Family autoimmune disorders?

[Lobos75]

Does anyone else have family members with autoimmune disorders? My father did and mother does... I was diagnosed with Lupus in October 2020 - at a later age.

[Spanielmadlady]

Yes I have hypothyroidism on both sides of my family that we know of.my dad,some of his brothers and my grandad died young from non hodgkin's lymphoma so we dont know what they might of gone on to develop or carried.

[happytulip]

Yep. 9 other cousins. It's live an AI convention when we get together.

[PMRpro]

There is a genetic component to a/i disorders - not necessarily in the sense of a gene that actually causes one but a set of genes that makes it more likely the immune system will be triggered by other factors to go haywire. A bit like ginger genes makes it more likely you'll get sunburn. You and your family share a lot of those genes.And in some a/i disorders it is a combination of external factors - including chemical, environmental, lifestyle and so on. And families often share those too.

Nature and nurture - not nature or nurture ...

[Whippet_lady in reply to PMRpro]

Does this mean my kids are more likely to have lupus because I have it? I did ask my rheumy when I was diagnosed and he said no. I also asked here and Paul also said no, but there's something nagging.My 16 year old son had fits when he was a baby which nobody could explain and he 'grew out of' quite quickly. He also had severe stomach pains when he was younger (we don't actually know exactly where these pains were because he was too young to understand specific parts of the body or what the pain was like, but it was crippling, landing him in A+E a few times) which, again, went unexplained despite referrals. He 'grew out of' these too - except that he did have an episode again a few months ago, hopefully a one off. He has very dry, sore, itchy eyes that we put down to hayfever (only started about 3 years ago and gets worse every year), he gets mouth ulcers far too frequently and has now started getting a very sore white tongue which restricts his eating and speech. He also had a urine infection recently.

Ordinarily, pre lupus diagnosis just over a year ago, I wouldn't have connected these things but given my situation now, and the number of things I've had problems with over the years which have never been explained (and always annoyed me - we don't know what it is so there's nothing we can do, you'll just have to carry on as you are) I am paranoid, and very worried, about my son. I don't want to worry him by bringing any of this up with him, he's otherwise fit and healthy, and very sporty but I'll be taking him to the doctor this week with his mouth problems and wonder if I should try and mention it?

[PMRpro in reply to Whippet_lady]

Not necessarily at all, and not necessarily lupus if he did develop some a/i disorder.

The mouth problems do sound a bit like thrush and it does sound as if he MIGHT have immune system problems of some sort - but it really is difficult to tell. a/i illnesses are very difficult to diagnose because there is such a variety of symptoms and they don't always appear linked to the average GP - or even the non/wrong specialist doctor. I think it is worth trying to get the GP to take it seriously and get a specialist opinion. As a child I doubt your son's problems were ever shown to a rheumy!

[Whippet_lady in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks, I'll try and speak to the GP without worrying my son.The thrush (?) on his tongue he had a few weeks ago at the same time as the urine infection. He was given some drops for it and it went away but now it's back (thankfully the urine infection isn't, the antibiotics saw that off, fingers crossed). Thanks again.

[weathervane]

I have Sjögren’s and my son has lupus profundus , i was quite shocked when he was diagnosed and did blame my dna for it .

[Chris21]

I have lupus sle with sjogrens overlap, raynaulds and Hughes syndrome. My sister had ms, my eldest daughter has raynaulds and waiting diagnosis of schlerdoma. Youngest daughter has sjogrens, coeliac, diabetes and now showing signs of raynaulds, both daughters and 4 grandchildren all have hypermobility syndrome. Once when I asked my mum in her eighties did anyone in the family have any problems (she had a few herself but was only diagnosed with RA) said no and then promptly said she had a cousin who was in the circus cause they twist themselves in funny bends 🤦‍♀️ I didn’t know how to respond 😂

[Djlr]

Runs in Families-But each person can have a different Autoimmune Disease.

The List Is long.

IBS, RA, AS, etc