Autoimmune Disease Symptoms

Autoimmune disease symptoms are far and wide and often it can be very difficult to connect a symptom to a specific disease. The average person sees 5 doctors and it takes 4 1/2 years to get a diagnosis. And even worse, many clients of mine have had their diagnosis change over time as symptoms change or they see new doctors. This is both stressful and frustrating, especially if you are taking medications for one thing and then it turns out that isn’t the issue.

Yes, there are some autoimmune diseases that have obvious symptoms. I think Type 1 diabetes is probably the easiest to figure out.

For me, my first autoimmune disease I had about 15 years and countless doctors before it was diagnoses as endometriosis (but I was not told this was an autoimmune disease until I was in menopause!). My second was about 3 years, but by then I had learned to advocate, to ask lots of questions, to continue to seek out new doctors until I felt I had gotten to the bottom of my problem.

Autoimmune disease patients are often made to feel like they are crazy, they are hypochondriacs, or told that it is just “part of getting old” - ugh. Our medical schools are great at teaching doctors to see symptoms and prescribe a pill, shot, or surgery. The schools are not great at teaching them that we KNOW our bodies, we KNOW when something is off, we KNOW intuitively we should be able to help heal ourselves for many things through proper diet and lifestyle. I actually had one doctor laugh at me when I told her I was not planning to see a rheumatologist, but that I planned to heal myself. That was 2016, never seen one, hope never to, never taken meds…healed myself with food and lifestyle.

There are many symptoms of autoimmune disease. If you have random symptoms that doctors discount, or tell you to take NSAIDs for, or loose a few pounds, or get used to it you are getting older, or whatever, then read on.

Symptoms of Autoimmune Disease:

• Joint pain

• Low grade fever

• Consistently low body temperature

• Fatigue

• Brain fog

• Gas

• Bloating

• Diarrhea

• Constipation

• Skin rash

• Dry skin

• Swelling

• Allergies

• PMS

• Consistent poor sleep

• Low blood sugar

• Low blood pressure

• Anxiety/Depression

• Weight issues (up or down)

• Difficulty loosing weight

• Yeast infections

• Muscle pain or stiffness

• Gallbladder disease

• Thyroid disease

• Constant infections

• Moodiness

As you can see the typical symptoms of the 125+ autoimmune diseases are widely varied and it is easy to see why it takes so long to get a diagnosis. If you have a few of these symptoms for a week, it probably does not indicate an autoimmune disease. But, for those of us that have several symptoms for years, that warrants further investigation and testing.

There is often no one test to do to get a clear cut diagnosis. Type 1 diabetes is probably the easiest to diagnose with one test. But a good place to start is to keep a journal of your symptoms and the severity of them for a few weeks/months. Talk with your doctor, share your journal and inquire about getting both the CRP (C-reactive protein) and a ANA (anti-nuclear antibody) tests. These two blood tests are inexpensive and can often tell you if you have systemic inflammation and if you likely have an autoimmune disease. They will not tell you which one you have. That takes further detailed testing and symptom investigation. If your doctor won’t do the tests or tries to give you medication without testing…find a new doctor.

But WHATEVER autoimmune disease you have they can ALL be helped by lowering inflammation through diet and lifestyle changes. I cannot speak highly enough about the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP). This is the program that changed my life and that is why I now help others to regain their health using this elimination diet. This is not like being vegan or the type of diet you stay on forever. Just the opposite. It is meant to be a short term diet to allow your digestive system to regain balance, to heal, and then you reintroduce foods and see which ones you thrive on.

I have a program under “Online course” called Aloha AIP, or you can reach out if you are interested in learning more.

Much aloha and health.