What auto-immune conditions have you had?

[Sanober]

I posted on another thread and it got me thinking.

I've had various odd illness including a few auto-immune conditions and just wondered if it was all leading up the inevitable trigger for developing Diabetes.

Here's my list to start with:

Bronchial probs - aged 1
Chicken pox - aged 11
Migraines -aged 12-15
Cystitis - re-occurent during teen years
Mouth ulcers - worse in teen years, now occasionally
Cold sores - worse in teen years, now occasionally
24 hour flu bug- aged 19 (awful experience, it lasted actually about 7 hours)
Hayfever - aged 18- early 30s
Kidney infection - aged 18 - (A&E)
Chest infecton - aged 18 (A&E)3 days in hospital
Laryngitis - aged 19
Pharyngitis - aged 19
Sinusitis - re-occurent from aged 17 - mid twenties
Glandular fever - aged 20
IBS - aged 20-24
M.E - aged 20-22 (so they said, more like post viral thing)
Interstital Cystitis (inc a Hunners Ulcer) - aged 26-33
Pityriasis Versicolour - aged 29 - lasted a few mths - 2006
Tickly cough/dry throat - on and off since aged 29
Pityriasis Rosea - aged 32 - lasted 2 wks - June 2009
Norovirus - aged 30 and then aged 33 Jul 2010
Thrush - since aged 33 (been a year now)
Slight deterioration of two spinal discs in neck (nerve issue down left arm) Nov 2010- aged 33
Diabetes T2, suspicions of T1.5 - May 2011 aged 33
Stage 2 Ovarian Endometriosis (& cyst) Aug 2011- aged 34
Oral fungal infection - last few months
Nov 2011 - Confirmed T1.5 - anti GAD test positive.

Edited to add my current autoimmune diagnosis 1.5 (and some years against previous health probs).

 

[viviennem]

Hi Sanober

Here's my list:

Bronchial problems as a small child;
also mumps, measles, German measles, scarlet fever, tonsilitis, chicken pox, all pre-school.
Whooping cough aged 13 (despite vaccination at infancy)
Allergic asthma and hay fever, grass pollen only, aged 14 to 23.
Dysmenhorroea (think it's spelled right) wrongly diagnosed as endometriosis, 1985 - 1995
Influenza, Dec 2009
Mild hypertension since 2006 (weight associated; 2.5mg Lisinopril)
Sub-clinical hypothyroidism since 2008; 100mg levothyroxine.
Oral lichen planus since April 2010; much better now.
Other than that lot, about 1 cold per year; generally pretty healthy

Type 2 diabetes, April 2010 (after hovering just below diagnosis levels for about 10 years)

Partly-torn anterior cruciate ligament since 2003 (finally diagnosed 2009)
Lumbar spinal stenosis, developing since c 1984; diagnosed 2011.

Osteo-arthritis in hips, knees, lower spine; wear-and-tear - hasn't progressed much. Athroscopy on right knee in 2009 (MRI scan then, proved the torn anterior cruciate ligament; previous to that "fat people don't get sports injuries"! By the time I had the scan the damage was done.)

If I remember rightly, the heavy bronchial infections I used to get stopped with the whooping cough at 13; then I got asthma/hay fever instead. No-one else on either side of my family has ever had hay fever/asthma, though I believe my brother has 'adult onset asthma' mildly now, in his 60s. I still use an inhaler very occasionally, but I think any breathing problems I do have are fitness/weight related. I use antihistamines for insect bites; I react very badly to mosquitos/midges/horse flies. I don't recall having bad reactions as a child, except for wasps.

I have often wondered if that late whooping cough, which very nearly killed me, upset my auto-immune system and "caused" the hay fever/asthma. Maybe it had something to do with the diabetes too?

Viv 8)

 

[wsmum]

My son:
Congenital lymphoedema from birth
Chicken pox age 4
Hayfever from c. age 6
Cellulitis age 7, 9 and 11
Mouth ulcers from c. age 10
Strep throat followed by scarlet fever, age 12
'Walking pneumonia' age 12
Cat scratch disease age 13
Diabetes T1 dx age 13
Benign tumour in tibia age 13
... phew, what a horrible list!! I suspect the strep throat (developed on school trip to France) and scarlet fever as the viral trigger, if indeed there was one. We do have T1 in our family ...

