Adult suvivors of Rhesus Haemolytic Disease

I am so happy to find your post. it has given me comfort and reason.

I, too, am a RH baby.... third child, full blood transfusion, 3 months incubator.

My whole life I have suffered emotionally and mentally. I am now 63.

At my age I have enough history to see patterns and consistencies so as to draw some real insight.

I've lived a troubled life.

It just recently dawned on me that perhaps my ever-present sadness and intense need for love and affection, might have to do with the whole RH thing.

If so, yay, it relieves me of taking responsibility for who I am and feeling bad about myself. I don't create or control my moods... they are there all on their own.

It does make total sense that a being created under such distress and then born to abandonment would suffer unpleasant consequences.

Thank you.

Hi I have just found this discussion group. I started to Google the affects in adults who were rhesus babies after my recent blood test showing yet again my ferritin levels are low and my mum saying I wonder if it could be to do with me being anaemic when I was born due to my mum being rh negative and my dad positive? I have suffered a few years now with my ferritin levels and who knows maybe even longer as my ferritin was never checked until I saw a doctor who said it was just as important to check your iron stores. The reason I saw my doctor was because of extreme tiredness etc and from there I've had just about every test possible I think with no explanation as to why my ferritin drops. It has gone down to 4 at its lowest this time it was 6. No wonder I was feeling so rubbish. anyway im just wondering could this all be connected to being a rhesus baby I didn't have to have a blood transfusion but was over night in special care. I can't find anymore on this which is frustrating and wonder if my doctor would even know anything?

Thank you for reading

It seems many of us have very similar symptoms. i was born in 1975 in Germany with severe jaundice and needed a full blood transfusion pet in an incubator with lights for 2 weeks. I had clicky hips and a dislocated shoulder. in my teens I was diagnosed with double joints and as an adult I have had multiple issues affecting my health quite severely. for the last 4 years I have been passed from pillar to post however over the last couple of months I have had the following diagnosis by rheumatologist consultants

HYPER MOBILE JOINTS SYNDROME & POLYARTHRALGIA, BILATERAL OSTEOARTHRITIS in SACROILIAC JOINT. INTERVERTEBRAL DISC DEGENERATION & RETRO-LITHESIS and MULTI LEVEL FACET JOINT OSTEOARTHRITIS IN MY CERVICAL SPINE. CARPAL TUNNEL IN BOTH MY WRISTS.

I HAVE HAD HIGH HEMATOCRIT, high red blood cell count, high urate, high hemoglobin in my bloods for years. I have low bone density osteopenia, vitamin d deficiency, folate deficiency, severe asthma, eczema and dermatitis. I have suffered with IBS for years and have had a recent FIT Test which is positive for bleeding in my bowel. I am under urgent referral for further investigation and colonoscopy as it could be suspected bowel cancer. I've worked all my life up until 18 months ago however I've always suffered with low immunity picking up frequent chest infections as well as having cellulitis in my skin 4 times. the list is endless needless to say I don't feel very good on a daily basis hence me pushing for diagnosis and tests because I want to know what the problem is here and I have a feeling it's all linked to the rhesus disease when I was born. if anybody is aware of any research that is being done on this subject where we could direct all this information I'm sure that would be a great help? additionally if anybody's got any further information that might help me going forward please feel free to let me know 😁 thanks in advance and happy new year 😁

I am seventy years old and just recently became aware of the ramifications of being the fourth rh positive child of an rh negative mother. I know very little of my infancy other than I was very jaundiced and was hospitalized in a coma as a young toddler with a "blood issue", and nearly died. I was told by my older siblings I was a very sick baby and they alternated taking care of me. I remember terrible constant earaches as a young child that still continue intermittently to this day. I have asthma, COPD, numerous airborne and antibiotic allergies, gluten and lactose issues, joint issues, ADHD, and depression that took numerous years to learn to manage, along with my other issues. My major question is do any of these issues, i.e. allergies, liver and digestive issues filter down to my progeny. I have three sons (all rh positive) with continued various health issues similar to my own.

I am so glad I found this forum! My brother and I both were blood exchange babies in 1969 and myself in 1977. He passed away at age 29 with nephritis, but was never well growing up. I have been a medical mystery to all my doctors since 2008. They all swear I suffer with an auto immune disorder but can't seem to give me firm diagnosis. I have been anemic my whole life and stay in chronic pain due to inflammation in every part of my body. All I want are answers. Hoping and praying for the right doctor soon. Happy I'm not alone...

Interesting, I was born in 1958 and my older sisters always mention waiting for me to come home from hospital following my birth. My mother later explained her blood was trying to kill me due to antibodies and she hated the injections they gave me in my head! Not even sure what that would have been in 1958! I found the tag from my toe when I was a baby and it is marked Rh -. Never mention it when I go to the doctor and I wonder if I should. Would hate to think there was something waiting to surprise me down the line. I can't say I have had any issues described in this post but I am having some problems now which are under investigation though I suspect more to do with age than any other cause. My mother passed away following deterioration due to dementia in 2015 so I do look for warning signs there too. If there was any link I would very much like to know.

