Anyone Here Have Other Autoimmune Illnesses?

[ramakentesh]

hey

I have ankylosing spondalitis although a pretty mild form of it. The weird thing is that ive noticed that when its bad (maybe 4 months of every year) my POTS symptoms are usually low, whereas when its good my POTS symptoms are generally worse. Give me back pain any day - even really bad back pain - over POTS i tell ya!!

[MomtoGiuliana]

I have Hashimoto's. When my thyroid is off, too low or too high, I get more noticeable/severe POTS symptoms.

[pat57]

I have one, its not defined tho. I test positive for RA but its not RA. Presents somewhat like Raynalds, but its not Raynalds.

Mine is secondary to Hep C.

[gertie]

I have Hashimotos, adrenal problems, fibromyalgia, arthritis, too many things to name. Add migraines & meniere's, allergies & sometimes it gets to be more than I think I can handle.

[flop]

Can I ask what meds you take for your ankylosing spondylitis? Do you take steroids during a flare up?

Pat - rheumatoid factor is a badly named blood test, it is positive in the majority of people with rheumatoid arthritis but 20% have "seronegative rheumatoid arthritis" where the test is negative. The other confusing factor is that it can be "positive" in people who don't have arthritis at all!

The most common reasons for having a positive rheumatoid factor are rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome

Other illnesses where rheumatoid factor can be positive include: chronic hepatitis, any chronic viral infection, leukemia, dermatomyositis, infectious mononucleosis, scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). (Information from Wikipedia).

Flop

[morgan617]

Flop, my son Jake has had AS since he was 11 and crohn's that goes with it. He is HLA-B27 positive. He has tried everything, and now is on Humira, the 1000 dollar shots he takes once a week. He's 27 now and quite crippled up by it. he is fused in his left SI joint, lower back and now it's in his neck. We think the Humira is really exacerbating his migraines, he's had to go to the ER 4 times now and he could always get them under control before he started it.

Ramakintesh, I have a low grade lupus and sjogren's. I also have Periodic Paralysis, which is an autosomal dominant muscular disease in the Muscular dystrophy family. Either my autonomic dysfunction makes them much worse or the other way around. Whichever it is,it sure ain't much fun. A lot of stuff overlaps and I believe can confuse the doctors, hence all my "psych" problems.

At the moment my PP is the most concerning to me, since I have done some pretty nasty bodily harm to myself from paralyzing the last few months. It's one of the reasons I haven't been here as much as I normally am. I am trying to find a med that will help, and it's been very tricky, as most of you who have problems with meds would know. A med that helps one problem can easily aggravate another.

The rheumatologist I saw several years ago said 95% of people who have lupus have a mild case like mine and it never gets worse, but it's bad enough to make you feel crummy most of the time. He didn't feel any need to see me till I need remicade or something that costs a kazillion bucks a shot. (Trust me, my friend's co pays for one infusion were 550 bucks and she got it every three weeks )

So, yes I do have other ailments and they all get lumped into the same dumpster. Sorry to hear about your AS. My son really suffers with his. morgan

[KSJayhawk]

Hi all. I've been watching this site for a few weeks. Just diagnosed with POTS. I also have psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. About two years ago, I had an anaphalactic reaction to an infusion for the arthritis and had to have a shot of epinephrine. I think that may have triggered the POTS, if that's possible. It's taken quite some time to find a doctor who doesn't think I'm crazy. I'm thankful for this website that has given me a lot of info about how to manage these awful symptoms. KSJayhawk

[EarthMother]

I have autoimmune thyroid -- Hashimoto -- in addition to POTS. And like others when my thyroid goes on a rollercoaster ride so do my POTS symptoms. I seem to be in an overactive cycle of Hashi right now with high T4 levels and non existent TSH, so I need to back off my thyroid meds a bit to see if it can settle down.

As Rosanne Rosana Dana said ... "It's always something!"

~EM

[ramakentesh]

thanks for the replies - it seems quite interesting that many of us have co-morbid autoimmune problems. I remember reading a thyroid forum many years ago and it was quite similar for thyroid sufferers. Must be something to that.

Morgan - I feel for your son - AS can be SHOCKING. Im lucky in that even at its worst for me its really not so bad - it can be VERY painful but ive only ever needed one steroid injection, otherwise I take an anti inflamatory for it called Mobic which is ok.

Like I say I actually look forward to the onset of AS in some weird way because for me it means that my POTS will quieten down for a while. Weird eh?

[jump]

I have hashimoto's and an autoimmune gluten allergy (less serious than Celiac's but basically caused by the same thing). RA runs in my family as does type 1 diabetes.

I def. think there's a connection to dysaut and autoimmune stuff.

[cbahagrl1234]

I have ulcerative colitis and POTS.

[firewatcher]

Depending on which doctors I listen to, I have Hashimoto's. I think the Diabetes Insipidus could also be autoimmune, but since knowing for certain won't change my treatment, no one is willing to do any further testing. Apparently I also have some wicked allergies (I have an epi-pen FOR my allergy shots and have never been able to get past the initial starting dose of allergy serum.)

[Tessa]

Secondary Adrenal Insuficiency

Microscopic Colitis

Sensitivity to Gluten and casein

Allergic to melon and pineapple

Allergies to several drugs (local anesthetics) and hypersensitive to others.

well, just take a look to my signature... Maybe I am missing another one...

Love,

Tessa

[green]

Narcolepsy and POTS

Narcolepsy is believed to be autoimmune.

[jessicaanne010]

My oldest daughter has Type 1 Diabetes and Hashimoto's. My 8yo, newly diagnosed with NCS, has had symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes in the past but resolved on their own. I think one of my mom's sisters had NCS, need to confirm. My mom has Pulmonary Fibrosis, I don't know if they have decided whether that is autoimmune or not, my grandmother passed from PF last June. My dad's sister has Reynaud's. My grandmother also suspected that she had celiac but couldn't find a doctor that would test her. I'm sure there are a few things I'm forgetting here.

We are kind of an autoimmune stew pot.

[LindaJoy]

I have eosinophilic esophagitis, fibromyalgia, and they're thinking maybe mast cell activation disorder or some other autoimmune / allergic disorder, such as histamine intolerance. It seems too coincidental to me that all of these conditions seemed to come around the same time, worsen with one another, etc.

Linda

[MNsue]

I have hashimotos, vitaliago, autoimmune polyneuropathy that affects my central nervous system and autonomic nervous system.

So many of us have hashimotos. I think it is interesting.

[ramakentesh]

Yeah as I thought - a strong history of autoimmune disorders in the family seems to be common. Ive got a large history of thyroid disorders on my mum's side. And my great grandfather used to have episodes of 'trembling' a lot. (sounds a little Potsie maybe??)

Add my mild AS and I think that its quite interesting.

I read an article recently where it was suggested that an autoimmune attack on some of the nerves that control venous constriction would result in overactivity of the remaining ones...