 

[imalittlefishy]

Interesting...as a young child I was pretty healthy, then after diabetes diagnosis aged 11 it all went a bit downhill. So healthy as a little kid in fact that I didn't discover I was allergic to penicillin until I was 13 because I'd never been given it before! My list is:

Egg allergy as a baby/toddler (no obvious effect on me after about age 4)
Chickenpox aged 6 months
Diabetes diagnosed aged 11
Penicillin allergy probably from birth but discovered age 13
Hayfever age 14 onwards
Chickenpox (again!) age 16
Viral infection age 17, never really got a diagnosis but after several months of extreme fatigue and other nasty symptoms, it eventually sorted itself out!
Mumps age 19 (despite MMR)
Several colds every year, at least one bout of flu, one chest infection and several sinus infections each winter (definitely worse after dx), also prone to kidney infections
I've had massive problems with periods since they started (post diabetes diagnosis) which still means intense pain and passing out and throwing up about 1 period in every 3. Joy!
Three bouts of major depression, age 16, 18, 19, varying in length from around 6 weeks to 6 months.

Also three broken wrists, multiple broken toes, wrist tendonitis and generally worryingly dodgy joints for a 20 year old!

No history of diabetes of either type in my family, penicillin allergy is genetic though (my gran was and aunt is too)

Not sure how many of these have any relation to diabetes or auto-immune but it is a bit of a strange list!
xx

 

[didie]

Whooping cough as baby, despite vaccination. Whooping cough in 1990 when pregnant (total nightmare) and again in 2008 - tested positive for whooping cough each time.
Measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox age 7 (any one else get sent to 'parties' to catch these illnesses?)
Penicillin allergy since childhood
IBS for over 25 years
Stroke June 2011


Apparently my paternal grandfather was diabetic, but he died in the late 1940's and there's no-one left alive who could confirm that.

 

[viviennem]

I'malittlefishy posted:

I've had massive problems with periods since they started (post diabetes diagnosis) which still means intense pain and passing out and throwing up about 1 period in every 3.

That sounds just like me from age about 35 until about 45, gradually getting worse, very heavy and eventually erratic too! This was why they misdiagnosed me with endometriosis, and treated me for it with Danazol, which is the best thing I know for putting on weight :shock: . It took a gay male nurse with an ultra-sound scan to prove I had no "chocolate cysts", and after that it was just labelled dysmenhorroea = "bad periods but we don't know why"! :roll:

Eventually I read in the Radio Times (!) about a new contraceptive coil called Mirena. It's progesterone-loaded, stops the lining of the womb from growing, and can reduce or stop periods altogether. It worked for me - brilliantly. The relief was indescribable. And it's now available on the NHS for just this purpose, as well as for contraception.

I'd advise anyone with bad periods to discuss this with your GP. As with all coils, it's easily removed if you want to start a family.

It was a female gynaecologist called Katherine Dawson (or Dalton?) (Dr Katharina Dalton - thanks, Didie) who first advised treating heavy and painful periods with progesterone, back in the 1950s. Her work was generally ignored by the rest of the profession, for a very long time.

Sorry to go off thread, but us girls need to be aware of this, so I did an open post rather than a PM. Anyone is welcome to PM me if they want to know more.

Viv 8)

Edited once to put the quote in. And again after Didie's info - see below.

 

[imalittlefishy]

Thanks for the info Viv, I'll look into that. My GPs (at home and at uni) have been pretty useless...after 7 years of being told I'll grow out of it I'm not entirely convinced anymore... xx

 

[didie]

It was Dr Katharina Dalton. She used to work in the same building as me when I was a medical secretary in Harley Street about a million years ago. She was a very formidable lady.

 

[Patch]

Diabetes.

 

[viviennem]

Thanks, Didie.

Patch, you are so beautifully uncomplicated! (just teasing! :wink: )

Viv 8)

 

[Sanober]

Patch :lol:

 

[Ali H]

Always ill as a child, constant throat infections and tonsillitis until removed in early twenties
Appendix removed aged 12
Measles
German Measles
Chicken Pox
Glandular fever in early twenties
Ruptured ectopic in 2005
Oral lichen planus for about 4 or 5 years now (auto immune condition)
Arthritis in knee, about to have an arthroscopy done providing HBA1C is ok
Diabetes - apparently LADA type 1.5 diagnosed Oct 2010
Chest infections in recent years
Hayfever since mid twenties
Asthma diagnosed 5 years ago but seems to have disappeared now

Getting a bit fed up to be honest!

Ali

 

[bthomas22]

Had Type 1; underactive thyroid, allergy to gluten, iGA nephropathy and DH. My HBA1C has finally dropped below 8.

Would be interested in how other folk deal with exercise and alcohol, and any interaction of the above [FEW/PHEW] auto immune conditions. I am obvoiusly a pillar of health compared to some of these contributors! Although long-term complics are starting.

