Well, that's one way to treat autoimmune disease -

[hedgehog]

I have Sjogren's, which means dry eyes, dry skin, dry mouth. My major complaint is the typical autoimmune fatigue complicated by the fact that I don't sweat any more .

So - last December right before Christmas I was in a very serious car wreck. The cab of the truck was ripped off the frame and the driver's side was crushed in. I don't know why, but I ended up with no broken bones and no cuts. What did happen is that all the bones in my pelvis were knocked out of place. Nothing was dislocated enough to show up on X-ray, but it's taken the last three months for the tendons and muscles to adjust and pull everything back in place. (It was funny listening to the snapping and popping noises whenever I rolled over!) I also took a good hit to my lower back which left me with a terrible muscle spasm for a while plus a weak left leg. I was walking with a cane for a while, and even lifting a dinner plate hurt! I had a nice concussion which left me with some odd deficits, but that seems to be resolving.

Now, everything is pretty well healed up. I can even lift up to about 15 pounds. 20 is my absolute limit, and it's going to be a while before I'm hauling 50# bags of chicken feed again. I tend to bear to the right when I'm tired, but that's not a real problem. The most important thing is that I can go out in the garden and move mulch to prep it for the summer! I was afraid I'd never be able to it anything again!

Now for the bonus - even when I couldn't move because of the muscle spasm, I thought I felt better beneath it all. My autoimmune fatigue is much, much better. I get out of breath, but I can keep working where before when I got out of breath I had to stop. I still don't sweat, so I have to be careful not to get overheated.

So - maybe the accident re-set the autoimmune, maybe not. I wouldn't recommend this method, but I thought the apparent results interesting.


I forgot to add - I gardened all day in typical autoimmune attire - jeans, long sleeves, gloves and sun hat - plus sunglasses! I don't think I had a square inch of skin exposed to the sun!

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I hope you did indeed have a silver lining!

May it continue, if it is positive for you.

[mopinko]

2. were you taking anything?

i recently got my pain under control, with some good pharma and stepped up my dose of some, umm, uh, herbal medicine. my sleep got a lot better, and shorter.
the big thing is that my muscles let go. the spasms are almost gone. only missed a couple days of yoga in the last 2 months, and getting real results. including endorphin bounce.

been meaning to put up a post.

did you see this?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11515151

[hedgehog]

4. Wow! I missed that thread - I hope you both are doing much better!

I am fully convinced that migraines and epilepsy are related.

[mopinko]

5. i have a lot of symptoms, too.

had a real good concussion as a kid. 6 yo, and got whacked by a baseball bat.
my worst sleep trouble seems to be central apneas. used a cpap for a long time, because it helped the apnea dreams. but now having great technicolor dreams.
sure sign of a happy brain.
almost scary

[Warpy]

3. I've always noticed that sometimes stress can dial the disease down a notch

instead of increasing it every time. I was nearly disease free for a full two years after I left Boston for NM, pretty much so I could fulfill my fiber habit with wool right off the sheep's back instead of paying through the nose for yarns. I had expected to become a lot sicker, at least short term. I didn't.

It's also been long noticed that long juice fasts also knock inflammation down. And pregnancy, but no thanks.

It's something that deserves further study and I hope it gets it.

[hedgehog]

6. Almost getting seriously injured n a car wreck seems to work,

but I wouldn't recommend it!

[NightWatcher]

7. I think my initial flare of lupus/dermatomyositis was triggered by an accident

I was hiking in the mountains, felt light headed, passed out, hit my head on the rocks, dislocated both shoulders, and had a seizure (so they tell me). After that, I went downhill until I ended up in the ER a year later and was diagnosed with SLE/DM

[hedgehog]

8. A concussion can tear connections between brain cells and do damage to the cells themselves -

it may be that it also triggers some on/off switches for autoimmune issues - or that trauma in general gets the attention of the immune system one way or another. Thinking it over, in my case it may be that the signals from healing itssue were enough to step down some of the autoimmune issues.