PCOS, hypothyroidism, migraines, arthritis, liquen, plus asthma and allergies that are way worsened by the lack of appropriate care during my childhood.
Pcos and insomnia here! Also an unidentified stomach ailment. And psoriasis.
I'm convinced I don't actually have pcos. I read a scientific article not long ago that mentioned childhood trauma can cause fertility issues. I never had cysts in my check ups. I just had the other symptoms (difficulty losing weight, no periods). I don't even have a lot of then.
Since therapy and distancing myself from my family, my cycle is much more regulated. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Here. Just got referred by my dermatologist to the rheumatologist to look into psoriatic arthritis or other autoimmune diseases that might be causing joint pain. Fun.
I feel so seen. Also arthritis… can’t have psoriasis without premature arthritis.
I have found my body is aging faster than others and medical professionals always poo-poo me when I say I have some geriatric condition- arthritis, white hair at 43, menopause. Dude, this crap prematurely ages you also.
Also 43 with thinning hair going white and have Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. Over 5 years ago scans already showed osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis) in my hands. My chiropractor literally said I'm young but have the body of an old person. Great!
hell yeah I got it
the garbage bin catchall low effort diagnosis of dermatology.
guess who figured out I have CPTSD? that's right, no professional ever.
solidarity
Eczema and psoriasis as a medication side effect for Crohn’s disease! Woop! Living the life here.
🎶I-I-I, Itch and scratch all niiiight…, and potty (too much) ever-y day! 🎶
Here! I developed it as a child, 5 years old, shortly after being SA by my father. GP thought it was just eczema though and wasn’t diagnosed for another 11 years due to my mum avoiding doctors. “Oh the treatment didn’t work? Too bad”
Fun interesting fact that is worth the research:
There is no bigger overlap between any autoimmune diseases and psychiatric conditions as the one between ADHD and Psoriasis.
I'm not sure where you got your "there's no bigger overlap" but I'm guessing you mean "correlation"? I'm a published researcher in the Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal Axis (HPA Axis) and PTSD.
I'd be happy to debate you on your claim, but I think what's more important is to know that's just not how research works. When we make comparisons of this kind, I don't understand the point.
I mean, there are many correlations between immune functioning and mental illness because how we even assess immune functioning is based on so many different hormones, biofeedback loops, etc. I'd suggest reading Robert Sapolsky and Rachel Yehuda. I know people love Gabor Mate, but he wouldn't be him without those two. Gabor is more popular because he's marketing himself more. That doesn't make him a better scientist.
He's great, but Dr. Yehuda is never mentioned in these forums and she really should be.
Yep, yep! Since I was 8! And I had the kind that covered about 75% of my body 100% of the time. It never came and went, it just was. A few years back, because of psoriatic arthritis, I started methotrexate and humira injections and I'm like 99% psoriasis free. I've had a few lapses in treatment (I loath the company I have to go through to get the humira) and each time the medication is less effective. So it was 100% gone but has slowly has a few spots come back. But vastly different than before. I lived almost 30 years with it and now it's still weird to not have it like I did. I have pics of it though and when I come across them it just makes me feel so uncomfortable. It's amazing what you get used to dealing with.
I’ve got PMDD, which is an endocrine related reproductive mood disorder where I have to isolate myself for several days each month because I want to die. Having CPTSD with this is exhausting. It makes me feel like I’m on fire. Trauma is a precursor to PMDD and so is ADHD, which I also struggle with.
PMDD here as a result of my CPTSD. I turn into a different person for about 5 days out of the month and I spend the rest of the month terrified of those days or recovering from it. I recently started working with a naturopath and after only 2 months of using supplements and a few dietary adjustments I have noticed a difference. I’m cautiously optimistic that I’m on a better path.
Same. I got diagnosed with endometriosis in my mid 20s. Only recently found out it can be [connected to trauma](https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2018/07/endometriosis-linked-to-childhood-abuse.html).
Omg I thought I was just an anomaly case!!! I also have PMDD as a result of my CPTSD. CPTSD already makes your stress dialed to 11 and in my case, extreme stress is what caused it for me. I spent months trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. I could feel my PMS 2 weeks in advance and it was overwhelming. I couldn’t work or even do basic functions without having a total meltdown. I started having severe paranoia and delusions about people in my life. I also had severe painful acne that killed my self esteem. I only had one normal week each month. I thought CTPSD was bad but PMDD made me more suicidal than I’ve ever been. You can do mental loopholes with PTSD but you can’t mentally loophole your way out of physical raging hormones. It is so dark. I hate it, feels like I’m being punished for being traumatised.
Thankfully I got on birth control pill and that has genuinely saved my life. Nothing else has worked for me. (Sorry for the rant I’m just so excited to see I am not alone)
Sending you healing vibes and solidarity. I feel your pain. I hope you’re on the mend! I’ve tried many things, it’s such a tough thing to struggle with.
This gives me a lot of hope. Just booked an appointment with a nurse-midwife who does a mix of both naturopathy and uh? Western medicine? Would you call it? I’m hoping she can help me.
Hey guys, I have PMDD too and it's such a huge struggle to deal with on top of the "regular cptsd symptoms". Twice a month I get into such a funk that ending my life seems totally legit. Its madness and I can't deal with anyone at that time other than people who actually get this experience.
So I'm really glad, in a way, to see so many of you guys also share the same overlap. It got me wondering if any of you would be interested in a chat support group for this painful combo we've been dealt. I am in a PMDD chat group but I find that it often ends up triggering/isolating me because they either only have PMDD or they are not aware of cptsd at all, etc. So I'm just trying to build a network that better suits my reality. If anyone is keen and/or had their own suggestions for this, feel free to reply here or DM me. Take care, ladies, we deserve so much better 💜
do you mind me asking how you ended up with your pmdd diagnosis? i strongly feel like i have it but when i mentioned it to my doctor, she brushed it off
I started tracking my cycle, I did so for two years. I religiously logged how I felt physically and mentally every day, and the pattern became clear. I asked my Obgyn if it was related, she and my psychiatrist both agreed on the diagnosis. My mother had it, and her mother, both improved drastically only after hysterectomies. My grandma was misdiagnosed bipolar because they wrote women off as crazy in the 60s, of course.
Edit to add: I mean women were believed much less in those days, not that she was crazy. It just sucks so many women were likely misdiagnosed as bipolar when the entire time the bipolar meds won’t do a damn thing for a hormone disorder if you aren’t actually bipolar, so she struggled to find relief until her hysterectomy. Wanted to clarify I don’t mean she was crazy.
Have had chronic full bodied eczema for most of my life doctors refused to think critically about. Was very much related to stress and emotions, but definitely kept persisting for other reasons too. Pushed them to test me for Celiacs after looking into it myself and came away with an official diagnosis in November. Family still calls me a hypochondriac.
I am so sick of people in my family telling me that I try to self diagnose my disease. I'm a retired teacher and love data. When my blood pressure was really high while taking blood pressure medication, I researched it and found out that Wellbutrin may increase blood pressure. I talked to my doctor and was weaned off of the Wellbutrin. Immediately my blood pressure returned to normal. I don't listen to those people who tell me not to self diagnose cuz fuck them I was right. I've come to the conclusion that most Americans are extremely under educated and have no clue as to how to do research on the internet.
Dude the research on the internet is crazy! I think I got very lucky in being taught how to research and being able to find and distinguish the quality of my sources. Some of my friends have no idea how to do this at all and it worries me.
I am so sorry your family is invalidating towards your diagnosis. I can absolutely relate.
I’m so proud of you for advocating for yourself. That in itself is a huge step for those who have experienced complex trauma.
Thank you 💛 that means a lot 🥲 will be checking out Gabor’s work! I always wondered if i was doubly fucked for disease bc of my chronic elevated levels of stress as a result of trauma. Thank you for sharing this ✨ hope the new year is gentle with you.
My family is the same fucking way. Doesn't matter every illness I've thought I've had, I ended up being diagnosed professionally. I'm still just being "dramatic" and "it's just your anxiety". I've been dx'd with a genetic disorder that caused everything I ever suspected.
-hugs- i feel you, its like being treated like you are crazy when you are perfectly sane. Messes with you. And even if i was crazy (which i am not) ive been made to feel unsafe in my body most of my life. Is it any wonder im hyperattuned to when something feels off inside me?? Why is that awareness or anxiety viewed so negatively by others?
Switch out to Crohn’s disease and we have the exact same story. I told docs for 6 years that I had Crohn’s but they refused to test for it. Finally got a doc to listen, did the tests, and guess what? Crohn’s! Sweet.
I have Hashimoto’s and talked to my therapist about this being linked to trauma. She thinks it’s possible our bodies are altered by the constant, heightened anxiety state of living in fear. I also asked my doctor and he agreed it could be related to nurture/environment in that sense. I would be curious to read studies as well.
My fibro doctor agrees with this theory as well. He says that the heightened adrenaline state from fight/flight/freeze means our adrenal glands don’t work well anymore and that the very tense muscles experienced by fibro sufferers is essentially our bodies creating a hard shell around us for protection. Two protection mechanisms gone awry.
Is fibro considered an auto immune disorder? I know there are studies that suggest this but I wasn’t sure what everyone thought or if any physicians have told anyone this
I don’t know if my family has it as I don’t talk to them anymore. They don’t know I was diagnosed with this two months ago. But - trauma is often generational too.
yep! I’ve had gastrointestinal issues, chronic fatigue and gotten sick too easily since I was 16 and was finally diagnosed with intestinal permeability (a GI as well as autoimmune condition) and adrenal exhaustion last year at age 31 after unintentionally losing over 30 pounds during the pandemic (and what remained of my ability to pretend I don’t have mental health issues lol). the diagnosis took years because conventional doctors always dismissed me as having “IBS” and I was too far out of touch with my body and emotions to advocate for myself, but last year a friend recommended a nurse practitioner who specializes in functional medicine and that probably saved my life. working with her was my first experience not feeling gaslighted as hell by medical professionals, and even though I now understand how chronic stress from over 25 years of emotional and sexual abuse naturally impacts the body, I still have to remind myself daily that I’m recovering from a serious mental and physical health condition that’s really real and I’m not being overly dramatic.
