Lupus and the environment

Hello,

My first post here.

My husband and I have both been diagnosed with connective tissue diseases within the last year. We are both being treated for lupus and both taking plaqunial. We both get flair ups, fatigue, and are in a lot of pain.

I am 29 and my husband is 30. I think what has happened is very strange, and we both started to get sick after we moved into our home 2.5 years ago.

We are seeing the same doctor who said it was unusual for this to happen, but he said studies have found that lupus has never been linked to the environment.

Does anyone know if this is true? I find it hard to believe that we both randomly have lupus and were both diagnosed within less than a year of eachother.

This really sucks.

There is some evidence that lupus and other AI diseases can be triggered by chemicals.  I don't believe that there is any conclusive evidence and proving a trigger in any individual case is difficult if not impossible.

If you do a google search of lupus chemical triggers you will find a number of articles on possible triggers.  That is not the whole story even if you can find a link.  Your immune systems are vulnerable to the trigger and that is probably a combination of genes. 

It is known that things like cancer, viruses, some meds, and possibly stress can trigger AI diseases.  Possibly there is some unknown chemical agent in your house that caused your problems...or possibly it is just an incredible coincidence.  The reality is that most of us will never know why we got sick.  I was seemingly healthy for 62 years and got mctd out of the blue....or so it seemed.  In retrospect there were signs of it at least 17 years earlier.  These diseases are maddening.

Hope you can get some answers but if you do you will be the exception.

Bill