Re: WHO HAS RA THAT IS ALSO IN THE FAMILY?

[Guest guest]

Hi Group - I've read these comments and have been thinking and

thinking about my family history. I don't know a whole lot about my

extended family. I don't know if anyone else had RA - although I do

know several had " arthritis " . I don't know if anyone was ever fully

checked out by a doctor. I had an aunt with MS (another auto-immune

disorder) and a daughter with relapsing/remitting MS (earlier

stages). My mother had FMS and the Epstein Barr Virus. My father

had " arthritis " , but never saw a rheumatologist.

As for me, I also had a very stressful childhood. I was sexually

abused by my grandfather, physically and emotionally abused as a

child by my parents and was negatively affected by alcoholic

grandparents. I had the mumps as a child, hospitalized with

mycoplasmal pneumonia at 15, chronic strep throat throughout until I

had my tonsils removed at 16. I was physically, emotionally abused

and raped by my first husband and left him when our daughter was 6

days old. My second marriage ended due to his addiction to drugs and

alcohol. My present husband had custody of his kids when we met and

his ex-wife made our lives (and the kids) a living hell until they

were in their late teens. My oldest daughter flipped a proverbial

switch at 15 and was totally out of control for years. I lost both of

my parents within a 2½ year period in 2002 & 2004.

The only reason I mention all of this is I've heard stress and trauma

can have an affect on RA/FMS. I had been seeking help and suffering

symptoms since 1999, although I've struggled with chronic fatigue and

aches and pains for years before that. I had a complete hysterectomy

with a pre-cancerous cervix and endometriosis in 1999, hubby had a

back injury that left him out of work for over 7 years in 1992 and he

reinjured his back in 2005, I had another pneumonia hospitalization

in 2005, and everything seemed to come to a head medically with a

definitive diagnosis of RA/FMS in 2007 - at age 46. I am now

determined to keep my stress levels to a minimum as there is

information out there regarding RA/FMS and stress'

impact.......Doreen

http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthqa/f/stressimpact.htm

http://www.webmd.com/news/20040610/posttraumatic-stress-fibromyalgia-

linked

>

> Tracie -

>

> I have RA (diagnosed a year ago at age 31) and I too had an

> extremely stressfull childhood with troubled parents. I just

> recently realized that as a child I probably could have been

> diagnosed with RA or JA at a young age if anyone had listened to my

> complaints. Also, I had chronic strep throat infections for many,

> many years, even past high school. No one in my family has an auto-

> immune disease, although my mother says that my great-grandmother

> was very very crippled. She died before I was born.

>

> Interesting topic, eh?

>

[Guest guest]

Doreen and Group;

Omg babydoll, you have lived a horrafic life. I have went through

many things similar to you. Maybe not as bad or maybe worse. My

heart goes out to you. You have suffered more than a 100 people

should have in a life time. Now if you can just take a breath and be

glad your away from it all, start fresh and never never think about

it again. EAsier said than done, You sound like you are a strong

surviving type of person. I am in counseling for the hell I have

been through.

I have a wonderful husband now. I slowly weeded the aweful stress

from my life. I am weary of people now, but I give every one a

chance to be kind. No one knows that a person will turn out cruel

but one can watch and wait. Hold on to what life you have and live

each day to the best of your ability. I bet you do that anyway. Hon

I am so sorry for what you been through. Continue being the survivor

you are. Life is hard but we can find the joy in the littlest

things. God bless you sweety. Oh counseling has helped a lot

Gentle hugs

Clora

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much, Clora. You are a kind woman. Through the Grace

of God, I am a survivor - albeit a leary and weary one at times.

That " Footprints in the Sand " story serves as an awesome reminder

that I am never alone and God is always with me.........Doreen

>

> Doreen and Group;

>

> Omg babydoll, you have lived a horrafic life. I have went through

> many things similar to you. Maybe not as bad or maybe worse. My

> heart goes out to you. You have suffered more than a 100 people

> should have in a life time. Now if you can just take a breath and

be

> glad your away from it all, start fresh and never never think about

> it again. EAsier said than done, You sound like you are a strong

> surviving type of person. I am in counseling for the hell I have

> been through.

>

> I have a wonderful husband now. I slowly weeded the aweful stress

> from my life. I am weary of people now, but I give every one a

> chance to be kind. No one knows that a person will turn out cruel

> but one can watch and wait. Hold on to what life you have and live

> each day to the best of your ability. I bet you do that anyway.

Hon

> I am so sorry for what you been through. Continue being the

survivor

> you are. Life is hard but we can find the joy in the littlest

> things. God bless you sweety. Oh counseling has helped a lot

>

> Gentle hugs

> Clora

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Doreen and group;

Your very welcome Doreen. I love that story of the FOOTPRINTS IN THE

SAND. I WAS JUST reading another post that said he will not put more

on us than we can bear. Yes.. we are never alone he carries us through

it all. God Bless everyone.

gentle hugs

Clora

[Guest guest]

> >

> > Tracie -

> >

> > I have RA (diagnosed a year ago at age 31) and I too had an

> > extremely stressfull childhood with troubled parents. I just

> > recently realized that as a child I probably could have been

> > diagnosed with RA or JA at a young age if anyone had listened to

my

> > complaints. Also, I had chronic strep throat infections for

many,

> > many years, even past high school. No one in my family has an

auto-

> > immune disease, although my mother says that my great-

grandmother

> > was very very crippled. She died before I was born.

