ...

Which led me to think... They must assume anyone with these " mysterious

illnesses " are having personal problems! And right off assume that if

you are there, you are not with your original spouse! That was a crock.

I still am floored at those 2 questions!

Maybe we need to get a to clue the doctors in, on a whole new set of

questions!

Funny how we all notice " similarities " that happened to us, and we now

have these problems... why haven't the Doctors? Are they in denial?

Susie

12372101@... wrote:

>

>

[eGroups] My Groups | Main Page | Start a new

group!

>

> i just read what susie wrote and it hit me. when i was pregnant for

> jesse i

> alway had a kidney or bladder infection. i only gained like 18 pounds

> the

> whole pregnacy and jesse only weighed 5lbs13ozs. i was always on an

> antibiotic.

>

> Our websites: http://rheumatoid.arthritis.freehosting.net/

> http://www.rasupport.webprovider.com/

> Our chat room: www.delphi.com/RheumatoidArth1/start

[Guest guest]

Headley <sheadley@...> writes:

Yes , .....I too had bladder infection with that pregnancy. As

matter of fact, she weighed about 6 lb 3 oz.

***For some reason this struck me funny. It sounded like something my

mother once said: She thought she had an ovarian tumor. Turned out it

was just my brother! LOL

Jenna

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[Guest guest]

Dear a,

I can trace the beginning of my illness to a flu. It was quite a bad

flu and I usually only just get head colds. It took a little while to

diagnose my RA because the doctors kept saying, " It's probably just

the flu making you feel sore, we need to wait and see if it goes

away " . When it got as bad as it did, then they finally admitted it

wasn't the flu, so there we go!

Holly

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone! Long time, no post! Alot of good discussions going on here

lately! Welcome to all the newbies!

In looking back in my baby book, my mother had many entries of strep and

tonsilitis in a short period of time right around the age of 15 -18 months.

At about the age of 6 I remember getting real sick and ended up in the

hospital for about a week - I had a very high fever was all my mother ever

said. As a teen I was always getting sick with every little thing. Started

experiencing seizures then too - was put on antiseizure meds. and from that

point on began a downhill spiral of oddball things going haywire in my body.

Many tests and doctors from my teen years forward always pointed fingers and

asking if I ever had rheumatic fever as a child (my mother always denied it

or said she didn't know). I suspect I did. Three years ago I went through

the death of my father and the breakup of my marriage (and subsequent

divorce) both at the same time. I also experienced many more symptoms at

that point and have since been diagnosed with SLE and Sjogren's. SO, I

think my early childhood illnesses definitely contributed to my diseases as

well as the 2 big stressors that happened in my life. I don't think they

necessarily caused them, as I think my genetic makeup was there, just that

they triggered them.

Hugs & Love,

Sandy

~~ " Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit

there. " - Will ~~

<<Out of curiosity, how many people on the list can trace the beginnings of

their health problems after an infection? Flu? Surgical procedure? a>>

[Guest guest]

,

I would be suspicious of dental work too, but if you didn't have any type of

gum infections, abscesses, etc, I can't see it causing a problem. I don't

believe all arthritis is caused by mycoplasmas. With there being over 100

different types of arthritis, I think these are different diseases caused by

different things, but grouped together and treated the same.

It is known that stress weakens the immune system, thus when stressful thing

happen in our lives, it opens the door to disease. Major stressful things

in my life have caused new joint involvement numerous times. Stress is part

of daily life for some of us, and it is something that is difficult to

control.

I pray every day that one day we all get these questions answered.

a

>

> a,

>

> Unlike many others in our group, I can't say that anything of note seemed

to

> precipitate my illness. I had begun extensive dental work at the end of

1994

> and I often wonder if there is a connection. It could be that all my

> problems began insidiously at that point. On the other hand, maybe my

dental

> problems were caused by a systemic process that I wasn't aware of yet.

It's

> that damn chicken and egg situation.

>

> I became acutely ill in the fall of 1996, but, at the time, my marriage

was

> OK and my dental procedures were running smoothly (no terrible abscesses

or

> infections). No flu, no surgeries, no car accidents, no work stress -

> nothing! After I became ill, my marriage starting going to hell quickly,

and

> I can say that the stress of the marital strife made things much worse.

>

> And I do believe that our questions will be answered!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Tery,

Why do they feel it was since high school if you had no aches or pains?

a

----- Original Message -----

From: <tjones500@...>

< egroups>

Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 3:35 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] Where did it all begin?

>

> Mine came on after the birth of my son. He was 5 months old. However, 3

> RD's agree that I've had RA " most likely " since high school (I graduated

in

> '77) at least. Never had any problems or aches and pains until then.

Tery

>

[Guest guest]

Can't remember having flu, infection, etc. Started having asthma attacks

because

of work stress, death in family, alcohol problems in family. Two or three

years after asthma started, had symptoms of RA, but it took 2 years to

diagnose it.

My RA seems to be

related to an extra stressful period of my life. My daughter has been in

almost total remission from

RA for 10 years, but I notice her rubbing her hands if she is tired or

stressed. She

knows she has to get extra rest and even took a lower paying/less stressful

job so she could be healthier. Also, getting rid of a rich-spoiled-brat

husband helped a lot.

Jackie

[Guest guest]

<< Why do they feel it was since high school if you had no aches or pains?>>

Due to the amount of joint damage shown in the x-rays and MRI's. Tery

[Guest guest]

Hi a,

I was just reading this note you sent. You are right about stress. I

know for me stress is making this all worse. This whole WC and job thing

is causing me to stress and that is causing much more pain. I thought at

first it was just me, but now I think it is everything. Very unpleasant

having to deal with WC and SS at the same time.

How are you and your husband feeling? Hope things are better.

Lidna

----------

> From: a <aA@...>

> egroups

> Subject: Re: [ ] Where did it all begin?

> Date: Monday, September 11, 2000 7:41 PM

>

>

> ,

> I would be suspicious of dental work too, but if you didn't have any type

of

> gum infections, abscesses, etc, I can't see it causing a problem. I

don't

> believe all arthritis is caused by mycoplasmas. With there being over

100

> different types of arthritis, I think these are different diseases caused

by

> different things, but grouped together and treated the same.

>

> It is known that stress weakens the immune system, thus when stressful

thing

> happen in our lives, it opens the door to disease. Major stressful

things

> in my life have caused new joint involvement numerous times. Stress is

part

> of daily life for some of us, and it is something that is difficult to

> control.

>

> I pray every day that one day we all get these questions answered.

>

> a

>

>

> >

> > a,

> >

> > Unlike many others in our group, I can't say that anything of note

seemed

> to

> > precipitate my illness. I had begun extensive dental work at the end of

> 1994

> > and I often wonder if there is a connection. It could be that all my

> > problems began insidiously at that point. On the other hand, maybe my

> dental

> > problems were caused by a systemic process that I wasn't aware of yet.

> It's

> > that damn chicken and egg situation.

> >

> > I became acutely ill in the fall of 1996, but, at the time, my marriage

> was

> > OK and my dental procedures were running smoothly (no terrible

abscesses

> or

> > infections). No flu, no surgeries, no car accidents, no work stress -

> > nothing! After I became ill, my marriage starting going to hell

quickly,

> and

> > I can say that the stress of the marital strife made things much worse.

> >

> > And I do believe that our questions will be answered!

> >

> >

>

>

>

> Our websites: http://rheumatoid.arthritis.freehosting.net/

> http://www.rasupport.webprovider.com/

> Our chat room: www.delphi.com/RheumatoidArth1/start