My daughter

(((Oh Hippi))) I'd be worried too. My daughter (23) has always been sickly with many frequent fevers. She had sinus surgery when she was 9 and tonsils out at 17. She's never had an ANA and I'm not looking forward to finding out. I sure hope she's ok. Love, Donna 

Very sorry, Hippi.  Just having it yourself is plenty to cope with.  The only positive thing I can think of is that at least your daughter has a mom who understands the disease, which will help her in so many ways.  I know it isn't much comfort.  I also hope your son is doing well.   

One day at a time....

Lucy

Thank you so much for all of your kind words and support. I am just praying that things never progress with my daughter. When I see her get so tired and pale and just wish she had the energy of other 7 year olds who seem to be able to go non stop. She does have a doctor's note now to be able to take little rests at school and to be able to stay in from recess if she needs a rest. I haven't talked to her dance teacher yet, but she is a wonderful person who knows my daughter really well and already knows that she struggles with fatigue. I was talking to my mom yesterday about it and my kids get a double whammy with genetics. My dad's sister had lupus and died last year from complications and then a huge amount of people on my mom's side have RA and at least two of her relatives have lupus. Butterflake, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I pray that she is not developing one of these awful autoimmune diseases.

(((( Hippi ))))) I sure hope your daughter doesn't develop an AI disease. I know you will worry though, I do the same with my daughter, she is 13 and sometimes complains of fatigue or this or that and I worry. Also since my husband had thyroid cancer we've already had her checked out. Like your daughter, she gets it from both sides of the family, all the way around.

(((( Donna ))))) I sure hope your daughter is ok too. Us mother's always worry about our children no matter how old they are.

My prayers are with you both

Hi Hippi:

I'm so so sorry you hear that you'll have this worry on your shoulders. I can't offer up any new suggestions, I know you must be scared and frustrated over this. Sounds like AI diseases are common in your family and I know I'd be worrying like crazy if I were you.

I would like to mention to you tho, that Nikita has a positive ANA at 1:640 and she's seen a rheumy several times over it. They always say to me as long as she's not showing more than 1 out of 11 criteria other than the positive ANA not to worry. Well of course, that doesn't make me feel to good about it. I've notice that Nikita is having a lot of fatigue and she complains about her joints hurting. I've taken her in to have some labs done and they all were negative. I'm thinking it may be possible that she's got Fibro. It's possible that your daughter may have fibro instead of an AI disease.

I'll be praying that she has nothing more than positive ANA and that her fatigue is caused by her being really active and maybe not getting enough sleep. I hope that your worries for your kids doesn't make the flare you're in any worse. I know people say not to worry, but we're moms and we do worry over our kids. I'll be praying for you all.

Love,
Barb

Hi hippi--
Have you thought of having her blood tested for vitamin levels and hormones? I was hypothyroid as a kid and it was miserable, I was tired alot. Does she have any pigment problems like vitiiigo or hyperpigment?

I went to an MD--a real MD not a naturopath-- that does natural hormones and vitamins and he tests your levels of your vitamins and hormones properly and then prescribes the proper dose--not an overdose--of the needed vitamins. While it may not be a solution, it might help alot. The one I went to was an ob/gyn as well, but I could see them for this problem. It might be a simple nutritional thing. Is she anemic by any chance?

Many docs might jump to this or that drastic conclusion, but it would be nice if she could get thoroughly tested with regard to vitamins, hormones, and a few other thing so you could know exactly what is happwning. I feel much better with the changes I made per my doctor regarding hormones and vitamins.

Also, remember about sleep studies, snoring, inadequate sleep too. Ihad very dry eyes from sjogrens and lots of growing painsand didn't sleep well so that made the hypothyroid worse.

I've been sick lately and either the infection (which is slow, long drawn out) or my medicine has causedmy lymphocytes to go up and it has made me really tired for over a month now.

Low blood sugar can cause fatigue espeically if she is excerising alot and not eating adequately to keep weight down. In that case, orange juice woud help me. Also my son gets like that from electrolyte imbalance from his epilepsy medicine. in that case gatorade would help him.

I'm really hoping this is something simple this time and easily treated. I hope Josh is doing well and will pray for you and your family.

Im so sorry your children are going through this hippi....my prayers are with all of you. My daughter was diagnosed with Lupus, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia and Idiopathic Anaphylaxis when she was 13 eventhough she had been experiencing pain and fatigue for a few years. She is now 15 and had to stop going to school at 13 because it was too difficult to even get the energy for her to walk, she gets lots of fevers and is now getting small seizures. It got so difficult that this year I decided to homeschool her....but this child went from being very active in sport and a straight A student to being too sick to even speak..she was in the hospital many times before she was finally diagnosed. Unfortunately she inherited the diseases from ME! I also have Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Fibromyalgia so do all my sisters, my mother and all my female cousins. It has been very hard to try to understand why all this is happening to us and especially to a young child that has lost her teen years to chronic diseases. I feel your pain and totally understand thw way you feel. Hang in there and support your son and daughter...they need to know you are there for them and understand what they are going though since many get sick of being around chronically sick people. My daughter lost all her friends as did I so it is good to know that there is a place where others understand exactly what we are going through. I am so glad I found this place....my prayers are with all of you and please keep me updated on your kids hippi.......(((((((((((hugs))))))))))

Hi Hippie!
I am so sorry to hear about your children, you and yours will be in my prayers. I am 35 and was diagnosed with SLE in 2001, after several years of misdiagnosis. My little girl, a very active age 8, was recently diagnosed with JRA (juvenille rheumatoid arthritis), which requires surgery, since it is affecting her growth plates and causing deformity. She cries herself to sleep often even with children's motrin from the pain in her hips, legs, wrist and arms. We are awaiting an appointment with a pediatric rheumatologist in July to have her screened for lupus as well. There is a strong family history of discoid & systemic lupus as well as fibromyalgia, reynauds, and hyperhydrosis. My child's doctor, the orthopedic, mentioned the possiblity of allergies causing inflammation in the joints and suggested looking into that and perhaps trying msm & glucosamine in a child's dose for at most health food stores. Just wondering if you have tried that and if so, with any success? I

Hippy I hope your daughter is doing okay. My brain isn't workings so well. I hope that it is not the dreaded thing but perhaps something they can nip in the bud. My son keeps having problems but he finally got an ANA and it was normal. I was very happy about that. Epilepsy and heart problems is enough. I hope she is feeling better and doing well with her dance.