> >

> > Interesting topic, eh?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi . Thank you for your kind words. Our life stressors do

seem similar. I thank God above all for giving me the strength to

overcome these obstacles in my life. I know that He will never give

me more than I can handle - although there were times when I pleaded

with Him because I didn't think I could take anymore. In the

longrun, I think my life experiences have mellowed me out, made me

more kind and considerate, loving every day to its fullest and again

thanking God for all of the blessings he has chosen to bestow upon

me. He is my Rock and my Saviour. Without Him I would be nothing.

May God Bless you, and guide you throughout your life,

giving you the strength to know that He has it all under

control...........Doreen

>

> Hi Mimi,

>

> Oh I was blown away when I read about all the stess in your life.

> As I have said before I also have had a very stressful life, from a

> young age.

> As I said before my mother was an alchoholic and my father was

> killed when I was only ten. The tragic thing was that the last

> time I saw my father alive I was cold towards him as he told me he

> was getting re married. All I could think about was " what about my

> mother " (who had giving him six children)

> Then two days later he was killed by the X husband of his fiancee.

> (He had been in and out of mental hospitals)He shot my father and

> then killed himself. It was just so horrible.

>

> I have lived though my life with the guilt that I didn't give him a

> hug or a kiss when I last saw him or told him that I loved him.

> My mother drunk more to drown her sorrows, and she was a beautiful

> woman but had such a hard life. She died of bowel cancer after the

> birth of my third daughter. I married young wanting to escape from

> homelife. I hung in for 18years but nearly suffered a nervous

> breakdown, I had to get out of this unhappy marriage. My husband

> was making all sorts of threats and assulting me. All I wanted to

> do was to protect my children and have some sort of happiness.

>

> I also suffered from endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome,

> Epstein barr virus, Chronic fatigue syndrome, had my gall bladder

> out and liclen sciorosis (not sure on that spelling.) Now I have

> FM and RA.(and inflamation around my heart.)

>

> I also had a daughter go off as well at 15 and another daughter who

> has a rare blood disorder, this all flared up when my other

> daughter was going off !!!(so I think stress contributes to her

> illness too.)

>

> I have been re married now to my childhood sweetheart for eight

> years now and he injured his back four years ago and has been

> unable to work. So we have been under financial stress as well. I

> have always been a positive person and kept my sense of humour and

> faith. But at times it has been extremely hard. I have been

> fortunate to have lovely friends and family that support me.

>

> Funny you mentioned your husband's X wife making your life a living

> hell. My X husband remarried and his wife made my life soo hard

> too as she tried to turn my girls away from me. It didn't work in

> the end but she is a real nutter!!! That was very traumatic, sadly

> I don't communicate with the father of my children at all, as I

> just get abuse from him and his wife and it is not worth the stress

> of it.

>

> I like you try to avoid stressful situations, somethings we have no

> control over. But my heart goes out to you and I really believe

> stress does play a big part with illness. I also think it is

> sometimes what has been handed out to us, maybe it will make us

> better people in the long run.

>

> Take care .

>

[Guest guest]

Michaeel Follet and group;

My goodness girl. That was like a novel I just read. How does one

avoid stressfull situations when its an x spouses spouse the

tormenter. Sometimes its slung in our laps. Our own loved ones can

be tricked like your daughters was by their step mom. I am so glad

it worked out in the end.

Hon I felt quilty for a long time when my dad died but I relized he

would want me to let it go. Sometimes writing out gives us a

release. I hope it was a release for you. All that sadness is

behind you. Life is to short to let it eat at us. Yes, I have went

through a lot in life to. I have 2 ex husbands I just want to

forget.

Follet I agree with you about stress. Stress can rip your

body to shreds. In fact I read somewhere IBS is soley caused from

stress. The only illness caused directly from stress. Once I was

able to remove the aweful stress from my life the IBS began to get

better. I have flare ups once in a while. As soon as I see a

stress that is avoidable I do everything in my power to get rid of

it. Sometimes stress is un-avoidable but when it is avoidable I

avoid.

God bless everyone

gentle hugs

Clora

>

[Guest guest]

I too have RA that runs in my family on my mothers side. And her mothers side

and so on. Also many different cancers as well/ When i was diagnosed with RA i

thought i was way to young and it should only be found in very old folks, not in

30 year olds I got my surprise didn't I.

Kris

[Guest guest]

Kris,

So sad, that is the ugly truth of RA, it is no respector of persons or

age. I hope you are doing OK with the acceptance. I know it must be

terribly hard for younger folks. I was diagnosed at 55 and I thought

I'm too young! NOT

Shirley

--- In , Kris Allan <aradiamoon2006@...>

wrote:

>

> I too have RA that runs in my family on my mothers side. And her

mothers side and so on. Also many different cancers as well/ When i

was diagnosed with RA i thought i was way to young and it should only

be found in very old folks, not in 30 year olds I got my surprise

didn't I.

> Kris

>

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>

>

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