Could Your Health Problems Be Autoimmune Disease?

Autoimmune disease is essentially damage to healthy body cells and tissues caused by an abnormal immune response. The excessive immune response encourages your body’s immune system, (which is made up of organs, white blood cells, antibodies and specific chemicals) to lose self-tolerance – which means it no longer is able to differentiate between our own cells and foreign invaders, causing it to attack healthy cells, tissues, and organs. The body mistakes healthy cells for harmful threats and produces antibodies to fight them. This results in lots of unpleasant and debilitating symptoms that can have a major impact on day-to-day life. When our immune system works properly, it is able to identify which cells are our own and which are foreign so it can protect us against invaders that can cause illness. Here are some of the signs that you could potentially be suffering from autoimmune disease.

General Warning Signs of Autoimmune Disease

We all feel tired sometimes but with a lot of autoimmune conditions, fatigue is a constant companion. Extreme tiredness is one of the most common signs of an autoimmune condition. This is more than just feeling a bit tired though; it’s the type of fatigue that feels like it’s set into your bones and doesn’t seem to improve, no matter how much sleep you get.

Muscular and joint pain is another symptom of many autoimmune conditions and can stem from inflammation. A burning feeling in the joints and sore muscles (that aren’t linked to exercise or overexertion) can be linked to this. If you have chronic muscular and joint pain or you experience it in random flares with no obvious pattern (you’ve not been overdoing the exercise, for example), it could potentially be another warning sign. You may not feel like working out but studies show that a lack of physical exercise can make autoimmune conditions worse.

Always getting ill and struggling to shake illness off? Low immunity and always getting sick can be another warning sign of autoimmune disease. Common colds and viruses are the obvious ones to think about but this can also extend to yeast infections, sinus problems and urinary tract infections, for example. Typically, it will take longer to get better compared to someone who doesn’t have autoimmune disease.

Chronic digestive problems are another common symptom of autoimmune conditions and not just ones that affect the gut. Leaky Gut Syndrome is now thought to underpin a lot of autoimmune conditions and causes digestive problems. Diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas and stomach cramps can be linked to this.

Brain fog is a term used to describe an annoying ailment that impairs your ability to focus and process information clearly. The overactive inflammation that occurs in autoimmune disease can wreak havoc on brain function. Many of the top culprits of brain inflammation are: sleep disorders, eating the wrong foods, nutrient deficiencies, medications, toxins and infections. The immune response gets triggered and begins the cascade into autoimmunity.

Unexpected changes in your weight can also be a byproduct of autoimmune disease. Weight loss when you’re not dieting can be linked to celiac disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Grave’s Disease, to name a few of the autoimmune conditions that can be involved. Weight gain can be a factor in autoimmune disease and often goes hand in hand with fatigue.

Numbness and tingling in the hands and feet (and sometimes, elsewhere in the body) can be part of an immune response.

Noticed more hair coming out when you wash or brush it? Nutrition and hormone changes can be culprits but hair loss can also sometimes be a sign of autoimmune disease. Alopecia areata is an obvious one given that it is characterized by hair loss but other autoimmune conditions can result in hair loss too.

If you’re nodding “yes” to a lot of these issues, it’s worth speaking to a functional medicine practitioner about the possibility of autoimmune disease.

Warning Signs of Some Specific Autoimmune Conditions

Thyroid Problems

Thyroid problems are a fairly common autoimmune condition. The thyroid gland is involved in a lot of functions in the body, which is why it can affect your health in so many different ways.

Your thyroid gland can either be underactive and produce too little thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) or it can be overactive and produce too much (hyperthyroidism).

Some of the signs of thyroid problems include:

Unexplained weight gain as a result of a slower metabolism (hypothyroidism)
Unexplained weight loss, often while having a very healthy appetite (hyperthyroidism)
Muscle pain
Chronic fatigue
Bags under and around the eyes due to fluid build up
High cholesterol, which can be linked to high levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) according to some studies, although this is less likely with minor hypothyroidism
Depression (more likely with hypothyroidism)
Anxiety and panic attacks (more likely with hyperthyroidism)
Dry, brittle hair + nails (more likely with hypothyroidism)
Constipation (more likely with hypothyroidism)
Loose stools + IBS type symptoms (more likely with hyperthyroidism)
A hoarse voice
Heavy menstruation (more likely with hyperthyroidism)
Very light menstruation or your menstrual cycle stops completely (more likely with hyperthyroidism)
Swelling in the neck or feelings of fullness in the neck (can happen with both thyroid conditions)

Hashimoto’s

For people with Hashimoto’s, the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland. This can lead to symptoms of hypothyroidism, in which the thyroid gland becomes underactive and doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone.

Some of the symptoms of Hashimoto’s can include:

Weight gain
Fatigue
Muscle + joint pain
Feeling cold
Constipation
Hair loss + thinning hair
Heavy and/or erratic menstrual periods
Slow heart rate
Depression

Lupus

Lupus symptoms can range from pretty mild to very debilitating, depending on how badly you’re affected. It’s not uncommon for symptoms to flare up and then die down again for a while, why is one reason why lupus can be difficult to diagnose in the early days.

Some of the signs of lupus can include:

Swollen joints
Fatigue
Fever
Breathing problems, including pain when you breathe in
Skin rashes, particularly a “butterfly” rash over the bridge of the nose and cheeks that may precede a flare up or appear after being out in the sun
Hair loss
Kidney problems + kidney inflammation
Digestive + gastrointestinal problems
Thyroid problems
Dry mouth + eyes

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia symptoms can often be dismissed as arthritis but it’s now thought that the condition starts in the central nervous system, rather than the joints.

Some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia can include:

Chronic pain
Fatigue
Sensitivity to touch and feeling pain when anything makes contact with your skin
Brain fog
Tingling + numbness
Excessive sweating
Changes in the way your muscles and joints work after moving between temperatures e.g. getting a stiff neck or headaches after going out into the cold from being in a warm room or vice versa
Abdominal pain
Digestive problems and/or changes in bowel habits

If you think that you might be experiencing some of the warning signs of an autoimmune condition, speak to a functional medicine practitioner. Common symptoms of autoimmune disease can cross over with a lot of other health problems so it’s super important to get an understanding of what the underlying problem(s) may be.

As you see there is a lot to learn on autoimmune conditions, and in turn, your overall wellbeing to support your immune health. It may take some time to get to the root cause of your autoimmune condition, however, if you are intentional and work together with a licensed practitioner for professional recommendations you can begin working on the changes to support your immune health a lot quicker! Any wellness plan needs to be individualized specifically for you and this is done with testing and your medical history; don’t go in guessing. Once you begin to make small lifestyle changes the benefits will leave you feeling physically and mentally strong and balanced!