Worried

yes i have lichen sclorous and yes i was told to stay at home but i also see my dermatologist twice a week for the lightbox . so i really try not to be out very much.

yes i have lichen sclorous and yes i was told to stay at home but i also see my dermatologist twice a week for the lightbox . so i really try not to be out very much.

yes i have lichen sclorous and yes i was told to stay at home but i also see my dermatologist twice a week for the lightbox . so i really try not to be out very much.

I never thought about this and being more at risk now I feel sick thinking about it.

hello and hope everyone is well....I am NO doctor BUT there r thousands of people with auto immune conditions and absolutely no one has mention that we r more at risk than anyone else....the MOST important thing to do no matter who u r is to "ISOLATE" yourself...all this 6 feet distance yourself....why take any chance...just stay at home...IF u must go out wear a mask and have rubber gloves on...get your food for a few days and then just "stay at home"....wash your hands and clean ALL surfaces if u do go anywhere...stay strong and positive....(and did I mention - Stay at Home)...

following this discussion

Hi Fiona, there is a lot of fear mongering out there so we have to be careful to not allow that to throw us out of ourselves. Stress is one of the biggest factors that affects our immune system. As to whether you are more at risk that is a question to ask your medical practitioner as it will depend more on your treatment plan and drugs being taken.

The main thing for me to accept in all this is that I have to take extra deep care of myself more than ever before to keep stress and anxiety at bay. It's more obvious now but it has always been something my body has been asking for. Take deep care of you and keep in touch with your treating doctor ... even a phone call to their office to ask may be all that is needed to put you at rest xx

I don't see what LS has to do with corona virus. You are not taking any oral drugs to lessen your immune response, are you? If you had a disease like lupus it might matter, but what we have is nothing as serious as that. Looking at the graphs of ages of people who contract it it doesn't even seem that being post menopausal even matters that much. Maybe we older folks get a more serious symptoms, I'm not sure, but younger people definitely are getting it.

What we have to do is stay away from people till the curve blunts, whenever that is! Right now we're working on 2 weeks.

I'm sure if any of us gets it we will feel pretty miserable which might set our immune system into high gear in which case it could maybe cause a flare up if you tend to get them. I'm just guessing, but it seems not unreasonable that it would happen. We just need to focus on staying in as vickie says. ..and staying sane! It's pretty easy to stay occupied on the computer. Then there's nuisance tasks we have been avoiding. If it means protecting our heath along with everyone else's it isn't such a big sacrifice really. The biggest problem is people who are selfishly flouting the restrictions. I'm in the US and am listening to Drs Fauci and Brix who clearly know what they are talking about. (The clown on the podium I am ignoring).

letters are being sent out via gp to all those that are high risk. so in doubt speak to your health provider. Theres alot of rubbish advise out there at the moment.

Hi Fiona,

I completely understand your concern.

There's a specific post been doing the rounds online this week regarding people with autoimmune conditions. I'm not sure if this is what has prompted you to ask the question but here is the post I refer to which i've copied directly from a friend's page who happens to be an NHS nurse:

Quick lesson about autoimmune diseases. It takes an average of three years and five doctors for a person to get a proper diagnosis of an autoimmune disease. It is a disease where instead of your white blood cells protecting your body from invaders, they turn around and attack your cells, tissues and organs. Chronic fatigue is another symptom. It is not a cold or the flu, you will never get better, and even a nap will not help. Just eating a salad and hitting the gym won’t slim your face or get the pounds off. Sleeping 10 hours doesn’t leave you well rested, ever. The last minute changes in plans because that “just got ran over” feeling never makes appointments, it just walks in whenever you aren’t ready. Painful joints, muscles and bones, dry skin, breaking hair, hair loss, mood swings, and depression are just the tip of the iceberg. You are also prone to having multiple autoimmune diseases, they typically come in pairs of two. You easily catch viral and bacterial infections. You have days where no matter how hard you try, you just can’t smile for anyone.

I urge you to think twice before passing judgment and thinking our nation is overreacting to the extra measures being taken to curb the spread of this virus. YOU might be able to recover from it no problem however, carry it to someone with an autoimmune disease and that individual won’t be as lucky.

Please copy and paste in honour of people suffering from: Rheumatoid Arthritis, POTS, MCAD, Sjogren's, Scleroderma, Hashimoto Disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Sarcoidosis, Hepatitis, Raynauld's Syndrome, Diabetes, Mold Illness, Celiac, CROHN’S, Ulcerative Colitis, Pemphigus, SPS, MS, PBC, Psoriatic Arthritis, CIDP, MMN And GPA

Some of us will with LS may not have any of the above mentioned autoimmune conditions but some will have because they commonly come hand in hand. I have none of the above however, I developed psoriasis when I was 7 years of age, and I was also diagnosed as having endometriosis 10 years ago, the same year I was diagnosed with LS. My immune system clearly works against me. Based on the fact that 'our' immune systems don't respond in a way that is 'normal', and this is the reason why we have LS in the first place, I think it's only natural that you're concerned about COVID-19. However, if your body hasn't been put under massive strain from something like chemotherapy or similar, or you don't suffer from another chronic deteriorating condition then my hope is that we're not at any more risk than the next person.

Try your best to not worry or have increased anxiety over it. Stay safe and well.

xxx

I started a thread on this : 'Immune supporting supplements" and asked the same question. 2 people have been told we are at higher risk because our immune systems are 'compromised'. However, no one is immune from coronavirus so I can't see why we are more at risk unless it means that we could get a more serious case of it and not the mild variety.

stay at home and keep safe everyone

Hi Fiona,

Possibly. I'd put us at just slightly higher risk. However many people have a wide variety of conditions that put them at much higher risk level than we have. I have a theory that was supported by at least one functional medicine dr. IF LS is an auto-immune disease which is the prevailing cause in the literature, then our immune system is fighting the body, perhaps because it has nothing else to fight. When I caught a regular cold a few weeks back, my skin pain and discomfort lessened significantly. My theory is that the body had something significant to fight and so left the genital skin alone. The FM doc said yes, he agreed. It's like catching something real (virus/bacteria) reset the immune system. It has been 3 and a half weeks since I got over the cold and the skin pain is still decreased. I would not worry about this virus because we might have an autoimmune dysfunction. There is a theory that says we are in better shape because the immune system is hyper-vigilant. But good nutrition and supplementation is essential. Nancy KB on here has some good recommendations.