Stress and WG

[tussin]

Hi everyone, thankyou for this great site.

My name is Rob. I will keep this as brief as possible. I live in Derbyshire, England. Last year my sister Catherine died of WG.
We didn't know what it was until it had gone to far and the hospital had not seen a case of it for over 3 years.

Catherine was very private person. We found paperwork in her personal belongings which showed she had been going to a clinic to receive counselling for severe stress, she didn't tell my parents and they still don't know. She had suffered some bullying at work in the months leading up to her death and my parents were also being dealt with badly by some people so I think this was stressing her out.

Now for your help I hope.... Does anyone have some information I can see on the effects of stress with WG? I have read a bit about Dr. Robert Spieria and his findings. I am trying to find out what role the stress she was under affected her with WG. Did she already have disease and this was a flare caused by stress? Or can severe stress bring on WG? Many on the site suggest that stress causes them to have flares.

Any information on this or links to research articles on it would be greatly appreciated. Catherine was only 41 and its hard to have her gone and not really know much about what caused her death or how it came about.

Thankyou to anyone who takes the time to reply, and I wish you all well in coping with this horrible illness.

Rob

[Alias]

There may be others, but the only specific study I am aware of is Spiera's published in 2011. Sounds like you have seen that. Anecdotal evidence from this forum alone certainly supports a link between stress and symptoms. In my case I was under severe stress at the time of symptom onset.

[mishb]

Hi Rob.
Welcome to the forum but I am so sorry that you have reason to be here.
My sincere condolences to you and your family on the loss of Catherine. I'm sorry WG was found too late

In my case, I believe that stress was the actual trigger for my WG diagnosis, and although I have never had a flare, I believe that stress is one of the main culprits for a relapse in the vast majority of flares.

I hope some of the clever technical people come along soon and direct you to some research in to this matter.

All the best with your research

[Dirty Don]

Stress was a huge part of my early warning signs...and I ignored them...don't do that! After much discussion with docs, it has been 'suggested' that the stress I was dealing with (or not!) induced panic attacks first, then, being wrapped up in those, I ignored other signs, ended up in ICU. Do not ignore your stress...it does cause extreme effects in the body...including magnifying the results of WG. Best to you.

[annekat]

Welcome, Rob. I'm so sorry for the loss of your sister. I am in full agreement with those above who believe stress played a big part in the initial presentation of WG, whether dx'ed then or later, and also has a big role in later flareups. Stress may play as big a role in many other illnesses. It is unfortunate that this is not taken seriously among the general public and complaints of stress making us sick may be met with doubt, negativity, and the statement that "everyone has stress". Everyone may have it, and anyone can get sick from it, in my opinion, including those who make light of it. Some of us are just luckier than others in that respect. Sorry I can't give you specific references but I hope others can. Best to you and your family.

[drz]

It is generally accepted that stress has an adverse affect on people and often is a primary factor contributing to many health problems but often they are other factors involved too.

[Alysia]

Dear Rob. I am sorry for your loss. May dear Chatherine rest in peace. If you want, we can light a candle in her memory on the weggies map. (Need to ask andrew or vdub).

As for wg and stress, not sure about the following, try it:

How stress affects your body - Sharon Horesh Bergquist | TED-Ed (http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-stress-affects-your-body-sharon-horesh-bergquist?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=lesson&utm_term=science)

[andrew]

Hi Rob and welcome. Very sorry to read about the loss of your sister. Can't imagine what that's like.

As for stress, I'm sure it has something to do with WG - more as a trigger for what's already idling, waiting to be given a push start. At the time of my diagnosis I had been working a hugely stressful job with 'challenging' clients, had troubles at home and had no life outside of work seven days a week. I believe that this is what triggered my WG. It happened near the end of a 20-month stretch in this job. I'd had symptoms for four or five months prior to diagnosis. Ever since then I get sick - normal sick not WG sick - when I overdo things. That never happened before. I've had my share of stresses since as we all do but they haven't produced another WG attack. This may be because I've learned to deal with stress differently (probably not) or more likely that I've been on WG meds at the time. I am however of the belief stress is what kicked it all off.

[vdub]

Very sorry, Rob. I put a candle on our map for her. 41 was far to young.
https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=242717#

[tussin]

Thankyou to all who have replied with their kind comments. It seems stress is a definite factor in either the initial onset of WG or causing flare ups in ones who already have it, or probably both. I take a measure of comfort in knowing that had Catherine survived she would have been in a bad way as it had damaged her kidneys, lungs and heart. I wouldn't have wanted that for her. Having said that it would be nice to see and speak to her again.

Thanks once again for your kind replies and the fact that this support forum exists must be a real help to those of you who have this illness.
I really do wish you all well.

Rob