Hi there,
You are not on your own, believe it.
From what I understand auto-immune problems never heal or finish or go away. If you have one then there is a strong likelihood that you may get others.
When I was 10 I got rheumatoid arthritis (Stills disease), that progressed to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The catalyst the doctors feel was mumps at Easter and by June that year the RA was up and running. A couple of years later leukoderma (vitiligo) was added. This problem leaves odd-shaped white patches on the skin because there is no melolin in the skin to enable a tan to take place. It can result in severe burns after only a few minutes in the sun, even in the UK. A few years later asthma came and went and occasionally makes an appearance, hypothyroidism came soon after, as did eczema on my palms and soles of feet. All of these require medication, some of it horrendous in their side-effects and to be honest I wonder at times if the "cure" is worse than the disease.
It is what it is and we need to manage it, both the health problems and the drug therapy that goes along with it. This is why I feel that we need "sympathetic" medical support, understanding that our mental health is also affected and even though we may be surrounded by supportive family and friends we may well feel very alone perhaps even lonely.
My motto for over 55 years has been "Keep on trucking" and this I have done. I worked full-time very successfully with very little time off sick, some times 3and 4 years without a day off sick. Feeling like **** but still managed to get in to work and do my job.
It is now just 12 months since my last day at work as I made a decision that I needed to start to do things for me. It has been a release, a sweet release and I am enjoying every moment.
Strength comes from within with that spark that is in each of us. Sure it is tough, but then we need to be tough in order to not only to survive but to live our lives and live as full a life as possible.
T1, the latest addition to my repertoire has been a shock for me, a real shock I can assure you and it will take a while for me to settle down with it. I keep thinking that this is a dream, a nightmare and that I will get a phone call from the GP telling me that they gave me someone else's test results. In reality I also know that that is not the case? From what I have read on here it will be more like a roller coaster, and they make me sick. If I am to continue with my life I need to manage this and ensure that I do what I can to ensure that the journey is as smooth as possible. It is all that any of us can do. It is in our own hands to manage our health support teams as well but that is another story.
Keep on trucking folks and let us all keep supporting each other as best we can. This forum is a great place of learning, of support, full of big hearts and generous spirit.
Enjoy
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