Family links with auto immune disease

[Blues1]

My 34 year old son has MS diagnosed 5 years ago but symptoms we know now for at least 4 years before he got a diagnosis. Now I have PMR I am wondering if there is a connection. I have always had allergies , hay fever, food intolerances, as has he.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

There may be a connection in that being close family you will have a similar genetic history - and while these aren't hereditaty diseases in that sense, something in your genetic make-up increases the likelihood that you will develop autoimmune disorders.

You might find this interesting:

betterhealth.vic.gov.au/hea...

[Janstr]

I read somewhere that a person with a sibling with an auto-immune disease has a 30% chance of also getting an auto-immune disease.

[Pongo13 in reply to Janstr]

I'm one of three steps. Two of us have PMR.

[Suet3942 in reply to Pongo13]

Think my maternal grandmother may have had undiagnosed pmr,as would have been the case years ago. My mother had it as well. Everyone thought it was arthritis until she developed gca. Now I’ve got it but my cousin on my fathers side also has it. Double whammy! I was told by my Rheumi that he had a mother with three daughters who all had pmr.

I pray my daughter doesn’t get it.

[Hidden in reply to Suet3942]

A friend's husband and mother in law both had TA/GCA. I suspect my mum had it in her 60s as she had "the walk" I now recognise, and couldn't reach high cupboards. She also had periods of extreme fatigue. Never diagnosed and never lost that walk when taking first 20 to 30 steps.

[Suet3942 in reply to Hidden]

I remember my poor mum coming downstairs the day after they put her on 60mg prednisone and being amazed that she could lift her arms. Nobody even mentioned pmr just temporal arteritis as it was called then. 😐

[Hidden in reply to Suet3942]

Temporal arteritis is a GCA in the head/upper part of body as I understand it. But as you know both PMR and GCA can coexist on the spectrum! I bet she was as happy as larry. I still have weeks when I can't raise both but one will work. I never know which one! When I am at rheumies they always want both so there's no chance.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

My maternal grandfather almost certainly had PMR and so did an aunt on the maternal grandmother's side. Both in the 50s/60s so would have been early days for pred even if it had had a name. But it went on for years in both - no 2 year story for them either.

[yewtree in reply to PMRpro]

Yes I have been an allergy sufferer all my life - now have myasthenia gravis to add to my polymyalgia - another auto-immune disease. Both my sisters have polymyalgia and an aunt was on steroids 20 years! My younger sister also has Crohn's disease.

[PMRCanada in reply to Suet3942]

I pray my kids don’t develop an auto immune disease too.

[Hidden in reply to PMRCanada]

100% support that hope. For anyone in our lives. The only positive I can find is the we would understand what they are going through.

[clieder]

This is interesting. No PMR anywhere in my family that I know of or suspect. Of my three male siblings, two had Parkinson's Disease and reading the article in the link PMRpro posted prompted me to check and I found there is recent evidence that points to its being an autoimmune disorder. I had wondered if I, too, would be diagnosed with it, but was somewhat relieved when I read that it predominately affects males. Perhaps PMR/?GCA is my version of a genetic predisposition to an autoimmune disorder. Someone will put all of this together someday.

I, too, had all of the typical allergic reactions, manifested in hay fever, dermatitis, etc., starting in early childhood. I quit smoking In my early fifties and, in late fifties, began antibiotic treatment for rosacea. My hay fever allergies have not been active since. Have no idea whether either or both affected those symptoms. Shingles four times. One wonders what begets what, doesn't one?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to clieder]

I'd say my allergies - sort of hay fever and wheat starch - coincided with the onset of PMR symptoms. As did atrial fibrillation - greatly suspected as closely allied with the autoimmune damage.

[clieder in reply to PMRpro]

When did the atrial fibrillation start in relation to the onset of PMR symptoms? Coincided, right? Did you recognize the symptoms? Some folks have it and do not know it. But, more importantly, how are you doing?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to clieder]

Difficult to say but within a relatively short time I think. I didn't realise until after the a/f was triggered by an iv drug so found and treated some years down the road that these palpitations the GP had put down to "your age" (the same as the PMR stiffness and pain) had gone too. The cardiologist had already said the PMR was most likely the cause.

This last thing has been different - in retrospect periods of bradycardia after periods of tachycardia, both kept in limits by the increase in pred dose that managed the vasculitis and which a different cardio felt was acceptable since she couldn't offer anything better. I recognised a problem over a year ago but it was minimal and manageable. Since last autumn the PMR had flared and the other bits got worse too, more pred required. Until suddenly it was enough to make me faint - I hit my head and had a transient global amnesia again and ended up in hospital where they gave me iv diazepam, the drug that had triggered the big episode 6 years ago. It did again of course and now the pauses were up to 7 seconds! Only one answer to that! Being on an ECG 24/7 for a few days after it had been made much worse provided the answer. As the cardio surgeon said - 7 second asystoles are not good for the brain!

It is a bit sore under certain circumstances - but knowing those pauses won't happen is rather comforting!!

[clieder in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for the info - I knew you were dealing with cardio issues, but never put it all together in one place. I just counted 7 seconds and, wow, that is a long time. Enough to make one wonder if it will get going again. Scary stuff. The reason I asked is precisely what the GP said, for "your age", especially with your history of untreated PMR. I hear that more than you younger ones, perhaps, so I'd like to keep them honest. So glad they got things settled down and you are back to your normal. That was a rough stretch.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to clieder]

It is when you put it all together in one place that you want to grab a GP, a cardio and a rheumy and say sit down and listen up! Or at least - I do!!

[OutdoorsyGal]

My Dad, cousins and two sisters have/had psoriasis, my Mom had PMR, one sister had uveitis and the other has ulcerative colitis and sarcoidosis. Lots of AI going on.

So far, PMR at age 64 has been my only autoimmune disorder. Knock wood!

[Karenjaninaz]

My nephew has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and mixed connective tissue disease triggered after infectious mononucleosis. My mother’s cousin, in Estonia, developed PMR ~ age 79.