I have been directly diagnosed with at least 4 AD diseases, the first of course bing T1D, but that led to excema or the other term for it… basically truly bad dandruff, but is an actual allergy to my own skin. Severe arthritis and now alarming issues with my Thyroid glands. All of these are also related to a different blood disorder where I have a truly abnormally high white blood cell count that has been called “white man’s cycle cell” which is a truly bad name as it does not react the same as Cycle Cell does for the African American population does. This high white cell count has existed longer than the diabetes, and actually was a positive thing to have as my system fought disease and infection so much better than anyone else that I ran across. I could have scraped injuries, like falling from a bicycle onto gravel type, and have them heal in days… I could have and actually did have a 3 inch long 1.5 inch deep knife cut that healed without ANY stitches sorts of things… was great until my teenage years when I finally developed T1D, after that, well, the healing started to slow down and has reached the point of dangerousness that all T1D’s face with injuries… requiring extra anti-biotics when I have surgery or get cut etc.
I would be willing to be that I have other Auto-Immune issues that just have not been diagnosed yet. Hyper active system can be a curse or a blessing… mine started with the heightened white cell count which WAS a blessing for many years… But the rest of my system started being attacked by the hyper active immune system so I am now facing all the additional issues associated with the various so-called diseases.
My biggest concern, and most damage, has been caused by too much insulin over the years… the age old “ohhh, it’s a miracle treatment for diabetics” is actually almost a lie. Man made insulin completely destroys your blood vessels over time. Making them brittle, which makes them accumulate damage over time which in turn makes them clot up with cholesterol even when the cholesterol levels are not abnormally high, it just accumulates at the various broken bits along all the minor blood vessels, thus causing even more serious circulation issues leading to a heart attack from blocked major artery requiring a stint.
The family, well, the rest of the family has various instances of the various AD issues as well, thyroid problems are rampant, and issues more closely related to sex are also prominent for the women in the family. The Arthritis runs rampant and for some of us is so severe that the hands are no longer usable due to the enlarged knuckles preventing the bending of fingers in normal fashion to the point that some of the fingers are already permanently bent at odd angles etc.
Having a mix of European bloodlines AND American Indian Bloodlines has made strict diagnosis a bit harder it seems. Irish father, from what we can tell, ALL Irish on his side, while my mother is a mix of European from Switzerland, France with 50% American Indian from two separate tribes of Cherokee Indian. Quite a mix there.
I think most of the Autoimmune issues came from the Irish side, at least it is my Father’s side of the family that has the most history of those types of issues, from my Mother’s side not enough records were kept to know exactly what to expect but she definitely has the issues that tend to follow the female sides of families and not the male sides of issues. That is where the 2nd exposure to Arthritis comes from and is what is making that diagnosis harder. It appears that I have at least two forms of Arthritis and the GP’s never seem to be able to figure out which one to treat.
Fighting insurance companies means that getting treatment for anything is a problem as most of us are more than familiar with. I would get coverage to start on a pump only to have the insurance drop the coverage almost immediately after I had met the initial deductibles… so now, I am back to 3-4 shots of insulin per day to attempt to keep the sugar levels within a reasonable range. Severely underweight, so having difficulties with having NO fallback if sugar level drops, my lows are so severe that I end up below 40 on a quite regular basis just due to a very slight increase in activity levels.
I was diagnosed with MRSA when I had a very small infection on my right foot, but because of insurance, I was stuck with a physician that stated on first meeting that since I was a diabetic I was going to lose the leg regardless and proceeded to not treat me correctly to the point that yes, I did develop a very bad infection and thus lost the leg. There is more to that story but not worth the effort of describing how bad the insurance issues are nor how bad our hospitals are in treating people at the lower income levels.
Sorry, not sure where I am really going with this post except to cover the different Auto-Immune issues related to the T1D that I have also been diagnosed with. Ohh, and the fact that insurance refuses to allow treatment for about 80% of those diagnosis at this stage of things. The ACA has helped to a certain extent, but they are very difficult to get them to cover anything. Being in Pennsylvania there is even less help available since the Republican controlled State Govt refuses to accept the Federal help with Medicaid coverage, and thus reduced total coverage options that I have here. Being completely disabled now, I am forced to accept the Medicare at the most basic level and have absolutely NO options to get additional coverage for the 20% that is not covered, I can choose to not get any help and flat out purchase better coverage, complete with that extra 20% medi-gap coverage plan, but I am not legally allowed to purchase a medi-gap package unless I pay for the whole coverage package from a SINGLE provider. That is what the Republicans have blocked here in PA.
No longer really matters much, as my life expectancy has recently been cut way back due to heart issues and no way to get coverage for help with that aspect of my health.
Losing that leg means that I have to manually exercise daily, just to keep the muscles toned enough to be able to haul around this 25lb piece of steel that is all that is covered by ACA, and still have to pay that 20% bit out of a pocket that prevents me from eating more than a single meal per day, which is part of the reason I have such an issue with low BS, especially late night, during sleep.
Oh, the system is set up in such a way that if I actually do find work, and earn more than $400 per month, I lose ALL aid. Our system here in USA is so badly broken that folks like me have no way out of the hole. Unless we may be lucky enough to have a wealthy family member die with a large life policy that might be left to us. I can attest that MY family has no-one to fill that role.
I would prefer working, but I physically can only handle so much, I can no longer lift and carry 50lb boxes, which seems to be a minimum requirement on all the job applications I have filled out, and can not afford a part time job that would only cut my total care coverage and not give me health care since it is only part time… worst catch 22 I have faced so far in my life despite having worked since I was 12 years old, and paid into the Social Security system as well as the other tax they take to cover health related stuff. Those taxes are taken regardless of your age, so 40+ years of work, but only a very minimum disability that prevents me from even attempting to earn my way out of the hole.
I’ll do some other looking too. I was curious about the links between autoimmune diseases. Actually, I’m kinda afraid to ask, but I also want some additional information and perspective for the sake of my children (currently healthy…hard for a mama not to worry, though). We are planning to test them for antibodies through Trialnet in the spring. I’m grateful in advance for this community. I’ve already learned so much here.