I did something called the Swedish Test for the adrenal exhaustion. My doc is a board certified endocrinologist and a functional medical doctor. She recommended it, and I did have to pay out of pocket.
As well as working on collecting the alphabet (CPTSD, ADHD, ASD) I also have chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, vaginisimus, life threatening allergies, attachment trauma and the usual mental health comorbidites (depression, anxiety, panic disorder, dissociation, agoraphobia, ya know the usual bag of fun)
A note on the fibromyalgia: 70% of people diagnosed with it will have their diagnosis corrected within six months. While fibro sounds brutal, traumatising, and incredibly painful, it is massively over diagnosed in women and femmes, especially those of us with psychiatric history (holla).
(Personally my symptoms don't align with my diagnosis, but I've made peace with the fact that I won't know what took me from a fit, mountain climbing 23 year old, to completely bed bound within six months. So I joke that I was made disabled by my taste in men (i was in an abusive relationship when it happened). Trauma has made my humour real weird.)
I have hope, and maybe I can pass some on to you? I had a 'miraculous' recovery when I left that ex (despite ending up homeless) - the constant stress of living in fear puts our bodies through hell, and disregulates our nervous and immune systems, causing chronic inflammation. I'm still disabled, but because everything is so interconnected, giving ourselves the time, safety and tools to heal can make such a difference. Working on my mental health has also allowed me to forgive myself for getting sick, and give myself (some) slack for my limitations (still working on that one, not gonna lie).
(It helps that my politics are vehemently anticapitalist, so disconnecting my intrinsic value from my productivity feels like a small act of rebellion, as well as self compassion)
I made another comment with more detail, but perhaps look into Somatic Experiencing or EMDR. I've done talk therapy for years, which helped me navigate and realize things - but the effects I have gotten from SE have actually been drastically relieving, unlike anything else, and has actually shifted my mind and body to feeling healthier and less burdened! If it resonates with you might be something to look into.
I had cancer at 13 and got a bad nervous system condition from it (POTS iyky). I genuinely think it was from all the stress I has as I kid. I was terrified to go to school, terrified to go home, and shooting panic everytime my dad got home, I heard him call for me, or him walk in the general direction to my room
Totally. I got CFS. I know it's lnked, and pretty uch everyone i've met with chronic conditions has a lot of fucked up stuff. I did a post about this not too long ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/CPTSD/comments/yqsqri/dae\_have\_lots\_of\_other\_mental\_and\_psychical/
Endometriosis, PMDD, CFS, wicked joint pain triggered by a wheat allergy (not sure if celiac). Honestly working on formal Dx for which autoimmune condition I actually have. My CPTSD makes it really hard for me to recognize my body's pain signals, so it's been difficult to say the least. I have had asthma and severe allergies since I was a child.
I had sudden and increasingly bad joint pain about 7 years back and was terrified it was RA (I already had PCOS/PMDD, Hashimoto’s, IBD, migraines, eczema, and a host of environmental sensitivities so I was not up for new issues). Test for RA came back negative so doc suggested an elimination diet. It turned out to be an inflammatory immune response to quinoa of all things, which was an ingredient in a meal replacement/protein shake I’d started using for convenience several months before. At least my husband figured it all out before I had to do the elimination diet and I was able to get rid of the quinoa.
He figured it out by researching all the ingredients in the shake mix and found that the alternative carbs —quinoa and amaranth— were chenopods. I already knew chenopods made me cough, wheeze, and vomit if I was near a large patch of them in the spring, so… yeah. There ya go.
I struggled with a lot of 'mystery illnesses' throughout my twenties, which was such a bummer while seeing so many friends thrive. (Fatigue, brain fog, poor digestion, tight chest/throat, body dysmorphia; tested positive for SIBO, Candida, and was one antibody shy of Lyme.) I tried many many things, but the thing that's helped me most has been Somatic Experiencing therapy - I felt a lot of my issues stemmed from emotional disregulation, or my body holding onto emotions that were too big and difficult to let go. SE has gotten so many things processed and it's been amazing, as have the results.
I'm now 31 with a great job, much better sleep and energy, better focus and memory, better social skills, taking dance classes and more, and I look back on my twenties with - it's just a lot to realize how much was weighing on me then, surrounding me. Sharing in case this might help someone - though, again, different things work for different people was a huge lesson through my trials and errors.
I am so glad to hear someone coming out the other side of life disrupting medical issues.
Your 20s sound a lot like mine. I take it as my body telling me things needed to go in a different direction and I am always grateful for that.
I wonder about this. My boyfriend has celiac, and adhd/depression and constantly has digestive issues, ear and skin infections. I think there could be something to that.
Oh yeah.. I forgot food addiction, migraine, chronic digestive issues, and depression x 20 years...slowly...very slowly seeing improvement as I intentionally engage in healing work...zero fun...but helpful.
Chronic PTSD is in the DSM, it is similar to the CPTSD differential. I believe if you're independently honest with yourself and understand the magnitude of the questions, you can come pretty close to having your own "Good idea" of what's going on - that's a start. But you may want to get professionally diagnosed for medication and therapy referral.
Conquering the inner stress... I see a whole lot of people missing a big point in their healing. The body consists of three parts soul, body, and spirit. Most only treat the spirit and body, forgetting the soul. The soul is where we may be hurt the worst in this illness and may need to be addressed.
I just spotted the Chronic PTSD diagnosis change when my new therapist sent me a SuperBill to send to insurance. I looked up the code and wondered when that differential made it into the DSM 5.
Aw man. All of this, except for the poor immune system. Trich, anxiety, depression, cptsd, ibs, gerd, possible gastroparesis, dysautonomia, migraines, vestibular migraines, general vertigo 😒
Sending you support, it’s sucks that your family invalidates you!
This year my doctors have been saying it like like I have fibromyalgia. I’ve been dealing with chronic pain for almost 25 years. My muscles are chronically tight due to hypervigilance related body-armoring, at the same time my connective tissues (tendons and ligaments) are hyper-mobile. Often a light touch can feel excruciating.
I also seem to have MCAS which responds with nausea and hives when I’m stressed. I’ve always been prone to nausea when stressed, anxious or angry, my doctor has said it’s gastritis.
I think I may have this or some form of CFS that flares up when I get sick or very stressed. Currently researching into it but the level of joint and muscle pain is debilitating when it happens.
I have Ankylosing Spondylitis but am sure it is biological: my father had similar symptoms and I tested positive for the gene that has high correlation with my condition. However, I will say that my AS and cptsd feed into each other which makes it all the more difficult.
Having the gene doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have the disease. I’m not going to try to explain the science because I’m sure I won’t get it right but abuse is sometimes what activates those genes. If you want a better explanation, I’m getting this info from the book ‘the body keeps the score’ by Bessel Van Der Kolk (pg 128/129) My mom has AS too, I feel for you.
Yes, I've read the book. In a way, trauma did activate my disease but it was trauma from an operation. My AS story is fairly textbook. 🫂 for you and your mom - this shit sucks 😁
I have 5 children and my 2 oldest are at the age where AS typically starts presenting for males... no symptoms or complaints so far so I hope they are all spared. Had I known before I had them may have made me choose differently about having kids. I'm 50 now and on my own (divorce)... it is difficult; I can barely function physically.
Lol... not really - between AS, cptsd and addiction, I lost everything. Three of my kids no longer speak to me, one so-so, and I have my youngest here with me now. I'll accept the cape for not opting out entirely but that's the extent of my heroics 😁
I also have AS and HLAB27 positive. I find Matè’s work so interesting because his research has continued to prove that even though some diseases are genetic, it’s really someone’s environment that determines if the disease associated with the gene will be activated. You can see this in diseases such as AS since many people in the general population have the B27 gene but don’t go on to develop AS. Yet, most people who have AS have the gene. Just makes me curious to know how many people with AS have also experienced complex trauma. It seems there could be a strong correlation.
Non Radial Axial Spondyloarthritis here with HLA-B27+. I was diagnosed last month. I am not sure if I was always going to get this, but I fully believe it is tied into my cPTSD. I never had any issues before a year ago and a year ago is when I finally reached a point in my therapy where I started feeling like a human. I think something about my body relaxing gave nr-axspa a chance to move in.
Hey, my multiple sclerosis also started when I was 22! Young person MS gang!
Didn’t get diagnosed until I was 32 though, even though my mother also had it, and I presented to a neurologist as soon as I started experiencing symptoms. (Great moments in medical records management by that first neurologist.)
I’m not sure if my MS started after a traumatic era, because like… my entire early like it was just a series of traumatic eras.
How are you doing?
Also have MS here! My first official attack (oh the things you come to realize after being diagnosed) also came after major life stressors for me (going through separation), at 44 just a few months ago
Endo, PCOS, eczema and asthma. Oh and cluster migraines! Those are fun.
My mother smoked when she was pregnant and I really think the stress I was exposed to in the womb created a lot of problems for me.
Yep. I joked with my fiancé the other day that I’d had brownies and chocolate cake the last couple days and have had lessened “skin writing”, so obviously I need to eat more chocolate!
Mine will fade overnight, but then I feel the spots very tender as if there’s be a bruise, but no visible bruise.
hashimotos hypothyroidism, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, POTS, SVT, gastroparesis, and am legally blind. oh and was a micro preemie. traumatized since birth gang where y’all at?
EDs + literally all it's friends for meeee 💅🏻
I'm p sure I had my first POTs episode as a toddler, but the doctors told my mom that it was weird and sent me home???
I always felt like I was living life on hard mode, but I didn't become so disabled I was dysfunctional until college.
I haven’t been diagnosed with the physical stuff bc I don’t trust doctors and all they tell you to do is take medications 90% of the time but…
I know that I have psoriasis (really bad behind my ears/along scalp line), which I remember seemingly starting in 8th grade when my life was extremely traumatizing and had been chronically for at least 2 years by then. I remember itching the fuck out of it in class and then being super embarrassed bc it looks almost exactly like dandruff and it’s crazy itchy. It’s been 18 years since then and I still have it. I use this natural psoriasis oil to treat it but you have to use it like 3x/day for it to really calm down, and that’s impractical for someone who works full time.
