Related Diseases
It is common for people who have an inflammatory or autoimmune disease to develop another autoimmune disease. Doctors sometime refer to this as overlapping with another autoimmune disease. This means that they have symptoms of other diseases that do not fit directly within their main diagnosis. Sometimes they will develop a second disease, such as fibromyalgia. When this happens, most doctors refer the fibromyalgia symptoms as being "secondary" to their main disease (Still's.. RA).
There are several members in the group with Still's who also suffer from fibromyalgia. "Fibro" is a painful condition, sometimes the pain can even be worse than the pain from the Still's. We wanted to add information on fibro since it affects so many.
Also, some of the complications of medications that we have to take for Still's can lead to other medical conditions such as osteoporosis and AVN. (Avascular Necrosis, meaning bone death) It is good to be aware of these conditions and what contributes to them. They are diseases that can be prevented if proper caution is taken when your doctor has you on long term steroid use. Doctors are just now starting to admit some of the horrible side effects from long term use of prednisone. Prednisone is like a double edged sword, most of the time we need to take it to get the disease under control, especially the fevers and systemic symptoms. Everyone is awarde of all the common side effects of pred such as the "moon face", increased appetite, acne, mood swings, excess facial hair, thinning of the skin. And while they are bad enough to have they aren't critical. There are other effects of prednisione that are much more serious and this is why most doctors try their best to keep the steroids as low as possible and short term. Long term use, and even short term use with high doses can cause osteoporosis, diabetes, and avascular necrosis. Many, many people who require joint replacements actually need the replacememnt because they developed avn in the joint, blood supply was cut off and the bone died causing rough, wear and eroding the surface leading to pain and difficulty in mobility. It's ironic with RA and still's, they very thing you are trying to prevent, your joints from deteriating can actually be caused by the medication given to control the disease. AVN does not happen to everyone who takes prednisone in high doses or long term. But it is something to be aware of.
Anemia and depression are two of the conditions that often result from having a chronic illness. I thought it would be good to add some info on that also,
The antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, is something that may be positive in some people with rheumatic conditions. It can be associated with ANA negative lupus, but it can also be associated with other illnesses. Even Healthy women can have positive results. These women who are APA positive are at a higher risk for miscarriages, however most women do not know they have the antibody until they have had recurring miscarriages. This is one of those tests that I am positive for. My RD says it could be a connection to the Stills, or not. It could just be that I have that antibody. It occours more commonly in women of European decent. There is some good information about the syndrome here.
