My husband and I both have MS, I have RA, asthma and thyroid problems. I think I
am one over my allowed three illnesses.

Jim and I both had MS when we met, so we both knew. The RA was an added bonus
after we were married.

Won't smack you, but you are not the only one. Tell you what, I'll share my
chocolate with you, but don't tell the others.

---
Joan

Niether Mike or I have a auto immune disease...But we are both disabled...I
have OA in every joint in my body, Fibromyalgia,psuedogout, Depression and
Anxiety...
He has had 17 hernia repairs,Asthma, Emphysema, and He is only 50 and I am
only 47....And at least one of my children has Fibromyalgia and OA...And one
has a mental illness/Bipolar....
So no it isn't fair...And if I could eat Chocolate, I would share mine with
you...But I will help you confiscate all of it we can find ;)
Hugs Cindy

    Yep, I have JRA (in remission) and my fiancee has fibro.  We met after
his first marriage dissolved, partly due to the fact that he had a struggle
coming to terms with his pain and his wife had no compassion.  I have tons of
compassion, having grown up with pain and limitations, but I'm a fighter too.  
He says that sometimes I make him feel better, which surprises me because it's
not something I do on purpose.  I have good coping skills, I guess.
    I'm not sure how I'd cope with MS, though.  I don't know much about it,
but it sounds like a really harsh disease.  I think you should get ye both to
an MS support group asap.
    And good for you, you sound like you'll support him.  I was telling my
fiancee the other day that dealing with a chronic disease takes some mysterious
blend of acceptance and fighting.  One never knows where to draw the line
between the two, and even now, although I do it I'm not sure if I could explain
HOW I do it.

Sharon

My DH has no autoimmune stuff, thank goodness.  However it appears that both
my parents did.  We know my dad had RA and Type 1 diabetes runs in his
family, as well as some other, non-autoimmune but genetic stuff.  My mom's
been hypothyroid since before I was born.  No one's ever told her for certain
that it's autoimmune but I suspect it is.  In recent years she's had big bout
with polymyalgia, but they don't yet know if it's autoimmune.  And she has a
very mild touch of psoriasis.  And she inherited her dad's allergies.

My brother is a Type 1 diabetic - 35+ years since diagnosis.  I have
psoriasis, PA/RA and fibro.  Our sister has recently become hypothyroid.  All
of us have allergies and have been quite grateful for all the advances in
treating them! Our parents seem to have passed on some autoimmune tendencies.

Even more importantly, ou parents gave us plenty of love and a stable, happy
home.  They provided for us monetarily as they were able, while also teaching
us that "stuff" is not what matters most.  They taught us a lot about living
with chronic illness and having as rich a life as you can possibly manage
with whatever comes your way.  Given the choice, I'd rather have the whole
package they passed on to us, the not have the diseases.

So, you all are not the only ones, though is might seem at times that this is
taking togetherness a bit too far  <bg>  And I'm sure anger and frustration
is absolutely a normal reaction, especially at first.  And it doesn't help
any at all that you really don't know yet, you're hanging there, waiting to
find out what's up.  And it's possible that you have passed something on to
your son in the way of illness.  And you can pass much postive stuff on to
your son that far outweighs any genetic illnesses.  And remember that science
is making great strides every day......  the future is getting brighter for
autoimmune illnesses.  Even now, we have several folks here who would not
have made it to this stage of their lives 50, or even 25, years ago.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.  When I met my husband neither
one of us had problems, although it's arguable that his MS flared via Bell's
Palsy a year before I met him.  I developed RA 4 years later after I had our
son.  It just feels like I am contagious or something!

BTW all...you can have the chocolate but I get dibs on candy hearts and
gummy colas :)

Shandi

"Mercedes" <mnpmail@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:_e9Xd.81680$c.1854@trnddc07...

If you are together long enough its likely you will both have to adjust to
problems the other develops, autoimmune or not.  That's the in sickness and
in health thing.

Charlie always felt just a little smug and superior with his incredible good
health.  But after he fell and broke his heel last year, he pretty much
trashed the opposite knee trying to get around without crutches.  Now he
understands way more than he ever wanted to.  And he is likely to beat me to
getting knee surgery.  My knees kind of quieted down once they ate out all
the soft tissue.

Jo

My dh has osto arthritis in both knees. He is starting to have pain and
swelling in both of his knuckles. I told him that when the pain and swelling
occurs in both hands that he should go have this checked by the doctor for
RA.

I have RA with a positive HLA-B27. I have chronic
Iritis. When my husband had a third bout of Iritis, he
eye doctor order a blood test but didn't mention to him
what it was for. When he returned, he was told he had a
positive HLA-B27 gene. To that he tells the doctor, so
does my wife. To which the doctor says, do you have
children. A yes answer makes him say, get them test
right away.
Turns out my daughter has RA but has no symptoms except
her crunchy spine which she has had since she was 8. I
even have it on tape because I didn't think any doctor
was listening to that crazy mother. lol
So yes we both have auto immune issues and have passed
it along. Good news is that my daughter has already
been diagnosed and that took me 15 years. She has been
told to stay active and dance, ballet, yoga, pilates,
etc so that when she becomes less flexible she will
recognize it right away. So far, so good. She is 5
years older than when my symptoms started to get ugly.
And she has no pain. So figure if we are lucky, they
will be close to a cure by the time she does have pain.
We sure have a good new array of medication.
Hang in there.
Duckie