> Barbara,
> I showed the members my family with autoimmune diseases, but I didn't
> say that I had mononucleosis at the time and a flu shot about 6 weeks
> before.
> It is probably that we all have a deficient autoimmune system ands there
> is someting that triggers it: a disturbance of the spinal cord,
> internal(virus,flu shot, needle....) or external(stress, falling, being
> hit). Due to the disturbance, our body is not able to fight it due to
> the defective autoimmune system.
> Something like an allergy. A person is fine until a certain pollen that
> he is allergic to is in the air and then the body reacts--sneezing.
> John
>
Good explanation.
You know, I had one neurologist whom I only saw one time for a second opinion
at Emory say that TM was an allergic reaction. But he and one other person on
the list a long time ago are the only ones I've seen or heard to say that. I
think that may have played a part in my wondering on the list a few weeks ago
about a connection between TM and new allergic developments. But the general
consensus was that the two were probably not connected.
Years and years ago, before TM, I had a mole removed and developed what the
dr. said was a bigger scar than I should've -- she called it a keloid. She
said it was very unusual in fair-skinned people and that it was an over-
reaction of the body, making it produce more scar tissue than normal. I had
forgotten about that, and even though it is a little thing, it makes me wonder
if that showed a propensity in my body that later manifested itself in TM.
That may be a stretch, I don't know. That (the scar tissue production) is not
exactly an auto-immune thing, I don't think.
I think Ann's right about all the conflicting opinions out there in the
medical world. The spine and nervous system and immune system seem to be such
difficult areas to study.
In light of all that had been posted here today about past illnesses and
injuries of the TM patient and auto-immune illnesses of relatives, I hope if
anyone ever does a full-scale, detailed, thourough study of TM, they include
those factors.
Barbara H.