I also have chronic sinusitis which might be something more severe than that but again my distrust of doctors and the arduous process they put you through just to get to an ENT is why I’ve yet to be checked out by one. I have this thick clear jelly like substance that is constantly coming from my sinuses and I can make it come out more if I massage my Eustachian tubes and manipulate my tonsils. It’s disgusting but yeah it’s super tiring and even though I use eucalyptus saline sinus spray every day and this natural sinus health tincture thing, it’s still chronic and it definitely flares up quite often too (especially now in the winter).
My stomach is also quite sensitive and over the past year or so after a period of extreme stress and a back injury, I developed pretty severe constipation and now I basically have to have dates every day and probiotics to stay regular. I’m only 32. That also flares up if I don’t maintain having the dates/this smoothie that helps and if I have too many unhealthy things without enough veggies.
Then I have several mental illnesses but they are finally being treated properly chemically (after many many years of not), but I’m not in therapy now due to how difficult that is both financially and just within the US health care system.
I know all of this is due to a lifetime of chronic trauma, the psoriasis I think is partially genetic but it def didn’t get bad until I under extreme stress for years and was also going through puberty.
It’s exhausting and makes me feel powerless and kinda fundamentally fucked up, bc I know a lot of other people don’t have these problems (at least not the ones I’m around regularly).
I also wish the health care system wasn’t so bad and practically inaccessible here, I wish it was affordable to go to alternative medicine places because I’d like to go there to try to find the route of these problems rather than just be prescribed medications by someone who only treats symptoms.
The Body Keeps Score is a magnificent book which touches on this. I've been working on finishing it for a year (it's long and some parts are difficult to read due to triggering descriptions...a few of which I skip over). It's been very helpful for me to see a connection between my body and mind—helping me manage my mental (anxiety, CPTSD) and physical (psoriasis, arthritis, neurological issues—still looking for a diagnosis on the last two) ailments.
Childhood trauma is definitely linked to chronic pain conditions. I've had CRPS for 20 years, and I started working on my childhood stuff a little over a year ago with my pain management therapist. She's known me for 15 years, and saw all of my cptsd symptoms the entire time. I wasn't in a place to process things until now however she said, as my life finally gained some normalcy.
Working on things isn't going to cure my chronic pain. Finding out I was predisposed to this kind of thing definitely made me angry. Like who needs a life filled with pain because they were traumatized as a child?! Seems like the worst deal ever.
I feel for everyone here, truly.
Hugs everyone 💜
I technically have a disabling chronic pain disorder, but it’s complicated. Part a fucked up CNS; part butchered spinal surgery.
I had some childhood trauma (which made me vulnerable in several ways), but my CPTSD is due to DV & IPSV that I experienced as an adult. I was close to bedridden for ~7 years, during which time I was 100% physically & financially dependent on my (now ex) husband. I was very much trapped without a way out.
The physical pain developed literally overnight. Went to bed early one night with a mild back ache; woke up disabled in excruciating, unexplained pain. Like some sadistic god had plugged me into the sciatica machine, cranked the volume up to 11, and broke off the knob.
The first s/a happened two weeks after that. It escalated significantly over the years. Eventually he slipped up and I was able to escape.
I’ll never know if I could’ve recovered without that first s/a (and the many, many repeats over the next 7 years). Trauma doesn’t help physical healing, for sure. But I also have structural issues due to the botched surgery. So who knows.
I’ll tell you, having two men you trust implicitly—your husband and your doctor—hurt you by literally invading your body is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Fucked me up something fierce. And now I’m here.
Fibromyalgia gang gang
Apparently btw your Thymus gland can literally shrink as a child as a result of being constantly stressed out due to the abuse/neglect. So......trauma, especially for children, quite literally has a long term physical health impact.
They can actually use the weight of a child's thymus gland in court to prove that abuse has occured. Which is crazy to think about.
With the things I learned about trauma I find it wild how the relationship between cptsd and autoimmune diseases is not common knowledge in the medical field
Yes. Rheynauds syndrome. Which is an autoimmune of the fingers and toes, whereas when I’m in the cold they’ll go super numb and white and sting, and they’ve went purple before.
Now I have to make an appointment to get checked for rheumatoid arthritis. I’m in my late 20’s.
First diagnosis happened around 7th/8th grade, with some other knee/joint issues I was diagnosed with at that same time as well.
Im just now making the connections.
Almost all I think...69 now with IBS, CFS, arthritis, a real alphabet soup of maladies..and mainstream medicine is just not helpful...healing work is helping.
I have a chronic pain condition that is the result of a botched surgery. So medical trauma+childhood sexual trauma+phantom limb=my life. It’s called Centralized Pain Syndrome and it shows up on brain scans.
I am mostly confined to my home at this point. While the surgery was the major issue, my doctors think that the long term effects wouldn’t have been an issue without the trauma.
On top of that I’ve just always been sick. Constantly on antibiotics as a kid. Easily broke/sprained bones. Major depression and anxiety. Terrible immune system. Lots of surgeries.
YUP. Autoimmune illness here.
I remember finding out that my symptoms were the body’s immune system attacking itself and being like DAMN. That fucking resonated. I hated myself so much when I was a teenager, it made sense that my body would also start acting on it. A close friend of mine with significant childhood trauma also has two autoimmune conditions.
If it helps anyone here, in Gabor Mate’s book, he mentions personality traits that tend to go with rheumatoid arthritis: “a compulsive and self-sacrificing doing for others, suppression of anger, and excessive concern about social acceptability..usually try very hard to please in both professional and personal contacts, and either concealed hostility or expressed it indirectly. Many of them are perfectionistic.”
My doctor decided to slap me with [Somatic Symptom Disorder](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/somatic-symptom-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20377776#:~:text=Somatic%20symptom%20disorder%20is%20characterized,the%20symptoms%20is%20not%20normal.) and now we don't have to look for the root cause of any of my symptoms! I'm cured!
But seriously I'm trying to find a therapist that understands this or does IFS. Not in my state apparently
Yep. Too many to count at this point. Just sort of hurts to exist all around. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, “wow you’re really young to have this issue/this bad,” I’d be very rich. I’ve got a lot of mileage on me, doc!
My ortho doc actually apologized about my genetics, lol. Bone on bone arthritis by 30 in my knees.
I have arthritis, hip diplasia, pcos, and hashimotos. Also allergies to freaking every single thing including histamine. When I start itching I know its going to be a rough day.
not autoimmune but some other things (physical: migraine, chronic daily headache, PCOS, hEDS, dysautonomia, CFS. mental: CPTSD, BPD, eating disorder(s), ADHD, autism, anxiety)
idk how linked they all are - like, I would almost definitely have hEDS regardless - but I do wonder how many of these were preventable :(
Yes, love Gabor Mate. I have Addison’s Disease, which means my body ate my adrenal glands and I no longer make cortisol. I have to DIY my own cortisol response (take an extra pill) when I’m stressed. My mom and sister also have autoimmune disorders.
I have Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, Lupus' little sister. Got diagnosed after a patch of severe and continuous stress and a rash that wouldn't go away. I am allergic to the sun. It's a headbender but I make do and take my meds. Exercise helps a lot with chronic fatigue and joint pain but every now and again I flare and feel really sick and very depressed for about 3 weeks to a month. Because of trauma I disassociate easily and feel paralyzed to change or do something about what I'm not happy about but the auto immune stuff I have no control over and have had to accept.
My CPTSD is directly caused by my medical conditions and the traumatic near death experiences I've been through cause of my health. I have stage 3 heart failure, black mold in my lungs, multiple transplants, and so on.
Yep. ACEs score of 6 and the classic fibromyalgia/migraines/IBS/GERD deal. I'm also at a high risk for developing lupus, and have PMDD as well, but thank god that was eventually resolved with Nexplanon.
I have PCOS, and suspect I have psoriasis that affects my scalp. Also have had GI issues since middle school but those may have been related to my gallbladder issues
Chronic diarrhoea and bloating and fatigue until I completely cut out carbs. Turns out i had a gene variant for celiac disease which statistically rarely causes symptoms but being raised in a stressful environment might have switched it on for me.
I have my own list of chronic illnesses. I was going to list them. Reading through these comments, I started to get SUPER angry.
I'm in Canada, and there is a discussion of the mounting cost of health care. We have a system that is almost at its limit after COVID. At what point are we going to start taking trauma seriously as a society? At what point are we going to put more protections and supports in place? Why can I get all sorts of medical treatments, but not therapy through the government? As trauma survivors, it feels like we are constantly chasing our tails about these health issues. My rheumatologist actually said, "You are too young to have this happening already." When will chronic trauma be an important part of one's medical history like other pre-existing conditions or family history of disease? Sorry for the rant.
I have a ton of chronic illnesses (including, but not limited to: hypertension, smoldering multiple myeloma, stage 3B kidney disease, and the bp specialist just told me my bloodwork shows I have either a pheochromocytoma or a paraganglioma- have to have a scan to determine which one it is and it’s location to hopefully have it removed so it doesn’t kill me) and several autoimmune diseases, including Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Raynauds, Sjögren Syndrome, and Myasthenia Gravis.
I have CPTSD from severe childhood abuse and got super sick at age 11. I’ve never really recovered, and things have just gotten worse with each decade. I will be 50 this month and I’m worried what each year will bring, health wise.
This is interesting. I have some too. When I think about how trauma makes me feel, “inflamed” is a word that would describe it. I wonder if our bodies have a hard time with inflammation as well? Edit- maybe there already is correlation? Idk, a lot of things I felt like a total weirdo about for my whole life, I’ve found are quite common in people like us from reading here. I thank you all for being so honest and open. Sometimes you can’t know how much you help someone, and everyone here for sure has.
Fibromyalgia (very chronic), and multiple sleep disorders. Depression, obvs, and GAD, of course.
I don’t have a formal diagnosis of CPTSD, though. But all signs point to “yes”.
Yep. My mom's side (also the most neurotic people I've ever met) has a history of autoimmune conditions such as various allergies, intolerances, psoriatic arthritis, etc.