Brian Thomas

 

[carty]

I have never had been ill apart from having my appendix out as a teenager .I didnt do ill :!: So being diagnosed with the dreaded DB at 66 was no joke :twisted:
CAROL

 

[viviennem]

Ali H posted:

Oral lichen planus for about 4 or 5 years now (auto immune condition)

I've got this too, Ali, and it first developed at exactly the same time as I was diagnosed Type 2. My doctor didn't know what caused it, and all I've been able to find out is that certain foods can make it short-term worse, and that it may be stress-related.

Now, when I got these two diagnoses I had just completed my last, and worst ever, house move (out of 25!). I put my high BG levels down to the stress while I was in denial, and it fitted the oral lichen planus too.

Do you have any info/links/sources for it being auto-immune? It would make a lot of sense if it was, and I'd be genuinely interested to know.

Edit: Googled the terms together and found it - thanks for the tip, AliH

Brian, despite my formidable list in my first post above, I am generally a very healthy person, so it's more than irritating when bits of me stop working :evil: :lol: . As for exercise, I'm not very mobile at the moment (lumbar spinal stenosis - yet another bit failing :shock: which is an overgrowth or narrowing of bone affecting the lumbar spinal nerves, so could possibly be autoimmune :lol: ) but I know I always feel better if I manage a walk, and lots of Type 2s on here manage their diabetes by diet and exercise alone. It doesn't have to be punishing - 20 minutes every day will help.

As for alcohol - a couple of drinks will lower your blood glucose while your liver focuses on the alcohol. Too much and you can go hypo. Check against your meds, if any.

Spirits and wine are lower-carb, beer contains quite a few. I'm one of the "an open bottle is an empty bottle" school of red wine drinkers, and that definitely makes my BGs run higher, so my only answer is not to drink, except for special days and treats.

I think if you can do it, the key word is "moderation"

Viv 8)

 

[hannah95]

multiple virus' as a toddler
diagnosed t1 aged 2
underactive thyroid aged 10
possible pcos (it was a theory but has never really been tested for)
asthma diagnosed as a child came back when i was 13
hayfever
multiple ear infections
flu or colds allllll the time, especially in winter
norovirus aged 11 , ended up in dka cause of it
anemia diagnosed at 15
recurring mouth ulcers since being a teenager

my body is like a walking medical textbook at times :')

 

[BeccaJaneStClair]

This is kind of fun in an odd way...

Right.

Born with a dislocated hip (fixed through triple diapering and exercising...the diaper service congratulated my dad on his triplets! LOL)
Chicken Pox at age 5
I can't remember anything else major happening
Diagnosed with allergies at age 11 for Maple, Oak, and Sycamore. Required weekly allergy shots until I was 16
Athroscopic surgery on right knee TWICE - once at 15 and again at 18
Mono - Age 20
dysmenhorroea diagnosed at age 20 - went on BC to control this. Also might be PCOS, but never officially diagnosed.
Esophogitis - Age 22 which lead to loads of reflux issues
LOADS OF ISSUES diagnosed at age 25ish. Final diagnosis was Pseudotumor Cerebri, after going through a barrage of tests including a spinal tap. Was told I was partially colour blind, might have MS, etc. etc.
re-curring armpit infection that started at age 29. Finally diagnosed as Hidrodenitis Supporotiva. Was in hospital for surgery March 2011 (age 31)
Since moving to the UK at age 30, developed Hayfever the first two years (didn't affect me this year) and I got lots omre colds/flu than usual, but I am sure that is due to having 30 years of American Germs and no exposure to British Germs. It's started to taper off now.

 

[Paul1976]

Lots of conditions but the Autoimmune ones aresoriasis diagnosed aged 15,Crohns disease diagnosed around the age of 28,Late onset type 1 diabetes finally diagnosed aged 35.

 

[susieg]

Age 7 I had what was called then 'yellow jaundice' don't know what the real name is.
then chicken pox,
hypothyroidism,
then type 1 diabetes!
not such a bad lot as some.

 

[shop]

Mine are..........

Prem baby 2lbs ( My mum had Tetraology of fallot ) ( dont know if relevant )
Measles before the age of 7yrs ( cannot remember at what age exactly )
Knee op for lateral release at 13yrs
Chickenpox at 19yrs
Pins and plates in arm after horse riding accident around 23yrs
Overactive thyroid at 29yrs
Underactive thyroid ( following radio iodine treatment ) 32yrs
T1 Diabetes 36years.
Psoriasis on my scalp only on 2 occasions.


Lucy. ( seems I've got off pretty lightly compared to some of you guys )