Wellness

[shosh]

@chipmonk cheeks

i know a woman who shares your diagnosis, and she also has the same incredible attitude as you. it is the only way to live with this most extreme illness, and i admire your outlook. thank you for coming on to post, i see you are not usually here..

i truly don't know how some folks are able to cultivate the mindset that is needed, to not only get through every day, but to find purpose and joy, in spite of the constant challenges that 'normal' life brings. i feel guilty that i fail at that so regularly, and give in to the limitations and fears of what lies ahead, as conditions progress.

i think that if one believes their doctors are beneficial to their condition, that is a big step in being able to accept what is happening to their body, while at the same time taking actions to improve it.

for valid reasons, many afflicted have little faith in medicine - i think we need that faith as a part of the overall process of sorting out the layers of what is wrong, how we can help ourselves, and how others can help us too.

the books here look good, there are many that are...then after i read the book, i still need someone 'medical' to help - i think if i felt i had that to turn to as needed, it would go a long way to feeling less hopeless.

i think that as much as we learn about our conditions, alter our diets etc- at some points we need the dr or even worse, the hospital- not feeling we have a dr to rely on when things are worse, for me anyway, is a root problem.

i would think most folks with a serious or chronic condition would have that feeling too. as much as we can and should do to help ourselves, we also need more.

[ANewHue]

It was never discussed but I had a relative that was always in bed and I believe she may have had fibromyalgia.  I have it and I have nieces that have RA and suffer with other symptoms which I believe maybe fibro.  I'm angry about it because it was never discussed about the relative, things like this should be discussed within the family.  

[LilacTree]

My father's entire family were Italian immigrants, as he almost was himself having been born in Portland, Maine just after the boat landed.  All of them died of heart disease.

My mother never even knew who her father was, other than he was Irish, and her mother was middle European.  That's all she ever knew.  She lived mostly in foster homes as her mother was a very unsavory individual who was kicked out of the State of NY, my mother taken from her as a very small child.  I won't repeat what we learned about her horrible childhood because I don't talk about that anymore.

In short, there was no way to ever know, other than heart disease, what our health history was.  My mother did have RA and osteoporosis, but died of lung cancer at age 49.  My father had a few heart attacks and strokes, but lived to age 83, oldest ever in that family.  They all smoked voraciously . . . I can remember the few times I saw them sitting around the table and the smoke was so thick I couldn't see their faces, and I hated the smell.  Maybe that's why I never smoked. 

So the "history" really begins now with us and our children and there are a lot of autoimmune diseases that have arisen in us, our children, and even our grandchildren.  My one daughter was married to a man who has psoriasis, and my 16 year-old granddaughter already has it.  A double whammy for that poor girl.

[LilacTree]

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

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@LilacTree wrote:

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@DeeDT wrote:

I had my thyroid removed in my thirties, so did my father, his mother (my grandmother), and her mother (my great grandmother).  So that's four generations all with thyroid issues.  Hopefully we can find a way to stop it before it effects my children.

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The only way we can stop any disease is to find out first what causes it.  We don't know yet why the body starts to attack itself.

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This is exactly what I think!! My daughter has Crohn's disease....no one on either side of the family has/had it, which made me do some research. This book was an EXCELLENT read.....shows why there can be autoimmune diseases in groups of people.

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I bought this book and read half of it last night.  I wish it was more updated . . . it was written in 2009.  However I do believe autoimmune diseases are becoming more and more prevalent, especially in women, and the genetic component is the least of it.  It's the environment, all of it, everything we do.  It emanates from the ocean, our air, our food, our water, our furniture, our appliances, our breast milk fed to our newborn babies, and I could go on and on.  There is no way to avoid the toxic chemical world we now live in. 

I haven't read to the end yet, but I did take a peek and she does provide some suggestions for avoiding what we can. 

I have three to five autoimmune diseases and, unfortunately, the more one has the more one gets.  I don't know how I've managed to live to age 78 with all the issues I have.  And it pains me that my children and my grandchildren face a world filled with increasing "autogens," (as she calls them).  The human body is not able to fight these off, especially if there is weakness in the autoimmune system already, as I do believe runs in our family.  Many individuals are strong enough to fight most of these toxins off, but many are not.  And it's 90% women who suffer.  Of course "they" don't know why, except they really do. 

Our society will not address most of these issues because they've become a way of life.  The author, Rachael Carson saw this coming in a book, "Silent Spring," which I remember reading in the early 60s.  She died shortly afterward and never knew how much of her prophesies would indeed come to pass, only worse.

