My grandmother and a cousin both developed severe rheumatic autoimmune diseases after pregnancy, when being previously fine before pregnancy. I have not been able to find any additional evidence of pregnancy causing an autoimmune disease to develop, but am wondering if anyone knows of a link between the two, either clinical or anecdotal.
I realize that pregnancy has effects on women who already have autoimmune diseases, but am trying to weigh the risks of developing an illness from being pregnant.
What happens is that the disease is not active, but there, and flares after the delivery. Autoimmune diseases are "triggered" and often dormant.
I have RA. It was triggered by strep throat at age 27. I probably got it at about age 23, when it was assumed I had carpal tunnels from being a pastry chef. Turns out, after having the electrical test for carpal tunnels, I didn't have carpal tunnels. I was experiencing the beginning of my RA those years back, without the full-blown symptoms I had once the strep throat came along. Now I have the full-blown RA.
Keep in mind that giving birth is a traumatic event to your body and trauma can cause an autoimmune disease. People have been triggered into RA by car accidents, believe it or not.
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