The RunDown

Told I had JRA as a child (but not treated, told I would outgrow it)
Was an active adolescent despite that (soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, long walks, dumbbell exercises, etc)
Felt ok at 16 (assumed it really did go away)
Started suffering bad fatigue at 17 and noticed that taking showers hurt my skin bad (my mother assumed I was making that up and I was just lazy)
Had a severe reaction to a tetanus vaccine right before my 20th birthday
Had my impacted wisdom teeth cut out right after my 20th birthday, swelled up more than most people and bruised all the way down my neck)
Kept feeling like I had a virus coming on (though it wasn't)
Began to mention strange symptoms to drs (who at first brushed it off)
Was sent from specialist to specialist with no conclusions drawn
Began to be so sick that I was in and out of ERs
Lower abdomen swelled up suddenly one night (and never deflated)
Began to get rashes
Began to experience tight feeling above lip and in hands (which is how I got the uctd with scleroderma-like symptoms diagnosis at 22)

Well, that's the basics. Eventually I wound up going to the best rheumatologist in the world (three cheers for Dr Wigley).

Besides the illnesses I mentioned in my last blog, I have hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, hypotension, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, Raynaud's, GERD, IBS, plantar fasciitis, edema, ulcers (though they've healed), some rashes (eczema and other types), asthma, etc