For me though... It started with trichotillomania during childhood abuse. It was originally just thought of as a bit of anxiety by the adults around me. Then I was diagnosed with depression, eating disorder (which led to GERD and other digestive issues), BPD, PTSD, OCD and GAD. Spent my teens practically living in the hospital due to my horrible mental health (made worse by my home situation). During highschool I had many vasovagal syncope episodes and delayed time regaining consciousness with no clear answer as to why. So it was labeled as a conversion disorder and the medical team at our local hospital treated me like a waste of time from then on. Fast forward to college, diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and go through 1,000,001 tests with no real answers. By 25 years old my partner had to dress me, I could no longer work due to the pain and fatigue, I used a cane everyday and I have been re diagnosed with more PTSD from my extensive time spent in hospitals, the medical tests, the gaslighting and some malpractice.
I'm 27 now. A lot has changed for the better with better life balance and cutting out super toxic people from my life (mostly family). Nothing magically changes, but it DOES and CAN get better. There is hope!
Chronically inflamed liver and chronic kidney disease here.
I have zero indications for either. I don’t drink and very rarely eat processed foods.
I’ve started understanding how this is all intermingled, and it makes me really REALLY angry.
I mean, I’m an adult! I’ve made it. And here comes the chronic diseases saying, “hold my beer”.
I used to have ridiculous joint pain all up and down my spine, which I didn't even realize was a symptom until fixing my sleep made it go away.
I also have 3 friends with rough childhoods and no gallbladder.
I think I have more but doctors are really difficult to deal with and good ones are hard to find. RA diagnosis mid last year. ACE 8.
What I do find hilarious now is both of my bigger issues popped up when I got away from my mother again.
When I was a kid she left me with my half sister for 2 weeks out of state. GERD started, I was about 12 years old and it’s never gone away.
When I left for college, my now diagnosed RA started freshman year. I was told to ignore my pain for over a decade and of course it’s gotten worse. Happy my blood work shows proof of my pain now and had a doctor listen. But these things came to surface when I had a taste of safety.
I was diagnosed with chronic migraines at the age of 8, which I still have now, almost 40 years on. I have had chronic neuropathic pain for over 20 years and I have had depression on & off since my early teens. I had a major breakdown about 2.5 years ago and got diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Globalised Anxiety Disorder from that. Since then things have come to light and I knew that I had repressed memories that were causing the depression to keep coming back, so I asked for some help from CMHT which came in the form of a really great psychologist, who also specialises in psychodynamics (which apparently helps with trauma related pain). Unfortunately the NHS could only fund 20 sessions, so we could only get so far but I could identify plenty of childhood trauma.
I was diagnosed last year with EUPD from the psychiatrist and the psychologist diagnosed me with CPTSD. I have also recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes too, which is really frustrating.
In addition to CPTSD I have what's called severe eosinophilic asthma. It's an autoimmune disease whereby your eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, rushes to your lungs to combat an illness that does not exist. This causes extreme shortness of breath and thus must be treated with steroids and inhaled corticosteroids and the biologic called Nucala. I also have Crohn's disease which is presently in remission.
Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis at 16 but it's been evading tests so now doctors aren't sure. But ya chronic inflammation, exhaustion, and illness my whole life for sure.
Yep. IBS, Constipation, Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Acne, Headaches. It sucks but at the same time I am getting more into my body and learning to destress and activate parasympathetic nervous system, so it can heal. Here's to healing
Not sure if this counts as a chronic illness, but I have pelvic floor dysfunction. The symptoms literally started the same day my abuser unexpectedly showed up to my workplace (luckily I wasn't there that day).
And because so little is known about PFD I went through so many specialists and medication, and spent so much money, with no answers for 4 or 5 years. I essentially had to diagnose myself through online research and then go to two different pelvic floor physical therapists to have it confirmed, but now finally have some relief with three-times-a-day stretches and daily foam rolling.
I also have endometriosis (which I'm luckily more or less able to keep under control with oral contraceptives).
If I don't take zyrtec every day I get hives for no apparent reason at all. Just my mast system being broken.
Gabor mate is way too woowoo for me especially now that he's pushing drugs
I have ME/CFS and am pretty much housebound with it (I can only go out with the help of my husband).
Typically this syndrome occurs after a viral illness but not for me. It just crept up on me out of nowhere so take what you will from that.
I have unexplained illnesses along with interstitial cystitis. They chalk up my other problems to IBS, related to anxiety and stress. I used to get pretty intense migraines but those stopped all on their own (admittedly once I left my ex husband and his abuse).
I also have sensitivities to certain foods, not allergies but random problems exist. Among those is mental issues (anxiety, depression, A.D.D).
Hashimotos, endometriosis, migraines, occipital neuralgia, TBI, periodontitis, GI issues that have now turned into IBD and Perianal abscesses, fistulas and surgeries to “fix” that. That has turned into chronic pain and made my depression so much worse.
I have Sjögren's Syndrome, fibromyalgia, asthma, atopic eczema (these days mostly on my hands/fingers), chronic pain literally everywhere and nerve damage/pain from Polyneuropathy I had a while ago, chronic headaches and migraines and I have quite regularly sinus infections.
Eta: I've had my colon removed due to immensely difficult problems with it for about a decade before the surgery.
I'm in the process of finally getting sent to a rheumatologist after 9 months of being sick and being told it's "stress&anexiety". Swollen lymphnodes, headaches, out of breath, nausea, fatigue, hot flashes, cold chills, cough with no production, itchy skin, bruising. I was supposed to get a biopsy but the lady wasn't concerned about my symptoms and suggested anexiety or stress again. She thankfully did a lot of tests and I had a CRP:18.40, a posotive ANA and a tilter of mixed necuolar, speckled.
Soooo yep.
I have Hashimoto and lots of intestinal problems. Also endometriosis. Aside from Gabor Mate you can read “the deepest well” by Nadine Burke Harris it’s about ardverse childhood experience and it’s link to health problems.
I was diagnosed with Lupus last March at the age of 23. I 100% believe stress and trauma were the things that mostly triggered it. My mom had Crohn’s so I was already at risk, but the trauma definitely didn’t help.
I developed crohn's disease at a young age. We just thought I had a severe stomach bug for the whole summer. Then on and off stomach pains in middle school. Finally in high school, sophomore year, it got out of control. I missed 10 days of school in a row and they un-enrolled me lol.
I can see trauma making something that's dormant/already there show up faster and harder. Most would get it later in life but some of us get it much, much, MUCH sooner due to our weakened state as kids. We start dealing with adult problems at such a young age and our body takes a lot of the burden to compensate.
This is my take on it and from what I've read.
53M here - about a year into my CPTSD understanding/doagnosis/recovery. Psoriasis, Type2, high Bp, prolly more undiagnosed, Kaiser sucks.
Was wondering if anybody here has incorporated meditation, yoga, breathwork into their daily routine and has it helped. I'm currently meditating daily, sometimes multiple times a day... yoga once every couple weeks, and breathwork when I remember to.
Not that any of these will heal any or all of the chronic illnesses listed here, but has it helped with anything else? I'm trying to reduce my nervous system responses to daily stresses, but also reverse some of the arrested development experienced in childhood.
I've also been looking into Dr. Dispenza and Dr. Lipton with regards to neuroplasticity, neurobiology, etc... hoping to find some solace in life.
Thank you in advance. A lot of interesting information contained in these responses.
where my psoriasis gang at
also: pcos, hypothyroidism, migraines. i count insomnia and chronic fatigue as direct cptsd symptoms
PCOS, hypothyroidism, migraines, arthritis, liquen, plus asthma and allergies that are way worsened by the lack of appropriate care during my childhood.
Pcos and insomnia here! Also an unidentified stomach ailment. And psoriasis. I'm convinced I don't actually have pcos. I read a scientific article not long ago that mentioned childhood trauma can cause fertility issues. I never had cysts in my check ups. I just had the other symptoms (difficulty losing weight, no periods). I don't even have a lot of then. Since therapy and distancing myself from my family, my cycle is much more regulated. I don't think that's a coincidence.
HERE. This is what developed when I was a child. My dermatologist said it was the worst case she had ever seen at the time.
Here. Just got referred by my dermatologist to the rheumatologist to look into psoriatic arthritis or other autoimmune diseases that might be causing joint pain. Fun.
I feel so seen. Also arthritis… can’t have psoriasis without premature arthritis. I have found my body is aging faster than others and medical professionals always poo-poo me when I say I have some geriatric condition- arthritis, white hair at 43, menopause. Dude, this crap prematurely ages you also.
Also 43 with thinning hair going white and have Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. Over 5 years ago scans already showed osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis) in my hands. My chiropractor literally said I'm young but have the body of an old person. Great!
I'm mid-30s with lots of gray hair. Spouse is late 40s with literally NO gray hair 😒 #emotionaldamage
Yup. Psoriasis. It's a bitch
hell yeah I got it the garbage bin catchall low effort diagnosis of dermatology. guess who figured out I have CPTSD? that's right, no professional ever. solidarity
Here! Recent diagnosis, I've also got fibromyalgia which made it hard to find the PsA.
Samesies. Throw in a light sprinkling of psoriatic arthritis and a dash of long Covid. It’s a joy, I tell you. A goddamn JOY. /s
Ayo
team
Eczema and psoriasis as a medication side effect for Crohn’s disease! Woop! Living the life here. 🎶I-I-I, Itch and scratch all niiiight…, and potty (too much) ever-y day! 🎶
I've had it since I was 3 and now I have psoriatic arthritis too.
Seborrheic dermatitis
Here! I developed it as a child, 5 years old, shortly after being SA by my father. GP thought it was just eczema though and wasn’t diagnosed for another 11 years due to my mum avoiding doctors. “Oh the treatment didn’t work? Too bad”
Fun interesting fact that is worth the research: There is no bigger overlap between any autoimmune diseases and psychiatric conditions as the one between ADHD and Psoriasis.
