Agent Orange/Dioxin related illnesses

Posted by Tiffie @tiffie, Mar 19, 2012

I know this is a touchy subject for many, but I am still looking for answers. My trip to Jacksonville helped with some, but not all. I am suffering from a mystery illness and it seems to be related to my father's exposure to Agent Orange. Me and my sister both have the same symptoms, except she is more advanced. My niece is starting to show the symptoms. In my search online, I have found many other children of Vietnam Vets going through this. I guess I'm just wondering if there are any here, and if so, do you have a diagnosis yet? I have some such as fibromyalgia and connective tissue disease, but it doesn't cover all of the symptoms. The symptoms are very ms like. I am 35 years old and some days have to use a walker. I fall. I lose feeling in limbs. I can not even hold a job right now. I have met many other children who have had a wide range of illnesses and birth defects. I know a lot of us are suffering from mental illness including bipolar. I'm bipolar myself. But I have that answer. I want the answers for the pain and weakness and fatigue. I plan on revisiting the mayo clinic after I get better insurance since new symptoms have come on since my last visit. I know they did everything they could. I know my local doctors are. I'm just hoping to get more information to take to both there and my local doctors of people with similar symptoms and had a hard time getting diagnosed. My own research on dioxin is showing that these are very common symptoms of it. So just wondering who else is in the same boat.

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Tiffie | @tiffie | Mar 20, 2012

So I went to the rhuematologist today for a follow up. After witnessing some of my newer symptoms, such as electric shocks throughout the body, she wants me to come back to the mayo clinic and to call my local neurologist for a lp. Of course, she didn't offer to pay for either rofl.

fieldsofdream@hotmail.com | @fieldsofdreamhotmailcom | Mar 24, 2012

In reply to @tiffie "So I went to the rhuematologist today for a follow up. After witnessing some of my..." + (show)

Hi Tiffie... My husband was an Agent Orange Veteran who was treated at Mayo in Rochester, and succumbed to A/O related cancers 5 years ago. All 3 of our children have chronic health issues. My son in paticular has symptoms that you describe.... severe intermuscular & joint pains that have defied definitive diagnosis since he was a kid. The children & grandchildren of Vietnam Veterans have a myriad of illnesses & medical conditions that could well be related to their parent's toxic exposure. I've been involved with an on-line organization called Agent Orange Legacy for several years, fighting for health insurance for the children of Vietnam Veterans... the Legacy has been compiling a data base of all the illnesses of our children... you may want to check it out agentorangelegacy.com You'll find plenty of us in the same boat, discussing Agent Orange & our related health issues there, looking for answers. Agent Orange Legacy can also be found on Facebook.
There's also a more recent activiist offshoot of Legacy that can be found on FB called Children of Vietnam Veterans, working on this same issue. http://www.facebook.com/COVVHA with a little different focus.
Good luck to you.

N.p.Truong | @nptruong | Mar 28, 2012

Hello Agent Orange recepients,

We are more than happy to provide you with information about the data we have collected through our National Birth Defect Registry. On our website we have a fact sheet about this. Birth Defect Research for Children has collected data on thousands of cases of children reported by their parents to the Registry. The suggested pattern of adverse outcomes includes increases in learning, attention, immune and endocrine disorders .

This last year, our organization has submitted a Visionary Idea to National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIESH) to develop a Center to provide diagnosis and treatment to Vietnam Veterans’ children with structural and/or functional disabilities. If adopted this idea would become part of the NIESH Five Year Strategic Plan. Even though our organization has submitted the idea, it is not certain that the idea will be approved. The Vietnam Veterans of America have also made the Centers Project part of their legislative agenda .

We would also like to encourage you to register in our National Birth Defect Registry if you have not already done so, this way we can further our research and project development. Please let us know if you would like to join us in supporting the “Children’s Center” project and we can suggest ways you can help.

With Best Regards,

Nina Truong
Outreach & Development Coordinator
Birth Defect Research for Children
976 Lake Baldwin Lane, Ste. 104
Orlando, FL 32814
http://www.birthdefects.org
Tel. 407-895-0802

1970vietnamvet | @1970vietnamvet | Mar 30, 2012

You are not alone. I am a Nam Vet, (1970) and have Type II Diabetes, pereipheral Neuropathy in all 4 extremities and a host of other problems. My 38 year old daughter has MS. She was diagnosed on her 21st Birthday. She started with occular, migrane headaches. She gets a infusion once a month for an hour and must sit still for another hour. My son has had allergies almost from birth and asthma from shortly there after. My two grandchildren also have asthmatic problems. There are over 12 cancers recognised by the Veterans Administration that are regarded as being presumtive for our exposure to Agent Orange, (actually it was the Diioxin created in cooking the Agent Orange). The latest conditions are Parkinsons Disease and isthemic heart disease. Go to Vietnam Veterans of America, click on The Faces of Agent Orange and be horrified by the stories of our children and grandchildren. They are stories of the ones that lived. I can't tell you how many still birtgs happened to veterans wives. Please check it out.