Developing New Comorbid Conditions Pre-ME?

[Wishful]

The new resource paper for diagnosing and treating ME included a section on comorbid conditions that should be identified and treated. One of the conditions is 'new or worsened allergies'. I was allergy-free until a year or two before my ME triggered into full-blown symptoms. I thought it might just be a normal aspect of ageing (I was around 38 then). However, now I'm wondering if people with the predisposition to develop ME develop some other health issues before the ME fully triggers. I know it's really hard to clearly identify a direct link to ME, and it's fairly easy to mistake coincidences as real links, but I think it's worth thinking about.

So, did you develop any surprising new medical problems within a few years before your ME fully triggered? Ignore anything that had a clear cause, such as chemical or radiation exposure or microbial infection, or hereditary predisposition. I'm asking about the head-scratching "Why did I develop that?" type of condition.

 

[Moof]

Interesting thought!

I didn't – I was a healthy 17-year-old when I got ME. I didn't start developing allergies (tree pollen, latex, nickel) until my 30s, and then a food sensitivity appeared out of nowhere in my 50s.

The only things that predate ME were hypermobility and autism spectrum disorder, both of which other family members had.

 

[Wishful]

Hmmm, I should have checked for the prevalence of adult-onset allergies before posting. Apparently it's fairly common to develop them in the 30's or 40's. So, probably just coincidence for me, although maybe developing it was either 'one more thing' that biased me towards ME, or a sign of weakening systems, which biased me towards ME.

Well, maybe something will show up in this thread anyway. Science is about asking questions. Of course, there's an art to asking the right questions, and to recognizing the right answers.

 

[Pearshaped]

I had bladder issues for almost a decade before ME.I often couldn't empty my bladder completely,or couldn't emptying it at all for hours(painful!) or i had to pee all the time.
docs kept telling me the same(your bladder has"sunken down" seems to be overstretched and you should more drink and must not hold it up.)difficult with a busy job.they never questionend it as part of something could be wrong..

 

[Rebeccare]

I never had warts for the first 18 years of my life. Then, a few months before developing ME/CFS (maybe 3-6 months?), I developed warts all over the bottom of my right big toe. In the end the warts covered the entire bottom of my toe, as well as a few other places on the pad of my right foot and my heel. It was bad enough that the dermatologist I saw took one look and said something along the lines of, "I'll do the best I can" in a not-very-hopeful tone of voice.

After treating the warts religiously for over a year they went away, and I never had a problem again. I have often wondered whether or not there was some connection.

 

[Judee]

I'm not sure this counts (so I didn't vote yet) but we stayed in a hotel when we moved to this state and the next day I was covered in huge hives.

We thought it was just nerves because I was to have my first trip on an airplane that day however, within the year, I developed knuckle sized lymph nodes in my neck, a huge sore on my chin that was not from any fall or injury (bite location from possible bed bug bite or ?), and strange aching in my legs that a doctor suspected was juvenile arthritis. A couple years later, I got mono and the start of ME/CFS.

 

[Zebra]

I've got a weird one for you @Wishful!

Four years before I got sick with ME, I developed BOILS. Actual boils!

They came completely outta no where. I was a young, healthy, highly physically active professional women when they occured. It was the strangest thing.

I learned, after the fact, that they were not properly treated, so I've always wondered if that played a factor in my many health issues I developed in the years that followed.

I wish there was a boil emoji I could use to illustrate just how GROSS they were! ☺️

 

[Wishful]

Yah, getting boils for the first time after never having them as a kid would count as surprising. I did get them as a kid, and still get them on rare occasions. I suppose it signifies a change in the skin microbiome, which in turn might be affected by changes in diet, activity, stress or whatever.

 

[Moof]

I wish there was a boil emoji I could use to illustrate just how GROSS they were! ☺️

Not quite boils, but....