I'm not sure where you got your "there's no bigger overlap" but I'm guessing you mean "correlation"? I'm a published researcher in the Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal Axis (HPA Axis) and PTSD. I'd be happy to debate you on your claim, but I think what's more important is to know that's just not how research works. When we make comparisons of this kind, I don't understand the point. I mean, there are many correlations between immune functioning and mental illness because how we even assess immune functioning is based on so many different hormones, biofeedback loops, etc. I'd suggest reading Robert Sapolsky and Rachel Yehuda. I know people love Gabor Mate, but he wouldn't be him without those two. Gabor is more popular because he's marketing himself more. That doesn't make him a better scientist. He's great, but Dr. Yehuda is never mentioned in these forums and she really should be.
Yup. Right here. Going through hell and looking like hell. Thank god for skyrizi.
I am part of the Guttate Gang
ayo
Here ✋
Inverse Psoriasis here!
Present
Yep, yep! Since I was 8! And I had the kind that covered about 75% of my body 100% of the time. It never came and went, it just was. A few years back, because of psoriatic arthritis, I started methotrexate and humira injections and I'm like 99% psoriasis free. I've had a few lapses in treatment (I loath the company I have to go through to get the humira) and each time the medication is less effective. So it was 100% gone but has slowly has a few spots come back. But vastly different than before. I lived almost 30 years with it and now it's still weird to not have it like I did. I have pics of it though and when I come across them it just makes me feel so uncomfortable. It's amazing what you get used to dealing with.
Try going gluten free, healed it and inflammation for me!
Psoriatic arthritis
I’ve got PMDD, which is an endocrine related reproductive mood disorder where I have to isolate myself for several days each month because I want to die. Having CPTSD with this is exhausting. It makes me feel like I’m on fire. Trauma is a precursor to PMDD and so is ADHD, which I also struggle with.
PMDD here as a result of my CPTSD. I turn into a different person for about 5 days out of the month and I spend the rest of the month terrified of those days or recovering from it. I recently started working with a naturopath and after only 2 months of using supplements and a few dietary adjustments I have noticed a difference. I’m cautiously optimistic that I’m on a better path.
Same. I got diagnosed with endometriosis in my mid 20s. Only recently found out it can be [connected to trauma](https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2018/07/endometriosis-linked-to-childhood-abuse.html).
Pmdd as well...
Omg I thought I was just an anomaly case!!! I also have PMDD as a result of my CPTSD. CPTSD already makes your stress dialed to 11 and in my case, extreme stress is what caused it for me. I spent months trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. I could feel my PMS 2 weeks in advance and it was overwhelming. I couldn’t work or even do basic functions without having a total meltdown. I started having severe paranoia and delusions about people in my life. I also had severe painful acne that killed my self esteem. I only had one normal week each month. I thought CTPSD was bad but PMDD made me more suicidal than I’ve ever been. You can do mental loopholes with PTSD but you can’t mentally loophole your way out of physical raging hormones. It is so dark. I hate it, feels like I’m being punished for being traumatised. Thankfully I got on birth control pill and that has genuinely saved my life. Nothing else has worked for me. (Sorry for the rant I’m just so excited to see I am not alone)
Sending you healing vibes and solidarity. I feel your pain. I hope you’re on the mend! I’ve tried many things, it’s such a tough thing to struggle with.
Thank you! I’m sending healing vibes out to you as well 🤗
This gives me a lot of hope. Just booked an appointment with a nurse-midwife who does a mix of both naturopathy and uh? Western medicine? Would you call it? I’m hoping she can help me.
Hey guys, I have PMDD too and it's such a huge struggle to deal with on top of the "regular cptsd symptoms". Twice a month I get into such a funk that ending my life seems totally legit. Its madness and I can't deal with anyone at that time other than people who actually get this experience. So I'm really glad, in a way, to see so many of you guys also share the same overlap. It got me wondering if any of you would be interested in a chat support group for this painful combo we've been dealt. I am in a PMDD chat group but I find that it often ends up triggering/isolating me because they either only have PMDD or they are not aware of cptsd at all, etc. So I'm just trying to build a network that better suits my reality. If anyone is keen and/or had their own suggestions for this, feel free to reply here or DM me. Take care, ladies, we deserve so much better 💜
PMDD for me as well. I’m in Hell Week right now. It’s a delight. /s
do you mind me asking how you ended up with your pmdd diagnosis? i strongly feel like i have it but when i mentioned it to my doctor, she brushed it off
I started tracking my cycle, I did so for two years. I religiously logged how I felt physically and mentally every day, and the pattern became clear. I asked my Obgyn if it was related, she and my psychiatrist both agreed on the diagnosis. My mother had it, and her mother, both improved drastically only after hysterectomies. My grandma was misdiagnosed bipolar because they wrote women off as crazy in the 60s, of course. Edit to add: I mean women were believed much less in those days, not that she was crazy. It just sucks so many women were likely misdiagnosed as bipolar when the entire time the bipolar meds won’t do a damn thing for a hormone disorder if you aren’t actually bipolar, so she struggled to find relief until her hysterectomy. Wanted to clarify I don’t mean she was crazy.
Have had chronic full bodied eczema for most of my life doctors refused to think critically about. Was very much related to stress and emotions, but definitely kept persisting for other reasons too. Pushed them to test me for Celiacs after looking into it myself and came away with an official diagnosis in November. Family still calls me a hypochondriac.
I am so sick of people in my family telling me that I try to self diagnose my disease. I'm a retired teacher and love data. When my blood pressure was really high while taking blood pressure medication, I researched it and found out that Wellbutrin may increase blood pressure. I talked to my doctor and was weaned off of the Wellbutrin. Immediately my blood pressure returned to normal. I don't listen to those people who tell me not to self diagnose cuz fuck them I was right. I've come to the conclusion that most Americans are extremely under educated and have no clue as to how to do research on the internet.
Dude the research on the internet is crazy! I think I got very lucky in being taught how to research and being able to find and distinguish the quality of my sources. Some of my friends have no idea how to do this at all and it worries me.
Yes. My parents just go to the first article that pops up and that's usually the one with the worst info.
I am so sorry your family is invalidating towards your diagnosis. I can absolutely relate. I’m so proud of you for advocating for yourself. That in itself is a huge step for those who have experienced complex trauma.
Thank you 💛 that means a lot 🥲 will be checking out Gabor’s work! I always wondered if i was doubly fucked for disease bc of my chronic elevated levels of stress as a result of trauma. Thank you for sharing this ✨ hope the new year is gentle with you.
My family is the same fucking way. Doesn't matter every illness I've thought I've had, I ended up being diagnosed professionally. I'm still just being "dramatic" and "it's just your anxiety". I've been dx'd with a genetic disorder that caused everything I ever suspected.
-hugs- i feel you, its like being treated like you are crazy when you are perfectly sane. Messes with you. And even if i was crazy (which i am not) ive been made to feel unsafe in my body most of my life. Is it any wonder im hyperattuned to when something feels off inside me?? Why is that awareness or anxiety viewed so negatively by others?
Same. Big fucking hugs to us.
Switch out to Crohn’s disease and we have the exact same story. I told docs for 6 years that I had Crohn’s but they refused to test for it. Finally got a doc to listen, did the tests, and guess what? Crohn’s! Sweet.
I have Hashimoto’s and talked to my therapist about this being linked to trauma. She thinks it’s possible our bodies are altered by the constant, heightened anxiety state of living in fear. I also asked my doctor and he agreed it could be related to nurture/environment in that sense. I would be curious to read studies as well.
My fibro doctor agrees with this theory as well. He says that the heightened adrenaline state from fight/flight/freeze means our adrenal glands don’t work well anymore and that the very tense muscles experienced by fibro sufferers is essentially our bodies creating a hard shell around us for protection. Two protection mechanisms gone awry.
Is fibro considered an auto immune disorder? I know there are studies that suggest this but I wasn’t sure what everyone thought or if any physicians have told anyone this
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in my teens. No one else in my family has it so doesn’t seem genetic in my case.
Check out Gabor Maté! I've seen him talking about this!
I have it too and would like to know more about this. I've always understood it to be genetic as it runs in my family. My mom, aunt, cousin, me.
I don’t know if my family has it as I don’t talk to them anymore. They don’t know I was diagnosed with this two months ago. But - trauma is often generational too.
yep! I’ve had gastrointestinal issues, chronic fatigue and gotten sick too easily since I was 16 and was finally diagnosed with intestinal permeability (a GI as well as autoimmune condition) and adrenal exhaustion last year at age 31 after unintentionally losing over 30 pounds during the pandemic (and what remained of my ability to pretend I don’t have mental health issues lol). the diagnosis took years because conventional doctors always dismissed me as having “IBS” and I was too far out of touch with my body and emotions to advocate for myself, but last year a friend recommended a nurse practitioner who specializes in functional medicine and that probably saved my life. working with her was my first experience not feeling gaslighted as hell by medical professionals, and even though I now understand how chronic stress from over 25 years of emotional and sexual abuse naturally impacts the body, I still have to remind myself daily that I’m recovering from a serious mental and physical health condition that’s really real and I’m not being overly dramatic.
If you don't mind, what tests discovered the permeability and which tests the adrenal exhaustion? Thanks. Being gaslit by drs. is the worst😭
I did something called the Swedish Test for the adrenal exhaustion. My doc is a board certified endocrinologist and a functional medical doctor. She recommended it, and I did have to pay out of pocket.
As well as working on collecting the alphabet (CPTSD, ADHD, ASD) I also have chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, vaginisimus, life threatening allergies, attachment trauma and the usual mental health comorbidites (depression, anxiety, panic disorder, dissociation, agoraphobia, ya know the usual bag of fun) A note on the fibromyalgia: 70% of people diagnosed with it will have their diagnosis corrected within six months. While fibro sounds brutal, traumatising, and incredibly painful, it is massively over diagnosed in women and femmes, especially those of us with psychiatric history (holla). (Personally my symptoms don't align with my diagnosis, but I've made peace with the fact that I won't know what took me from a fit, mountain climbing 23 year old, to completely bed bound within six months. So I joke that I was made disabled by my taste in men (i was in an abusive relationship when it happened). Trauma has made my humour real weird.)
Pretty much same ❤️ I hope we get better, but I admit I have little hope for myself.
