Allergies & Ecsema anyone?

Hi Pam,
I am an allergic person also. I’ve had asthma on and off for decades.
When I had allergy tests done – skin tests – I had strong reactions to just about everything they tested me for! You name it – cats, dogs, feathers, dust mites, grasses, etc, etc – and I’m allergic to it.
Kazza – CIDP

I also had a lot of allergies as a child that I outgrew (mostly), my mother has horrible allergies and her brother and some of my cousins have Chron’s Disease. I was told by a Rheumatologist I was seeing for awhile that autoimmune diseases not only run in families but once you get one you are more likely to get others. He said it is not uncommon for people to have several at the same time, like you start with lupus and develop sarcoidosis, or you start with allergies and develop CIDP. 😉 It makes sense to me, and I feel worse when my allergies flare up now, but fortunately that is rare now.

I,ve never had allergies and sstill don’t , but growing up my sister had bad allergies and they are worse now. SO I don;t see that as a trigger for CIDP
:confused:

I have bad allergies towards the end of the summer (rosin weed) and my eyes swelled shut one time while I was raking hay on our farm… I also have had eczema between my fingers caused by nerves… I haven’t had it for about 10 years now, but the allergies still bother me…

How odd…

Aimee

Well I grew into most of my allergies as of 2/26/99, after my anaphylatic shock reaction to Nubaine. Before that I was allergic to pcn and I grew into asthma as a late teen. I was tested for allergies and found I am allergic to myself:o the antihistamine that my body produces:eek: You know I can run but I can’t hide from something like that!:D I’m unique, alot of drs have told me so. My GBS has turned into CIDP the relapsing/remitting type with acute onset. But if you look back into my health issues there are many signs that I could have had cidp since my late teen years-soooo many symptoms fit into that complex puzzle-I will probably never know for sure though. One can only look to the future and be happy to wake up everyday.:)

By the way, I do have hypothyroid, had stage 4 endometreosis and pre ovarian cancer(immature cancer cells were found in the ovary and cyst/tumor) along with fibromyalgia, all of which are autoimmune diseases.

Allergies do run in my family, but those who were suffering at a younger age seem to have out grown or have little trouble with them now, and none were/are like mine.
I also find it interesting. I wonder how many children with cidp have allergies, or had them prior to dx.

Pam,

Allergies, ecsema and psoriasis …….. thats what I have unfortunately. i did seem to outgrow them for a few years in my late teens, however they did come back with a vengeance.

Both my parents suffer from bad allergies, my mom from ecsema. My daughter has some allergies but not as bad as my son in early spring ….. His eyes swell shut, his face is often 2x the size, and his whole body is bleeding and scabby because he cannot control the scratching.:(

Yup to all. I have allergies, some more severe than others. As a kid I took allergy shots 🙁 . I also developed asthma in my tweens, but pretty much never have it anymore (unless exposed to something I’m really allergic to, like catss), and have had eczema for about 8 years now. A new doctor when taking my history said he wasn’t surprised about the eczema because of my history of asthma. Someday, someone will figure out how all of this is related. :rolleyes:

Caryn

I was thinking the same thing as far as immune reactions go. Asthma and some pollen and cats growing up until age 14 then nothing until GBS at 17. Nothing for years until 99 when CIDP kicked in. Also dogwood allergies kicked in that year too. Then in 2004 severe allergies to mold/dust mites put me on allergy meds the past 3 years. Almost killed me since my allergist didnt see a problem with sudafed and high blood pressure.
I stopped taking my zyrtec and nasonex 3 weeks ago and realized that crap had been making me tired and crazy.
I feel better than I have in years and my feet feel stronger. Im not sure if the IVIG is working but I feel 10000 times better. I would get bad mood swings depression and even break out crying over the stress and now when Im stressed its like it was years ago- I dont get emotional or have crazy thoughts etc. Sorry about that tangent.

Hyperimmunity? Is that what we all have?

Hi Everyone,

I was always a very healthy child. I had never had allergies or eczema growing up. I was always an athlete, and my senior year I developed asthma out of no where, severe enough that I made many ER trips and had my own nebulizer. A Year later I developed a mysterious rash, I have seen many dermatologists and each one gives me a new dx, but the conscensous is that it is autoimmune. A year later I developed CIDP along with the presence of the rash. In the following 2 years I developed another autoimmune problem with pernicious anemia. The following year I was dx with Transverse Myelitis. I am in my mid-twenties and can not afford to keep collecting auotimmune problems at the rate I am. Hopefully one day they wil have the answers to all of our questions.

Emily

Pam,

This is such an interesting association: my daughter also has had exzema since she was very young. I had anticipated that ivig would help to control it, but it increased in frequency and surface area each time she has an infusion. We have come to accept this as an exchange for the benefits of ivig and control it as best we can with topical steroidal treatment. Fragrances and colors have always been a source of irritation, but within the first few months of regular infusions/hospitalizations, we noticed the development of otherwise unknown allergies: tape used w/ the tubing for saline and ivig caused deep dark bruising and bleeding on her skin. It has left both arms and one foot permanently scarred. (When she falls and bruises herself, the bruises go away after a while, but the bruises from the tape have not) As a result, she now only wears ¾ length sleeves, even in summer.

During the first year, I spent most of my time dealing with the problems directly associated with cidp. Now that I have more time to research the technical underlying phenomenon, I found another startling relationship: my daughter also was diagnosed as dyslexic at a very young age and it seems there is an association with autoimmune illness.

A few references for those who might find relevance in their families:

. . . . there was an increased frequency of allergies and autoimmune disorders in dyslexic …
[url]http://www.springerlink.com/content/n071506244p16265/[/url]

. . . . .a genetic basis to autoimmune disease has been found in association with cortical anomalies and learning difficulties (Galaburda, 1994 ). It is noteworthy that one locus implicated in chromosome 6 studies (Cardon et al., 1994 ) is part of the HLA (human leucocyte antigen) complex, known to participate in the immune system control
[url]http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/123/12/2373?maxtoshow=&HITS=&hits=&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&minscore=50&resourcetype=HWCIT[/url]

On a final note, intention tremors have not lessened after all this time – more in the upper body than lower. It has been suggested that in cidp, this can be an indication of lesions in the cerebellum. (involvement of CNS in cidp) Not really relevant to this thread, but I added this because I see it come up occasionally in the discussions. Somehow I think it is all tied together.

[QUOTE=Pam H]He said he wished he could tell me the names of the other CIDP patients, but of course he could not (confidentiality issues.) How much I would like the opportunity to contact them…
Pam[/QUOTE]

Have you tried to give your permission for him to give them your contact info? Or you could ask him to extend an invitation to them for a local gbs/cidp meeting.

cd

As you probably know, we found mold in our apartment – in Emily’s room which she had been living in for about 4 years (since she was 6 months old). I did extensive research on molds & CIDP. What I learned was that prolonged exposure to any allergenic substance can cause an autoimmune reaction in ones body.

Emily had very bad allergies (just like my husband & myself do) until her CIDP started. She hasn’t had any major issues since then. She will occasionally tell me that her cheeks are hurting (I’m assuming burning sinus pressure) but she doesn’t sneeze or experience any other symptoms like we do. It’s very strange.

Kelly