I'm nearly 44, and currently getting psychiatric assessment which will probably pick up ADHD. I'm a third born child, my older sister was jaundiced at birth but I'm the only non-neurotypical one in my family. I was transfused and spent weeks in the neo-natal unit. It only ever occurred to me to look for a link yesterday after donating blood. They have to check every time that my transfusion doesn't exclude me from donating. I feel like I'm piecing together a giant jigsaw of my life that up until now I was only able to see small parts of, but they're adding to a bigger picture.

Hello, I am the daughter of an RH-mother. I suffer from severe food allergies, learning differences, anxiety, chronic fatigue, joint issues, ADHD, lupus, RA, and now suspecting dystonia. After learning my body was attacking itself, I came to the conclusion that it was due to my mother's blood. I have two schizophrenic brothers, two sisters who have mental health issues as well. There needs to be more recent studies done on the long-term health effects of RH+ children born to RH- mothers. I'm glad to know that I am not alone.

I just had a heart braking moment with my 15yr old daughter who was an RH factor baby. She also was also in the hospital 17days after birth.

She showed me a video about Harm ocd. that describes a lot of her behavior she's had since she was able to express he emotion. she also suffers from depression, anxiety and learning disabilities. on the outside she is looks normal and is high functioning . so I decided to see if there were any long term affect that that would fallow an rh factor baby into adulthood. Your writing was the first iv come across. please if you ever come across more information feel free to send it my way. I want to do everything I can to help my daughter feel happy and understand why this is going on and what I can do to help.

From my reading you are right, that these issues stem from Hdfn. I still trying find more information on this. I was born in 1961 and it was relayed to me that I was second infant in the United States to have a total blood transfusion, that I was in the hospital for three months. One of my reading stated the fast they they do the transfusion the less issue you have later in life. I have had issue pot up all thru out my life and they don't go away. I think whoever followed my medical health up until I was around twelve. I use have to go have blood drawn and I did not see doctor before or after. when was twelve they took to have blood drawer couple month in roll and ask why. I was told they lost my last blood draw and they wanted to see what type blood.

so the question now is, what about this COVID-19 shot. I think will not be good to us. Frankly I think will kill us.

From my reading you are right, that these issues stem from Hdfn. I still trying find more information on this. I was born in 1961 and it was relayed to me that I was second infant in the United States to have a total blood transfusion, that I was in the hospital for three months. One of my reading stated the fast they they do the transfusion the less issue you have later in life. I have had issue pot up all thru out my life and they don't go away. I think whoever followed my medical health up until I was around twelve. I use have to go have blood drawn and I did not see doctor before or after. when was twelve they took to have blood drawer couple month in roll and ask why. I was told they lost my last blood draw and they wanted to see what type blood.

so the question now is, what about this COVID-19 shot. I think will not be good to us. Frankly I think will kill us.

From my reading you are right, that these issues stem from Hdfn. I still trying find more information on this. I was born in 1961 and it was relayed to me that I was second infant in the United States to have a total blood transfusion, that I was in the hospital for three months. One of my reading stated the fast they they do the transfusion the less issue you have later in life. I have had issue pot up all thru out my life and they don't go away. I think whoever followed my medical health up until I was around twelve. I use have to go have blood drawn and I did not see doctor before or after. when was twelve they took to have blood drawer couple month in roll and ask why. I was told they lost my last blood draw and they wanted to see what type blood.

so the question now is, what about this COVID-19 shot. I think will not be good to us. Frankly I think will kill us.

I am a 51 year old male who has been searching for answers about the complications surrounding my birth. Just yesterday my mother finally told me she was Rh negative. At first I didn't even know what that ment , but after doing some research it fills in alot of blanks. Low birth weight, seizures, autism, learning difficulties. The doctors diagnosed me with Hypoglycemia. What I don't understand is why they didn't include the Rh factor in this diagnosis. My mother told me after my brother was born she became pregnant again, only to miscarry. My brothers blood type is O neg. From what I read her body accepted his fetus just fine. She claims the miscarriage she had before I was born caused her to develop antibodies. ( you know, the deadly kind) I believe she said they gave her the vaccine then and told her she would never have to receive it ever again. Then in 1970 I was born and I was under 3 lbs. I has a seizure on the second day of life and I think since then it's caused alot of my issues. Thankfully I don't suffer from seizures anymore but for half my life I've had questions. So glad I found this site. sorry for the book I just wrote. trying now to understand as much as I can.

i was born in 1963 and my mom was told I was borderline transfusion so they opted to just treat the jaundice with the lights. I was anemic and i had 3 surgeries to try and fix the strabismus, no enamel on my baby teeth, i have a large heart and liver. I suffer with depression and I have ADHD. I have gotten worse with age and struggle with chronic pain in my joints and bones and severe neuropathy. I have degenerative disc disease in my back and symptoms similar to Rheumatoid arthritis, MS and Lupus. i have damage to the white matter in my brain that have been progressing. I don't sleep well ans exhausted all the time. It is so frustrating to not be able to get a diagnosis or actual treatment plan. The doctors are always stumped by my case. It was my mom who found this forum and it is nice to not feel alone or crazy.