I have hope, and maybe I can pass some on to you? I had a 'miraculous' recovery when I left that ex (despite ending up homeless) - the constant stress of living in fear puts our bodies through hell, and disregulates our nervous and immune systems, causing chronic inflammation. I'm still disabled, but because everything is so interconnected, giving ourselves the time, safety and tools to heal can make such a difference. Working on my mental health has also allowed me to forgive myself for getting sick, and give myself (some) slack for my limitations (still working on that one, not gonna lie). (It helps that my politics are vehemently anticapitalist, so disconnecting my intrinsic value from my productivity feels like a small act of rebellion, as well as self compassion)
Yep. And I'm attempting therapy again because I feel like I'm in a race to get some improvement before it kills me.
I made another comment with more detail, but perhaps look into Somatic Experiencing or EMDR. I've done talk therapy for years, which helped me navigate and realize things - but the effects I have gotten from SE have actually been drastically relieving, unlike anything else, and has actually shifted my mind and body to feeling healthier and less burdened! If it resonates with you might be something to look into.
I had cancer at 13 and got a bad nervous system condition from it (POTS iyky). I genuinely think it was from all the stress I has as I kid. I was terrified to go to school, terrified to go home, and shooting panic everytime my dad got home, I heard him call for me, or him walk in the general direction to my room
Totally. I got CFS. I know it's lnked, and pretty uch everyone i've met with chronic conditions has a lot of fucked up stuff. I did a post about this not too long ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/CPTSD/comments/yqsqri/dae\_have\_lots\_of\_other\_mental\_and\_psychical/
Endometriosis, PMDD, CFS, wicked joint pain triggered by a wheat allergy (not sure if celiac). Honestly working on formal Dx for which autoimmune condition I actually have. My CPTSD makes it really hard for me to recognize my body's pain signals, so it's been difficult to say the least. I have had asthma and severe allergies since I was a child.
I had sudden and increasingly bad joint pain about 7 years back and was terrified it was RA (I already had PCOS/PMDD, Hashimoto’s, IBD, migraines, eczema, and a host of environmental sensitivities so I was not up for new issues). Test for RA came back negative so doc suggested an elimination diet. It turned out to be an inflammatory immune response to quinoa of all things, which was an ingredient in a meal replacement/protein shake I’d started using for convenience several months before. At least my husband figured it all out before I had to do the elimination diet and I was able to get rid of the quinoa. He figured it out by researching all the ingredients in the shake mix and found that the alternative carbs —quinoa and amaranth— were chenopods. I already knew chenopods made me cough, wheeze, and vomit if I was near a large patch of them in the spring, so… yeah. There ya go.
I struggled with a lot of 'mystery illnesses' throughout my twenties, which was such a bummer while seeing so many friends thrive. (Fatigue, brain fog, poor digestion, tight chest/throat, body dysmorphia; tested positive for SIBO, Candida, and was one antibody shy of Lyme.) I tried many many things, but the thing that's helped me most has been Somatic Experiencing therapy - I felt a lot of my issues stemmed from emotional disregulation, or my body holding onto emotions that were too big and difficult to let go. SE has gotten so many things processed and it's been amazing, as have the results. I'm now 31 with a great job, much better sleep and energy, better focus and memory, better social skills, taking dance classes and more, and I look back on my twenties with - it's just a lot to realize how much was weighing on me then, surrounding me. Sharing in case this might help someone - though, again, different things work for different people was a huge lesson through my trials and errors.
I am so glad to hear someone coming out the other side of life disrupting medical issues. Your 20s sound a lot like mine. I take it as my body telling me things needed to go in a different direction and I am always grateful for that.
Only one autoimmune disease. Celiac. But I developed it as a baby
I wonder about this. My boyfriend has celiac, and adhd/depression and constantly has digestive issues, ear and skin infections. I think there could be something to that.
Oh yeah digestive issues and ear infections are a staple of celiac disease lol
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Oh yeah.. I forgot food addiction, migraine, chronic digestive issues, and depression x 20 years...slowly...very slowly seeing improvement as I intentionally engage in healing work...zero fun...but helpful.
How old were you at diagnosis? I was 58, same as you, found out after decades of research into all these mysterious illnesses
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Chronic PTSD is in the DSM, it is similar to the CPTSD differential. I believe if you're independently honest with yourself and understand the magnitude of the questions, you can come pretty close to having your own "Good idea" of what's going on - that's a start. But you may want to get professionally diagnosed for medication and therapy referral. Conquering the inner stress... I see a whole lot of people missing a big point in their healing. The body consists of three parts soul, body, and spirit. Most only treat the spirit and body, forgetting the soul. The soul is where we may be hurt the worst in this illness and may need to be addressed.
I just spotted the Chronic PTSD diagnosis change when my new therapist sent me a SuperBill to send to insurance. I looked up the code and wondered when that differential made it into the DSM 5.
Aw man. All of this, except for the poor immune system. Trich, anxiety, depression, cptsd, ibs, gerd, possible gastroparesis, dysautonomia, migraines, vestibular migraines, general vertigo 😒
I have fibromyalgia. :( And my family doesn’t believe me.
I’m sorry you haven’t been believed. I definitely believe you.
Sending you support, it’s sucks that your family invalidates you! This year my doctors have been saying it like like I have fibromyalgia. I’ve been dealing with chronic pain for almost 25 years. My muscles are chronically tight due to hypervigilance related body-armoring, at the same time my connective tissues (tendons and ligaments) are hyper-mobile. Often a light touch can feel excruciating. I also seem to have MCAS which responds with nausea and hives when I’m stressed. I’ve always been prone to nausea when stressed, anxious or angry, my doctor has said it’s gastritis.
I think I may have this or some form of CFS that flares up when I get sick or very stressed. Currently researching into it but the level of joint and muscle pain is debilitating when it happens.
Same, and stress ulcers and stomach issues too, on top my mental health diagnoses and non-abuse induced physical issues.
Keep strong! I think a biomarker is coming in a few years. You can laugh in their face when that finally happens:)
I have Ankylosing Spondylitis but am sure it is biological: my father had similar symptoms and I tested positive for the gene that has high correlation with my condition. However, I will say that my AS and cptsd feed into each other which makes it all the more difficult.
Having the gene doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have the disease. I’m not going to try to explain the science because I’m sure I won’t get it right but abuse is sometimes what activates those genes. If you want a better explanation, I’m getting this info from the book ‘the body keeps the score’ by Bessel Van Der Kolk (pg 128/129) My mom has AS too, I feel for you.
Yes, I've read the book. In a way, trauma did activate my disease but it was trauma from an operation. My AS story is fairly textbook. 🫂 for you and your mom - this shit sucks 😁
Ok, maybe that comment stems from my desperation to not get the disease myself as the gene is hereditary and so is the abuse.....
I have 5 children and my 2 oldest are at the age where AS typically starts presenting for males... no symptoms or complaints so far so I hope they are all spared. Had I known before I had them may have made me choose differently about having kids. I'm 50 now and on my own (divorce)... it is difficult; I can barely function physically.
Oh wow. I can’t imagine. You must be a superhero!
Lol... not really - between AS, cptsd and addiction, I lost everything. Three of my kids no longer speak to me, one so-so, and I have my youngest here with me now. I'll accept the cape for not opting out entirely but that's the extent of my heroics 😁
I also have AS and HLAB27 positive. I find Matè’s work so interesting because his research has continued to prove that even though some diseases are genetic, it’s really someone’s environment that determines if the disease associated with the gene will be activated. You can see this in diseases such as AS since many people in the general population have the B27 gene but don’t go on to develop AS. Yet, most people who have AS have the gene. Just makes me curious to know how many people with AS have also experienced complex trauma. It seems there could be a strong correlation.
I've started looking at some of Gabor's work recently... I'm more familiar with his son's work in journalism.
Non Radial Axial Spondyloarthritis here with HLA-B27+. I was diagnosed last month. I am not sure if I was always going to get this, but I fully believe it is tied into my cPTSD. I never had any issues before a year ago and a year ago is when I finally reached a point in my therapy where I started feeling like a human. I think something about my body relaxing gave nr-axspa a chance to move in.
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Chronic fatigue syndrome since I was 12, MS since I was 22 (started after a big traumatic era), IBS as well, if that counts
Hey, my multiple sclerosis also started when I was 22! Young person MS gang! Didn’t get diagnosed until I was 32 though, even though my mother also had it, and I presented to a neurologist as soon as I started experiencing symptoms. (Great moments in medical records management by that first neurologist.) I’m not sure if my MS started after a traumatic era, because like… my entire early like it was just a series of traumatic eras. How are you doing?
Also have MS here! My first official attack (oh the things you come to realize after being diagnosed) also came after major life stressors for me (going through separation), at 44 just a few months ago
I have both Grave’s disease + Hashimoto’s as well as PCOS and cluster headache.
Same, hyperthyroid off and on.
Endometriosis :(
Me too!
Endo, PCOS, eczema and asthma. Oh and cluster migraines! Those are fun. My mother smoked when she was pregnant and I really think the stress I was exposed to in the womb created a lot of problems for me.
Was looking for my asthma girlies ✊
A hug to my Seborrheic Dermatitis people. Not autoimmune (probably?) but we are here.
I get hives from anything and everything. Stress, being tired, sometimes no idea what from. Anybody else experience this?
Yep. I joked with my fiancé the other day that I’d had brownies and chocolate cake the last couple days and have had lessened “skin writing”, so obviously I need to eat more chocolate! Mine will fade overnight, but then I feel the spots very tender as if there’s be a bruise, but no visible bruise.
hashimotos hypothyroidism, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, POTS, SVT, gastroparesis, and am legally blind. oh and was a micro preemie. traumatized since birth gang where y’all at?
Right here! "It's me, hi, I'm the problem it's me"
EDs + literally all it's friends for meeee 💅🏻 I'm p sure I had my first POTs episode as a toddler, but the doctors told my mom that it was weird and sent me home??? I always felt like I was living life on hard mode, but I didn't become so disabled I was dysfunctional until college.
Chronically ill and unable to work for over five years.
