When someone asks me to tell them all of the conditions that I have, I always hesitate.
It's a pretty long list, and even reading it back myself, it just seems completely unbelievable.
I can just picture people sitting at their computers, reading the list and thinking 'yeah right - she is probably a hypochondriac'.
Well I'm not.
And the diagnoses have all been made by specialists - by more than one specialist for each illness.
It's also why they are going to see if I have an immunodeficiency. That would explain why I have so many illnesses that are not even necessarily connected.
I mean, if you didn't know me, would YOU believe this list?:
Crohn's Disease, Chronic Pouchitis, C1-INH deficiency and Hereditary Angioedema, Chronic Migraines, Psoriasis, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, early onset Macular Degeneration, Tachycardia, Endometriosis and Severe Chronic Pelvic Pain, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Raynaud's, Recurrent Pancreatitis, Lupus-Like Syndrome, Sjögren's...
I think that's it. Plus allergies to medications and a couple random foods and substances...
How would you explain that list to people? There are illnesses on this list that would be devastating just on its own... So how in the world do I get diagnosed with all of them?
Seems unbelievable.
If they do end up diagnosing me with an immunodeficiency, at least it may help explain why my body can't fight off any inflammation or infection. It would explain why inflammation in my body almost surely becomes a chronic problem.
Unbelievable.