I was just curious to see how many of you have families with autoimmune diseases? I have cousins who have rheumatoid and type 1 diabetes. I had a grandmom with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease, and uncle with MS, my mom has Hysimoto's (spelling?), my sister has epilepsy and a pituitary tumor (not sure if any autoimmune ties and they don't know the cause of the eplilepsy), etc. My family has a lot of "rare"/unique diseases/cancers/etc. at young ages, so much that I had a genetic chart done - and there is more I don't even know b/c my family keeps a lot of stuff private. I understand their need for privacy but it would sure help to know in advance about family history. I love hearing "oh, so and so has that/had that..." after I went through different tests and symptoms without knowing what I had. I also heard that most people with autoimmune diseases have more than one autoimmune disease - do you find this to be true?
My family both my moms and dads side has heart disease, asthma, type 1 and 2 diabetes, and cancer. My dads sister also has lupus which my doctor said made it more likely for me to have it. My doctor did mention this last time that I saw him that I might have something along with the lupus. He just isnt sure what it would be....
Heart disease and diabetes run on both sides of my family. One if my moms sisters has lupus and another polymyalgia rheumatica and my mom has RA and possible lupus
My mother had multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. … she was adopted and I’ve never met my dad. … my Dr at Hopkins spoke to ne alot about possible genetic influence for my illness
My mom has RA, every family member on both sides have allergies out the ying yang, my grand daughter is allergic to all dairy, all nuts, all sea food, gluten, super severe eczema, poor baby can't eat anything but veggies, mom has type 2 diabetes, they keep suspecting my daughter has lupus but all continues to be negative. My son has weird dermatitis, my brother has nickel allergy. My oldest sister has lymphedema hummm what else? Not sure so what's that say about us?
My mom was diagnosed with lupus about 2 years ago (at the age of 61)...had vasculitis, rash over entire body, extreme fatigue, fever, chills and was in kidney failure when she was admitted to the hospital. She was in the hospital for 5 days and put on large doses of IV steroids and some other meds. She has a aunt and 2 cousins (on her mom's side) that also had lupus with kidney involvement.
I was diagnosed last year (at age of 37). I had been having symptoms periodically for over 15 years prior to my diagnosis. Everytime I went to the doctor I was told I had a virus or the flu. Finally my sysmptoms progressed one time to the point I could barely walk I was in so much pain and horrible fatigue.
So in my case, definately a strong genetic component!
My mom has Graves’ disease (thyroid) and my grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis.
I was diagnosed with LUPUS 5 years ago, but I think I have had it a lot longer.... and I was diagnosed with Graves disease about 17 years ago and I have always had a lot of allergies and food allergies...........my mom and 3 brothers had diabetes , all 3 of my children and grandchildren have multiple allergies , my niece has Crohn's , and my mom had a thyroid problem ( goiter ) ... I really think she might of had lupus too from some of her symptoms now looking back........but she was never diagnosed.
I have lupus, RA, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, celiac disease, Sjogren's syndrome, autoimmune hepatitis, and psoriasis. I had type II diabetes until I had weight loss surgery. Two of my four kids have AI diseases: second daughter has Hashimoto's, third daughter has lupus and Addison's disease. My father had RA and type II diabetes, and two of his sisters had Hashi's and lupus (both died of lupus). One brother has type II diabetes. Multiple aunts, uncles, cousins on my dad's side have autoimmune diseases, too many to list. Three of my seven grandkids have celiac disease. One niece has Crohn's disease, another has Graves disease.
In other words, yes. :(
I have multiple AI disorders, lupus and sjogren’s being two of them. My mom has severe RA, my sister has vasculitis (i do too), my grandmother had RA and possibly APS, on my father’s side my aunt has unspecified, her son has scleroderma, my cousin has Sjogren’s and thyoid issues, her brother has thyroid issues… There are more but there is definitely a strong genetic component on both sides of my family tree. Both men and women are affected.
Yes, my brothers, sister, mom, aunts, uncles back at least 2 generations that my Mom witnessed, and we found a death certificate with symptoms of lupus that is 11 generations back, so it could go back quite far in my family.And yes, most have multiple illnesses. Once the immune system starts its destruction, many problems pile on top of each other.
Hi
I have a daughter (51 years old) that has fibro and other things I think she has Lupus. My granddaughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatologis Arthritis at age 14 she is now 20 and will need something done with her elbow in aprox 2 years.
She is a junior at Johnson and Whales taking Baking and Pastry. I don't know how she does it and never complains.
As far as my sibling go I don't think they had any autoimune diseases.
Cindy
I have SLE, hypothyroidism Lichen Planus, sun sensitivity FATIGUE mouth sores hair loss. colitis. My Dad had diabetes My sister had diabetes I can't think of anything else.
Cindy
Yes, sister and many females on maternal side of family.
Hashimoto's and Grave's are serious autoimmune diseases.
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/hashimoto-disease.html#a
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/graves-disease.html
Thyroid disease in family: Me, daughter, my dad, nephew had a MS flare that has been in remission for 20 years.
You have to hold on.
I have lupus and ankylosing spondylitis. My maternal grandma had PMR and my paternal grandma had something but never diagnosed. My sister has something weird going on with cardiovascular system.
I've read that people with Lupus are very sensitive to food/have a lot of food allergies
wubbabear said:
My mom has RA, every family member on both sides have allergies out the ying yang, my grand daughter is allergic to all dairy, all nuts, all sea food, gluten, super severe eczema, poor baby can't eat anything but veggies, mom has type 2 diabetes, they keep suspecting my daughter has lupus but all continues to be negative. My son has weird dermatitis, my brother has nickel allergy. My oldest sister has lymphedema hummm what else? Not sure so what's that say about us?
my younger sister in her 30's has a pituitary tumor and has epilepsy (unknown cause) and my even younger sister had melanoma - we have rare cancers in our family at very young ages - my mom told me they thought she had lupus before - she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's a few years ago and the links below sound like my sister as well as my mom. I worry b/c my husband's brother was diagnosed with a very aggressive RA and so my children are at a higher risk since it is on both sides of my family. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis before I was 10.
USAGURL said:
Hashimoto's and Grave's are serious autoimmune diseases.
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-shee...
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-shee...
Thyroid disease in family: Me, daughter, my dad, nephew had a MS flare that has been in remission for 20 years.
You have to hold on.
I have lupus sle, Hashimotos and my brother has myasthenis gravis plus hypothyroid. We both had radiation treatments as children in the 1940's. We have an older sister who was never treated and she is very healthy!
Thank you all for sharing your family histories and stories - it certainly does appear that there is a strong genetic component to autoimmune diseases and that autoimmune diseases like to "stick" together. As frustrating as this road can be in trying to understand how autoimmune diseases "work", it is very fortunate that there are people out there who have been through similar experiences (as well as their families) and are brave enough to share with others.