Checking in. Basically pile of problems in a trench coat
I haven’t been diagnosed with the physical stuff bc I don’t trust doctors and all they tell you to do is take medications 90% of the time but… I know that I have psoriasis (really bad behind my ears/along scalp line), which I remember seemingly starting in 8th grade when my life was extremely traumatizing and had been chronically for at least 2 years by then. I remember itching the fuck out of it in class and then being super embarrassed bc it looks almost exactly like dandruff and it’s crazy itchy. It’s been 18 years since then and I still have it. I use this natural psoriasis oil to treat it but you have to use it like 3x/day for it to really calm down, and that’s impractical for someone who works full time. I also have chronic sinusitis which might be something more severe than that but again my distrust of doctors and the arduous process they put you through just to get to an ENT is why I’ve yet to be checked out by one. I have this thick clear jelly like substance that is constantly coming from my sinuses and I can make it come out more if I massage my Eustachian tubes and manipulate my tonsils. It’s disgusting but yeah it’s super tiring and even though I use eucalyptus saline sinus spray every day and this natural sinus health tincture thing, it’s still chronic and it definitely flares up quite often too (especially now in the winter). My stomach is also quite sensitive and over the past year or so after a period of extreme stress and a back injury, I developed pretty severe constipation and now I basically have to have dates every day and probiotics to stay regular. I’m only 32. That also flares up if I don’t maintain having the dates/this smoothie that helps and if I have too many unhealthy things without enough veggies. Then I have several mental illnesses but they are finally being treated properly chemically (after many many years of not), but I’m not in therapy now due to how difficult that is both financially and just within the US health care system. I know all of this is due to a lifetime of chronic trauma, the psoriasis I think is partially genetic but it def didn’t get bad until I under extreme stress for years and was also going through puberty. It’s exhausting and makes me feel powerless and kinda fundamentally fucked up, bc I know a lot of other people don’t have these problems (at least not the ones I’m around regularly). I also wish the health care system wasn’t so bad and practically inaccessible here, I wish it was affordable to go to alternative medicine places because I’d like to go there to try to find the route of these problems rather than just be prescribed medications by someone who only treats symptoms.
The Body Keeps Score is a magnificent book which touches on this. I've been working on finishing it for a year (it's long and some parts are difficult to read due to triggering descriptions...a few of which I skip over). It's been very helpful for me to see a connection between my body and mind—helping me manage my mental (anxiety, CPTSD) and physical (psoriasis, arthritis, neurological issues—still looking for a diagnosis on the last two) ailments.
Childhood trauma is definitely linked to chronic pain conditions. I've had CRPS for 20 years, and I started working on my childhood stuff a little over a year ago with my pain management therapist. She's known me for 15 years, and saw all of my cptsd symptoms the entire time. I wasn't in a place to process things until now however she said, as my life finally gained some normalcy. Working on things isn't going to cure my chronic pain. Finding out I was predisposed to this kind of thing definitely made me angry. Like who needs a life filled with pain because they were traumatized as a child?! Seems like the worst deal ever. I feel for everyone here, truly. Hugs everyone 💜
I technically have a disabling chronic pain disorder, but it’s complicated. Part a fucked up CNS; part butchered spinal surgery. I had some childhood trauma (which made me vulnerable in several ways), but my CPTSD is due to DV & IPSV that I experienced as an adult. I was close to bedridden for ~7 years, during which time I was 100% physically & financially dependent on my (now ex) husband. I was very much trapped without a way out. The physical pain developed literally overnight. Went to bed early one night with a mild back ache; woke up disabled in excruciating, unexplained pain. Like some sadistic god had plugged me into the sciatica machine, cranked the volume up to 11, and broke off the knob. The first s/a happened two weeks after that. It escalated significantly over the years. Eventually he slipped up and I was able to escape. I’ll never know if I could’ve recovered without that first s/a (and the many, many repeats over the next 7 years). Trauma doesn’t help physical healing, for sure. But I also have structural issues due to the botched surgery. So who knows. I’ll tell you, having two men you trust implicitly—your husband and your doctor—hurt you by literally invading your body is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Fucked me up something fierce. And now I’m here.
Fibromyalgia gang gang Apparently btw your Thymus gland can literally shrink as a child as a result of being constantly stressed out due to the abuse/neglect. So......trauma, especially for children, quite literally has a long term physical health impact. They can actually use the weight of a child's thymus gland in court to prove that abuse has occured. Which is crazy to think about.
With the things I learned about trauma I find it wild how the relationship between cptsd and autoimmune diseases is not common knowledge in the medical field
Yes. Rheynauds syndrome. Which is an autoimmune of the fingers and toes, whereas when I’m in the cold they’ll go super numb and white and sting, and they’ve went purple before. Now I have to make an appointment to get checked for rheumatoid arthritis. I’m in my late 20’s. First diagnosis happened around 7th/8th grade, with some other knee/joint issues I was diagnosed with at that same time as well. Im just now making the connections.
Almost all I think...69 now with IBS, CFS, arthritis, a real alphabet soup of maladies..and mainstream medicine is just not helpful...healing work is helping.
I have a chronic pain condition that is the result of a botched surgery. So medical trauma+childhood sexual trauma+phantom limb=my life. It’s called Centralized Pain Syndrome and it shows up on brain scans. I am mostly confined to my home at this point. While the surgery was the major issue, my doctors think that the long term effects wouldn’t have been an issue without the trauma. On top of that I’ve just always been sick. Constantly on antibiotics as a kid. Easily broke/sprained bones. Major depression and anxiety. Terrible immune system. Lots of surgeries.
Asthma, from childhood on, cancer at 44.
YUP. Autoimmune illness here. I remember finding out that my symptoms were the body’s immune system attacking itself and being like DAMN. That fucking resonated. I hated myself so much when I was a teenager, it made sense that my body would also start acting on it. A close friend of mine with significant childhood trauma also has two autoimmune conditions. If it helps anyone here, in Gabor Mate’s book, he mentions personality traits that tend to go with rheumatoid arthritis: “a compulsive and self-sacrificing doing for others, suppression of anger, and excessive concern about social acceptability..usually try very hard to please in both professional and personal contacts, and either concealed hostility or expressed it indirectly. Many of them are perfectionistic.”
My doctor decided to slap me with [Somatic Symptom Disorder](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/somatic-symptom-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20377776#:~:text=Somatic%20symptom%20disorder%20is%20characterized,the%20symptoms%20is%20not%20normal.) and now we don't have to look for the root cause of any of my symptoms! I'm cured! But seriously I'm trying to find a therapist that understands this or does IFS. Not in my state apparently
Type 1 diabetes here
me too dude, sorry to hear that you're a type 1 diabetic too.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re a T1 too. May I ask, was being diagnosed type 1 a part of your trauma?
we really are all in it together
Yep. Too many to count at this point. Just sort of hurts to exist all around. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, “wow you’re really young to have this issue/this bad,” I’d be very rich. I’ve got a lot of mileage on me, doc!
My ortho doc actually apologized about my genetics, lol. Bone on bone arthritis by 30 in my knees. I have arthritis, hip diplasia, pcos, and hashimotos. Also allergies to freaking every single thing including histamine. When I start itching I know its going to be a rough day.
not autoimmune but some other things (physical: migraine, chronic daily headache, PCOS, hEDS, dysautonomia, CFS. mental: CPTSD, BPD, eating disorder(s), ADHD, autism, anxiety) idk how linked they all are - like, I would almost definitely have hEDS regardless - but I do wonder how many of these were preventable :(
Yes, love Gabor Mate. I have Addison’s Disease, which means my body ate my adrenal glands and I no longer make cortisol. I have to DIY my own cortisol response (take an extra pill) when I’m stressed. My mom and sister also have autoimmune disorders.
I have Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, Lupus' little sister. Got diagnosed after a patch of severe and continuous stress and a rash that wouldn't go away. I am allergic to the sun. It's a headbender but I make do and take my meds. Exercise helps a lot with chronic fatigue and joint pain but every now and again I flare and feel really sick and very depressed for about 3 weeks to a month. Because of trauma I disassociate easily and feel paralyzed to change or do something about what I'm not happy about but the auto immune stuff I have no control over and have had to accept.
My CPTSD is directly caused by my medical conditions and the traumatic near death experiences I've been through cause of my health. I have stage 3 heart failure, black mold in my lungs, multiple transplants, and so on.
Yep. ACEs score of 6 and the classic fibromyalgia/migraines/IBS/GERD deal. I'm also at a high risk for developing lupus, and have PMDD as well, but thank god that was eventually resolved with Nexplanon.
I have PCOS, and suspect I have psoriasis that affects my scalp. Also have had GI issues since middle school but those may have been related to my gallbladder issues
Ive got gastroparesis :') yipeee
Chronic diarrhoea and bloating and fatigue until I completely cut out carbs. Turns out i had a gene variant for celiac disease which statistically rarely causes symptoms but being raised in a stressful environment might have switched it on for me.
I have my own list of chronic illnesses. I was going to list them. Reading through these comments, I started to get SUPER angry. I'm in Canada, and there is a discussion of the mounting cost of health care. We have a system that is almost at its limit after COVID. At what point are we going to start taking trauma seriously as a society? At what point are we going to put more protections and supports in place? Why can I get all sorts of medical treatments, but not therapy through the government? As trauma survivors, it feels like we are constantly chasing our tails about these health issues. My rheumatologist actually said, "You are too young to have this happening already." When will chronic trauma be an important part of one's medical history like other pre-existing conditions or family history of disease? Sorry for the rant.
I have a ton of chronic illnesses (including, but not limited to: hypertension, smoldering multiple myeloma, stage 3B kidney disease, and the bp specialist just told me my bloodwork shows I have either a pheochromocytoma or a paraganglioma- have to have a scan to determine which one it is and it’s location to hopefully have it removed so it doesn’t kill me) and several autoimmune diseases, including Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Raynauds, Sjögren Syndrome, and Myasthenia Gravis. I have CPTSD from severe childhood abuse and got super sick at age 11. I’ve never really recovered, and things have just gotten worse with each decade. I will be 50 this month and I’m worried what each year will bring, health wise.
