What are the major symptoms that most of them have in common??
Autoimmune diseases affect different systems of the body including but not limited to:
- Joints
- Muscles
- Skin
- Red Blood Cells
- Blood Vessels
- Connective Tissue
- Endocrine Glands
Often times, symptoms vary but the most common symptoms that overlap are:
- Fatigue
- Fever
- General Malaise
Pretty much it's like you are going through an extreme flu at first and then it continues to get worse. More symptoms pile on and since it's hard to diagnose them since they often overlap with each other or with other illnesses, it can take a person years to get diagnosed. Many don't get diagnosed till it becomes extreme (like myself) because doctors often write off the person's symptoms as it being "all in their head". For many they are invisible illnesses, some it begins as that and it ends up leaving them in a wheelchair or similar (like myself).
How does this affect a person's life?
Autoimmune diseases can affect a person's life in many different ways. Depending on the severity and type, it definitely changes their lives.
Autoimmune diseases are the number one cause of leaving the workforce early, Since you can't know what your day is going to be like, you can't promise to be somewhere. One day you can be completely fine, feel very little to no pain and can get what you need done. Other days, you can be going through a flare. A flare is when all your symptoms happen all at once. It can be crippling. There's people who go into remission (little to no flares) and then get a flare randomly. Some have flares every once in a while. While there are others, who are in a permanent or constant flare- many the flare is never ending. This makes it difficult to do much of anything.
Due to being unable to keep plans, people lose their friends and even family. They are unable to keep promises that they have made and because people are unable to understand this, they lose people in their life. Their friends and family sometimes don't understand that they aren't faking and that this isn't just a simple cold or flu, that this doesn't just go away. Sometimes, those who we lose are best gone, other times it can leave us completely alone.
We get sick. Often. Many of us are immunocompromised. This means we don't have a full immune system, we can't fight off things correctly. Since this happens, we often take forever to fight off just a simple cold. We have to worry about that cold turning into something much more serious. "Your simple cold could be the death of me" is a phrase I use. It's true. One time, I got a cold. It went from a cold, to an ear infection to an upper respiratory infection. It took me two months to fully fight it off. So, we gotta wear medical masks. It's not fun at all and extremely claustrophobic, wearing these masks. We are always on the look out so that we stay away from people who are sick and that's not entirely fun either.
Some of us have to start using mobility aids. Walkers, canes and wheelchairs are sometimes our best friends. I myself have to use a wheelchair. This makes it even harder on our social lives. People don't necessarily want to hang with a people who need a little extra assistance at times.
And then there's the pain. Not all of the people have pain, but many of us do and it's excruciating. That's all I am going to say about that end.
Autoimmune diseases are horrible and devastating. Many (like LUPUS, RA and MS) are deadly, some are terminal, but all are uncomfortable. It affects our lives in different ways, doesn't matter how they do but they do. I am writing this in hopes that more will become aware of our battle and begin to sympathize with us.
