If you have been following along, you will know that I have several chronic conditions - some of which are not AT ALL connected with each other - but always include inflammation.
Doctors are consistently stumped by my case and can become frustrated while trying to find a common connection or all-encompassing illness.
During a visit to one of my doctors (one of my internists), my doctor used the term 'cellulitis' at one point. Now, of course, this just means inflammation of cells, but she was referring, specifically, to the bacterial infections and skin abscesses that 'pop up' (hehe, pun intended) frequently, and the fact that I have to be on long-term and continuous antibiotic use to keep it under some control.
But when she said it, something else struck me.
What if the primary immunodeficiency my doctors are looking for originates directly within the nucleus of every single cell in my body?
Rather than the causes of inflammation being attributed to the specific organs affected, what if the answer lies in the very makeup of each of the cells in my body? As one of my specialists has suggested, this would indicate a 'software problem' - an illness based on flawed DNA.
It would make sense why I have inflammation and illnesses that seem to have no connection whatsoever. It would explain why the hereditary diseases have never been shown to be severely symptomatic in my parents, or in my brother. It would explain the 'disappearance' of the diagnosed Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis back when I was 17 years old. It would explain why I have so many different issues spanning every body system.
PLUS -
Although seemingly paradoxical, it could actually explain why my C-Reactive Protein* is not always high, even when there is visible and confirmed inflammation in several organs at the time of bloodwork. If every single cell normally carries inflammation, then my CRP levels may not be elevated during flare-ups - because my body already sees the inflammation as always present in normal-functioning cells.
It could also explain the lack of fever when battling an infection -> again, if the inflammation is constant at the cellular level, then only extreme (and new) viral or bacterial infections would actually activate my system enough to present with a fever. It also explains the notion of my body fighting itself off. Each cell contains inflammation, and each cell wants to fight off every other cell that contains inflammation - which would be ALL OF THEM. It would even explain my 'normal' immune response to vaccinations and the normal levels of B cells and T cells while in the presence of deficient NK cells.
If this winds up being a breakthrough, I claim credit, and still want to name the primary immunodeficiency:
Schmidt's Cellular WTF.
(Widespread Tissue Failure).
*C-Reactive Protein levels are tested through bloodwork, and high CRP levels indicate the presence of inflammation in the body. For example: most IBD patients who have this bloodwork done, while in a flare, will almost definitely have high CRP levels.