Autoimmune disorders?

I have leukopenia, autoimmune hepatitis, arthritis, diabetes, and have recently noted some skin discolorations. I would like to know how others with these or a combination of these conditions are managing?

Autoimmune disorders?
Well, this is a complicating situation. I guess for starters, I would have to ask if you've had an ANA test done? For a true autoimmune disorder to exist, an ANA test would yield a positive test result.





I'm not sure if I would consider leukopenia a "true" autoimmune disorder, because the primary causes of it are exposure to certain diseases and medications. So, have you yet pinpointed the cause of the leukopenia? Either way, leukopenia exists when there is a lower than normal white blood cell count in the body.





Autoimmune Hepatitis occurs when white blood cells in the body mistaken healthy tissue as being foreign, therefore your immune system is attacking your liver...your immune system is confused.





Certain forms of arthritis are considered autoimmune disorders, such as juvenille arthritis, or rheumatoid. However, not all arthritis conditions are autoimmune disorders....nutrition, injury, age, etc can all cause arthritis.





Let's talk diabetes...again, it can be an autoimmune disorder, but depending on the type. Do you have type I or II? Type 2 isn't autoimmune related...but it can be caused by diet, weight, lack of exercise, certain types of medicaitons or other medical conditions.





So, as you can see, each of the diseases you listed have some things in common. Perhaps a past medication you took caused the leukopenia, which in return causes a flaw in your immune system, causing the autoimmune hepatitis, which messes with your liver and consequently caused diabetes, and the arthrits just fits in because your getting a bit older or from an old sports injury. That's just a scenario of the lines along which I'm thinking. Another scenario...autoimmune disorders can effect your entire body system as a whole, or one generalized body system. So, let's say you have a positive ANA result, which would make sense given the autoimmune disorder...autoimmune hepatitis...but let's look further at how this disorder is acting within your body. Initially, it would be thought of as effecting only the liver...but in time, even though it's not a disorder that effects the body as a whole, the effects of the disorder itself can cause other body functions or systems to become impaired...which could explain the diabetes...then stick a medication or illness you had at one point in your life and tada...you've now got leukopenia that's being directly influenced by another disorder that involves white blood cells.





So, in retrospect, I would spend time with a doctor, a specialist of course, to try to pinpoint the cause of these disorders. If you can narrow it down to one disorder being the primary source of the rest, then you know that treating that disorder rigourously could possibly alleviate the symptoms of the other disorders, if not get rid of them altogether.





And btw, skin discolorations can be caused by liver problems, or a whole other autoimmune condition itself.





Good luck managing your health, but I think if you dig deeper you will find that there's probably only one that you need to focus on managing, and in return, the other's will be easier to deal with.
Reply:a positive ANA is NOT required for an autoimmune disease to exist. They look for a positive ana with something like lupus but even then it doesnt certify a diagnosis.





Different diseases look for different immune markers. Report It