Family with autoimmune disease

[drsdonthelp]

Hi Everyone, I just came home from having lunch and reconnecting with my GodFather after many years of not seeing him. I found out alot of health problems my cousins as well as my GodFather has gone through.

First off, I do have Graves Disease as some of you already know.
I just found out that three of my cousins have thyroid disease. One out of the three also has Lupus. My GodFather also started to mention that his son is having odd things happening to him, like numbness and tingling in his leg and he will be going for some testing soon.

I could not believe how bad autoimmune disease is in my family. So far, there has only been one person in my family with ms. She is famous and is my greatgrandmother's neice. I have been tested numerous times for lupus and it is negative, still waiting to here about the NIH that my doc's want to get me into.

To me, this is such important information for me. My grandmother on my mom's side had thyroid disease, my father's sister has Graves ) my father's cousins (GodFather and his kids) all have thyroid disease , Lupus, and one of them unknown. And my father's grandmother's  neice has ms. This is just so crazy to me.

I really do not have a question just wanted to share what I learned today. My GodFather and I shared lots of stories, tears, and laughter. It was sooooo wonderful to be with him today. I needed that!!!

Thanks for listening, :)
Pam

[anon07072023]

Thanks Pam, I really appreciate it.  :-)

[drsdonthelp]

Thank you, and yes,  it was like a breath of fresh air to spend time with him. He has to be the most laid back,  mellow, down to earth man I know. He has four kids all close to my age and he has been  through alot with their health issues.
He was able to listen to me without making me feel like I was a nut. When he told me how my cousin kept getting dismissed as having female problems, we both looked at eachother with that " UGHHHH" frustrated look!!!
It has been such a long time since I have seen him, but we are sooooo much alike. He is my dad's first cousin and it was just like he was my own father. Amazing!!

Hope you are doing ok, I am sorry to hear about your brother. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I can't believe how common it is to have so many family members with AI diseases. It's crazy!!

Good luck to you honey and big Hugs,
Pam

[anon07072023]

Hi Pam,

It was nice that you got a chance to get together with your GodFather to talk about the past and your current medical stuff. I hope you continue to keep your connection going with him. He seems like a good source of family information and a good listener.

My family is riddled with autoimmune disorders, too. My mom, 3 of her 5 sisters and also on the same side, both my grandma and my grandpa do and did have autoimmune disorders. Almost all the sisters have, including what my mom had, chronic glomerulonephritis (autoimmune kidney), my grandma has thyroid disease, my grandpa had polymyositis. One of my aunts also had fibromyalgia, although I'm not for sure if that's autoimmune or not.

Thanks,
Kelly

[drsdonthelp]

I just noticed your first post, lol, I must have been typing when yours had appeared. I honestly have never heard of ITP. Hope your mom is doing well.
And thank you for this referral, I will check it out.
Pam

[doublevision1]

You might be interested in the "The Autoimmune Epidemic" by Donna Jackson Nakazawa, which focuses on the relationship between autoimmune disease and environmental triggers.  

[drsdonthelp]

I was just rereading my post and I kinda repeated myself ..LOL  I was just so overwhelmed at what I had learned today. When he told me what my cousin had gone through about how her drs. kept telling her she had "female" problems and pushing her off until she was in a coma in the hospital, I instantly felt angry.
I told him all of the things that I have gone through following the RAI treatment and how I was very close to dying.. we just cried sitting at Applebee's, got up from the table and hugged. Too many similar stories  He also told me that the doc.s said it is very common to have more than one autoimmune disease. Her Lupus almost killed her, my thyroid almost killed me.
Autoimmune disease is rediculously out of control. What is up with that!!??

Thanks everyone... I am such an emotional sap when it comes to my family. My grandmother always used to say at the dinner table during our salute, "togetherness".  


Hope others will share,
Pam

[doublevision1]

My mother has idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura  (ITP), which is a very long way of saying low platelet count.  It is currently under control/in remission following several months of oral steroids.  When a neurology resident first took my history he asked about family history of autoimmune disease and seemed interested in the ITP, and he mentioned it in my report. There is also thyroid disease and diabetes in my family.  

I've read some studies that looked at the association between MS and ITP; one study reported that the prevalence of MS among patients with ITP is 25x more than the prevalence that would be expected on the general population.  Further, ITP is a potential albeit rare side effect of beta interferon treatment.

[Sumanadevii]

If this is an informal poll, my family is loaded with autoimmune diseases.

[MissLauraI]

Pam how nice to reconnect! That is really amazing that there are so many in your family that have autoimmune diseases. It is interesting to see that many families are similar. I have thyroid problems, RA, and fibromyalgia in my family. I recently concluded that my dad may have had MS. he died at 44 with cancer, but his symptoms 12 years prior seemed to point to it. I guess I will never know.

I hope you have many more times of joy with your godfather Pam :D

[figuerpa]

So glad you got to see your Godfather, it is always wonderful to see people you haven;t seen in a while.

Wow there are a lot of people in your family with Autoimmune diseases. This may bring on a whole new converstaion with your neuro because of so many people having the autoimmune problems maybe it can help with finding what is going on with you.

Wishing you the best,
Paula