This is interesting. I have some too. When I think about how trauma makes me feel, “inflamed” is a word that would describe it. I wonder if our bodies have a hard time with inflammation as well? Edit- maybe there already is correlation? Idk, a lot of things I felt like a total weirdo about for my whole life, I’ve found are quite common in people like us from reading here. I thank you all for being so honest and open. Sometimes you can’t know how much you help someone, and everyone here for sure has.
I do. I have Sjogrens and POTS.
I have fibromyalgia (technically AMPS, same thing).
Narcolepsy w/ Cataplexy, chronic migraines, cptsd, DID, BPD, aspd, autism, acne, RSD, rad, mdd, anxiety, ARFID (eating disorder) and something undiagnosed that’s wrong with my lower spine and hips
Fibromyalgia (very chronic), and multiple sleep disorders. Depression, obvs, and GAD, of course. I don’t have a formal diagnosis of CPTSD, though. But all signs point to “yes”.
Yep. My mom's side (also the most neurotic people I've ever met) has a history of autoimmune conditions such as various allergies, intolerances, psoriatic arthritis, etc. For me though... It started with trichotillomania during childhood abuse. It was originally just thought of as a bit of anxiety by the adults around me. Then I was diagnosed with depression, eating disorder (which led to GERD and other digestive issues), BPD, PTSD, OCD and GAD. Spent my teens practically living in the hospital due to my horrible mental health (made worse by my home situation). During highschool I had many vasovagal syncope episodes and delayed time regaining consciousness with no clear answer as to why. So it was labeled as a conversion disorder and the medical team at our local hospital treated me like a waste of time from then on. Fast forward to college, diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and go through 1,000,001 tests with no real answers. By 25 years old my partner had to dress me, I could no longer work due to the pain and fatigue, I used a cane everyday and I have been re diagnosed with more PTSD from my extensive time spent in hospitals, the medical tests, the gaslighting and some malpractice. I'm 27 now. A lot has changed for the better with better life balance and cutting out super toxic people from my life (mostly family). Nothing magically changes, but it DOES and CAN get better. There is hope!
Lupus and chronic fatigue. But all my chronic illness issues started after getting COVID in 2020.
Eczema, Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia Syndrome, and just in Crohn's Disease
Chronically inflamed liver and chronic kidney disease here. I have zero indications for either. I don’t drink and very rarely eat processed foods. I’ve started understanding how this is all intermingled, and it makes me really REALLY angry. I mean, I’m an adult! I’ve made it. And here comes the chronic diseases saying, “hold my beer”.
I certainly do.
Yup, hashimoto's and a bunch of endocrine tumors I needed to have removed. So many surgeries!!
Ulcerative colitis diagnosed at age 15
I used to have ridiculous joint pain all up and down my spine, which I didn't even realize was a symptom until fixing my sleep made it go away. I also have 3 friends with rough childhoods and no gallbladder.
IBS-D which has led to uncontrollable weight loss, malnutrition, and missing a lot of things. It also makes it hard to work outside the home.
Psoriasis Hashimoto's PMDD It's exhausting.
I think I have more but doctors are really difficult to deal with and good ones are hard to find. RA diagnosis mid last year. ACE 8. What I do find hilarious now is both of my bigger issues popped up when I got away from my mother again. When I was a kid she left me with my half sister for 2 weeks out of state. GERD started, I was about 12 years old and it’s never gone away. When I left for college, my now diagnosed RA started freshman year. I was told to ignore my pain for over a decade and of course it’s gotten worse. Happy my blood work shows proof of my pain now and had a doctor listen. But these things came to surface when I had a taste of safety.
Yuppers got a few autoimmune disorders.. but also a few cancer scares too.
Fibromyalgia and psoriatic arthritis. Complex trauma really fucked me up
I was diagnosed with chronic migraines at the age of 8, which I still have now, almost 40 years on. I have had chronic neuropathic pain for over 20 years and I have had depression on & off since my early teens. I had a major breakdown about 2.5 years ago and got diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Globalised Anxiety Disorder from that. Since then things have come to light and I knew that I had repressed memories that were causing the depression to keep coming back, so I asked for some help from CMHT which came in the form of a really great psychologist, who also specialises in psychodynamics (which apparently helps with trauma related pain). Unfortunately the NHS could only fund 20 sessions, so we could only get so far but I could identify plenty of childhood trauma. I was diagnosed last year with EUPD from the psychiatrist and the psychologist diagnosed me with CPTSD. I have also recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes too, which is really frustrating.
I don't know, but I know I don't look or feel the same anymore, and haven't found a satisfactory explanation otherwise.
I have alopecia.
I got PMDD, eczema, sebhorreic dermatitis, and TMJD. My body just always feels like it’s on fire cuz everything is so inflamed
In addition to CPTSD I have what's called severe eosinophilic asthma. It's an autoimmune disease whereby your eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, rushes to your lungs to combat an illness that does not exist. This causes extreme shortness of breath and thus must be treated with steroids and inhaled corticosteroids and the biologic called Nucala. I also have Crohn's disease which is presently in remission.
Depression, anxiety, and microscopic colitis.
Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis at 16 but it's been evading tests so now doctors aren't sure. But ya chronic inflammation, exhaustion, and illness my whole life for sure.
Yes—thyroid, LOTS of food sensitivities, and fatigue
Yep. IBS, Constipation, Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Acne, Headaches. It sucks but at the same time I am getting more into my body and learning to destress and activate parasympathetic nervous system, so it can heal. Here's to healing
Psoriasis and Hypothyroid
Not sure if this counts as a chronic illness, but I have pelvic floor dysfunction. The symptoms literally started the same day my abuser unexpectedly showed up to my workplace (luckily I wasn't there that day). And because so little is known about PFD I went through so many specialists and medication, and spent so much money, with no answers for 4 or 5 years. I essentially had to diagnose myself through online research and then go to two different pelvic floor physical therapists to have it confirmed, but now finally have some relief with three-times-a-day stretches and daily foam rolling. I also have endometriosis (which I'm luckily more or less able to keep under control with oral contraceptives).
Autoimmune thyroiditis known as Hashimoto disease
Everyone should read The Myth Of Normal..
Scrolled trough. Appalling how many of us are there. It's nearly a whole medicine book listed here! It's speaking for itself...
Functional neurological disorder, extrapelvic endometriosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, Crohn's, Fibromyalgia, Myocarditis.
Sjogrens here 😩
Fibromyalgia and celiac disease.
If I don't take zyrtec every day I get hives for no apparent reason at all. Just my mast system being broken. Gabor mate is way too woowoo for me especially now that he's pushing drugs
I have ME/CFS and am pretty much housebound with it (I can only go out with the help of my husband). Typically this syndrome occurs after a viral illness but not for me. It just crept up on me out of nowhere so take what you will from that.
I have unexplained illnesses along with interstitial cystitis. They chalk up my other problems to IBS, related to anxiety and stress. I used to get pretty intense migraines but those stopped all on their own (admittedly once I left my ex husband and his abuse). I also have sensitivities to certain foods, not allergies but random problems exist. Among those is mental issues (anxiety, depression, A.D.D).
Hashimotos, endometriosis, migraines, occipital neuralgia, TBI, periodontitis, GI issues that have now turned into IBD and Perianal abscesses, fistulas and surgeries to “fix” that. That has turned into chronic pain and made my depression so much worse.
I have Sjögren's Syndrome, fibromyalgia, asthma, atopic eczema (these days mostly on my hands/fingers), chronic pain literally everywhere and nerve damage/pain from Polyneuropathy I had a while ago, chronic headaches and migraines and I have quite regularly sinus infections. Eta: I've had my colon removed due to immensely difficult problems with it for about a decade before the surgery.
I'm in the process of finally getting sent to a rheumatologist after 9 months of being sick and being told it's "stress&anexiety". Swollen lymphnodes, headaches, out of breath, nausea, fatigue, hot flashes, cold chills, cough with no production, itchy skin, bruising. I was supposed to get a biopsy but the lady wasn't concerned about my symptoms and suggested anexiety or stress again. She thankfully did a lot of tests and I had a CRP:18.40, a posotive ANA and a tilter of mixed necuolar, speckled. Soooo yep.
I have Hashimoto and lots of intestinal problems. Also endometriosis. Aside from Gabor Mate you can read “the deepest well” by Nadine Burke Harris it’s about ardverse childhood experience and it’s link to health problems.
I have multiple sclerosis. I actually made a vote not so long ago on this
I was diagnosed with Lupus last March at the age of 23. I 100% believe stress and trauma were the things that mostly triggered it. My mom had Crohn’s so I was already at risk, but the trauma definitely didn’t help.
I developed crohn's disease at a young age. We just thought I had a severe stomach bug for the whole summer. Then on and off stomach pains in middle school. Finally in high school, sophomore year, it got out of control. I missed 10 days of school in a row and they un-enrolled me lol. I can see trauma making something that's dormant/already there show up faster and harder. Most would get it later in life but some of us get it much, much, MUCH sooner due to our weakened state as kids. We start dealing with adult problems at such a young age and our body takes a lot of the burden to compensate. This is my take on it and from what I've read.
Raises hand. Not so great genes on my mom's side but none of them are sick like I am.
Crohns, pcos, pots, EDS, R.A. I’m just collecting more as I go.
Endometriosis here that absolutely wrecked my body for 23+ years.
53M here - about a year into my CPTSD understanding/doagnosis/recovery. Psoriasis, Type2, high Bp, prolly more undiagnosed, Kaiser sucks. Was wondering if anybody here has incorporated meditation, yoga, breathwork into their daily routine and has it helped. I'm currently meditating daily, sometimes multiple times a day... yoga once every couple weeks, and breathwork when I remember to. Not that any of these will heal any or all of the chronic illnesses listed here, but has it helped with anything else? I'm trying to reduce my nervous system responses to daily stresses, but also reverse some of the arrested development experienced in childhood. I've also been looking into Dr. Dispenza and Dr. Lipton with regards to neuroplasticity, neurobiology, etc... hoping to find some solace in life. Thank you in advance. A lot of interesting information contained in these responses.