Just a question - we have a lot of auto-immune diseases in my family -

[hedgehog]

JRA, rosacea, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma. We all had early diagnosis and aggressive therapy and are doing well. Just out of curiosity, are we doing well because we are responsive to medication or because we got treated early before the pattern of inflammation was locked in?

[Warpy]

1. If you're doing well with treatment, I'd hazard a guess

and say it's because of the treatment. I went without diagnosis until my late 20s and still respond well to treatment.

Autoimmune diseases do tend to run in families. It's been well known for a few decades that certain markers on white cells make people more susceptible to RA, especially, those markers existing within family groups.

The pattern of inflammation is locked in by the time you're diagnosed. Stopping treatment will confirm that really fast.

[blondie58]

2. I wish that they could figure this out

I think that all of the autoimmune diseases are related. I do the MS walk every year, as I have it and I feel that if they can unlock the key for one disease, it will unlock the other. It is not unusual to have more than one.

[mopinko]

3. i have 3

that i know of. actually, one of those is a "might be/might not be. we will wait and see if it progresses"

[blondie58]

4. I'm so sorry, Mopinko

and I guess I should make mine two. I had just never thought of rosacea as an autoimmune disease before, I thought of it more as something that affected people with Irish or Northern German ancestry. I hope that none of your are painful to you.

[mopinko]

5. it's the fibro, which

i fully expect will someday be revealed to be autimmune, which is where the pain is. and the "big" one may or may not even be a disease. i get a different dx every time i change docs. lupus, not lupus, sorta lupus, like lupus. oy. i guess mostly it has not struck anything big at age 53, i am probably going to live longer than i really want to live. plus some thyroiditis, and some asthma, which i just recently found out was autoimmune. i suspect that many of the other little oddball annoying things that i have are tied in with this crap, too. rashes, itches, tics.
getting old and falling apart to boot.

[blondie58]

6. I hear you- I know

and they think that asthma is an autoimmune disease? I wonder how much of it is our environment. I wish I would have bought the extended warranty, myself- I could kick myself for being cheap. :sarcasm:

[mopinko]

7. i read that, and have been meaning to read up. haven't had time, tho.

so, if anyone has a link handy, i would appreciate it. i think it is a pretty recent viewpoint. mine has taken a big turn for the worse lately. had a cold that set it off, and 2 months later, still having a nightly fight with it. it was never a big thing, as long as i stayed away form the big 3- cats, cigarettes, and perfume.
now... yeah, i always buy those long warrantees, and always sorry when i take a pass.

[hedgehog]

9. Check back with your doctor about the asthma because the newer

medications are very effective with minimal side effects. In 20 years I've seen the treatment focus on asthma as an inflammatory disease as much as one in narrowing bronchi.

[mopinko]

10. yeah, its on the list.

i have some blood work, and some prevention type things that i am trying to get around to, also. so.... just tired of doctors.

[hedgehog]

11. I get pretty sick of pills myself, some days, but one of them keeps my asthma

controlled, and that beats a trip to the ER. Check with your doctor.

[Warpy]

8. There was an extended warranty available?

Dammit! Nobody tells me anything.

Of course, my parents ducked the whole warranty thing completely, never bothered to register me, I guess, and I got sick as hell at 14.