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@dadcue

Our autoimmune conditions have different names but our stories have many similarities. Saying that multiple autoimmune disorders complicated things is an understatement. My rheumatologist simply said it was "unfortunate" because I had a "full range of things going on."

I struggled with the idea that I had more than one thing because prednisone relieved the pain for everything inflammation related.. Prednisone never solved anything but it controlled the pain reasonably well. Prednisone was more like "palliative care" when there weren't many other options after PMR was diagnosed. PMR was added to a mix of other things 15 years ago.

For the last 5 years, I have been on Actemra (tocilizumab) which is another biologic that "suppresses IL-6 inflammation." I personally think Actemra does more than suppress the inflammation. Actemra seems to completely stop this inflammation pathway. I was able to get completely off prednisone and stay off several years ago for the first time in more than 30 years. Better late than never!

Prednisone never stopped me from having chronic inflammation. Prednisone just "mopped up" the inflammation every day and didn't stop anything.

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Replies to "Our autoimmune conditions have different names but our stories have many similarities. Saying that multiple autoimmune..."

I am so sorry that you are suffering so much. I hope you can get an answer after 30 years; that is just crazy! I couldn't imagine dealing with all that as long as you have. God bless you and I wish you better health and some answers to what is ailing you. I think I'm going to look into natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory foods and start making a concoction for morning breakfast. Maybe I could make a smoothy (no sugar) with blueberries, spinach/kale, etc. I don't like eating certain fruits and vegetables but this may be a way around that. My son's a Chef so I may ask him to fix whatever tastes nasty, probably everything, lol. I keep thinking of this story I read many years ago how a girl in her early 20's was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and how she formed a diet that was very strict but was overflowing with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory foods, etc. She actually put herself in remission and was cancer free. It can't hurt at this point.

I had Hoshimotos disease since 2008 (had a Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Cancer that was left undiagnosed and they didn't find out until after my surgery that it was cancerous; I knew it was cancerous by the way I felt. I was already having black outs from my thyroid crushing my wind pipe, but that's a whole other saga, geez louise that really sounds bad, but I guess time heels). Although I would never admit it to my kids (both have Special Needs and one is now completely self-sufficient, the other is still a project in the works), lately most days it's hard to get out of bed with the pain and get moving for the first half of my day. Here it is 2 pm and I'm ready to lay down. I'm exhausted just from vacuuming the hallway and doing a load of wash. I've been going to Physical Therapy post knee surgery, but sometimes I feel tired after that too. If I find anything that can be of help to any of us, I will definitely post it. There has to be something out there that is naturally healthy and is not another pill. My prayers are with you.