Re: Diagnoses of autoimmune diseases/Jennette

[Guest guest]

Hi Jennette,

Thanks for your kind welcome and your encouraging words; it does sound

like we have a lot in common! I would like to try to answer your

question and also comment on some of the the symptoms that you mention.

I've had asthma and psoriasis since childhood, but the Hashimoto's

thyroiditis wasn't diagnosed until I was 32. By that point my thyroid

was nearly dead, so the doctors think it probably began when I was in

my teens, but no one noticed that I had a thyroid problem until I

showed up in the ER with my thyroid so swollen it was making it hard

for me to breathe.

The other issues have all been diagnosed in the past few months:

autoimmune hepatitis was diagnosed in June of this year, but I may

have had it for the past four years. Fibromyalgia and rheumatoid

arthritis were also diagnosed this summer; I know that I've had the

fibro for at least a couple of years now, but I seem to be in the

early stages of RA.

The celiac disease is the most recent diagnosis, just this month. I

am just now trying to switch over to a gluten-free diet. I do have

friends who have told me that their fibro and RA went into remission

on a gluten-free diet so I'm hoping that will happen in my case!

You mentioned that you've been getting a lot of pains in the area of

your ribcage which is worse when trying to take a deep breath. I've

had something similar which started the same time as severe pain under

my left shoulder blade; it made deep breathing excruciatingly painful

at times.

I would hear or feel " popping " noises in my ribs. I think that this may be

something called costochondritis, which is fairly common in fibro. It's an

inflammation of the tissues that connect your ribs to your breastbone.

I was very concerned when you said, " sometimes I wish I was off my

feet and my back could relax. The payback for walking too far lasts

longer and longer each month. " It sounds exactly like what I was

going through right before I decided to get the wheelchair.

If you are afraid of falling when walking due to pain, and you're in

so much pain when walking that you literally have to recover from a

walk, then please consider getting some sort of mobility device to

help you get around. It can make such a difference to your quality of

life!

I can actually go shopping with my husband now; I wasn't able to do

that for many many months, because I could only walk or stand for a

few minutes at a time, but with the wheelchair I have a life again.

And it helps me get to work, too.

As you said in your message to me, " Be nice to yourself " ; please don't

worry about what others may think, but do whatever you need to do to

take care of yourself and your pain issues.

Take care,

JoAnn

>

> --- Jennette wrote:

> > You have a long list and I was wondering if you would tell us

> > more about the diagnoses. How long did it take to get a diagnosis

> > and how many years since you first started dealing with autoimmune

> > disease?

>