Toxic chemicals are destroying life on this planet, as is climate change.  It is very depressing.

Thank you, nataliesgramma, I did learn a lot.  I do want to look into it for more current information though and will research that.

[LilacTree]

For those interested, I just pre-ordered "The Autoimmune Connection" which is not available until the middle of March.  The authors are Rita Baron Faust and Jill Buyon.  It's all the very latest information on autoimmune disease and the most current treatments.  I ordered it from Amazon.

[Lucky Charm]

Hi Ford~ do you take any supplements/antioxidants?

I take several in hopes that they help me *ward* off the nastiness of the enviroment.

I only use organic products for my face (cleansing, moisturizer, makeup) hair, body products and even some really good organic cleaning products. 

Organic-only food,( at least 97%).  Always look for non GMO if I can't get organic.

I have a hypo thyroid, and am the only one diagnosed with it in my family.  Don't know what I did wrong to get this.

The best thing you can do is eat as good as you can.  That doesn't mean you can't enjoy a treat.  I always try to offset anything bad with something good, be it food or excercise.

It's never too late to start the day off good.  Never too late!

[GingerPeach]

Other than books that talk about new medicines, has anyone come across new literature about alternatives (diet, etc.)?

I've read a lot already, but was wondering if anyone had read anything that's come out in the past year or so.

[sidsmom]

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@GingerPeach wrote:

Other than books that talk about new medicines, has anyone come across new literature about alternatives (diet, etc.)?

I've read a lot already, but was wondering if anyone had read anything that's come out in the past year or so.

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@GingerPeach

Glad you mentioned this!

Yes, diet & lifestyle plays a HUGE part in eliminating/drastically reducing the effects of autoimmune diseases!  

Upon eating the correct diet, the results will be seen immediately.  The results might not be as quickly as diabetes & heart disease where you can guage your progress with a number, but definitely, diet/lifestyle is an IMPORTANT part.  

Diet is difficult to chnage in people, but it can be done.   Below are several links I've found.  HTH!!

ETA:  All the Organic this & GMO that means nothing if the food is inflammatory to begin with.   You can spend a lot of money on organic meat, cheese, eggs, milk, olive oil...but those foods, organic or not, are the first line of inflammation.  Got to stick with a low fat whole foods plant based diet for optimum results. 

Explanation:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/featured-articles/articles/diet-only-hop...

Video:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/videos/free-electures/diet-and-multiple-sclerosis/

Testimony:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2014nl/may/tencases.htm

[LilacTree]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

Hi Ford~ do you take any supplements/antioxidants?

I take several in hopes that they help me *ward* off the nastiness of the enviroment.

I only use organic products for my face (cleansing, moisturizer, makeup) hair, body products and even some really good organic cleaning products. 

Organic-only food,( at least 97%).  Always look for non GMO if I can't get organic.

I have a hypo thyroid, and am the only one diagnosed with it in my family.  Don't know what I did wrong to get this.

The best thing you can do is eat as good as you can.  That doesn't mean you can't enjoy a treat.  I always try to offset anything bad with something good, be it food or excercise.

It's never too late to start the day off good.  Never too late!

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I take Vitamin D-3, just started it recently.  I am hoping it will make a difference.  My daughter whom I live with eats only organic foods.  My diet is extremely limited because I have conditions that require different diets, so it's very difficult for me to find more than ten foods I can eat.  What's recommended in one diet is not recommended in the other.  As a result I am losing weight, as I am eating less and less.

OT . . . I just found out in this last book I read that when I came down with Rheumatic Fever as a 14 year-old, that was my first autoimmune disease.  They just didn't know it then.  I also had Scarlet Fever and Mononucleosis at the same time and was hospitalized for weeks, then had to stay home from school for a whole year. 

My beloved sister told me only a year or so before she died that my parents thought I was going to die.  I recovered from that and although I was never as strong as my peers, I did live a normal life for many years.  I also had four healthy pregnancies and babies in four and a half years when I was married.

It wasn't until I came down with hypothyroidism at menopause that I acquired my second autoimmune disease, then again at age 66 when I retired was when the RA hit.  I have Sjogren's now, and expect that if I live long enough I will acquire more AIs. 

However, at age 78 I consider myself very lucky and have learned to live with my chronic issues.

[SahmIam]

@LilacTree What an excellent thread and thank you for starting as well as including the info on the books/authors. I'm going to find the books you mentioned.

As for answering the question; I'm the one that appears to have started it in my family. Why me, I don't know but there it is. My children are the first to have any autoimmune issues and it's.....an eye opener.