Why so many aneurysms?

[Guest jennybee]

I've been thinking about why mum has had so many aneurysms - more than an a dozen - and also about some of her other medical problems. Am I mad to think they are linked? Really bad scoliosis of the spine, varicose veins, bendy joints, bruises easily, bad teeth... I've read about a few connective tissue diseases/syndromes and it all seems a bit familiar. Does anyone know about underlying causes of these things? Am I just looking for an 'answer' when there isn't one? Can't believe it is just bad luck.

[Karen]

Hi Jenny,

I also bruise easily, veins burst and my teeth seemed to go kapput in my early 20's....especially during my first pregnancy. I'm now taking a calcium supplement, prescribed by the Doc, as my levels were critically low just after xmas and I was borderline as to whether I would have to go into hospital and be put onto a calcium drip. Think that I've had this problem all of my life......always been very stiff and very achey and my bones creak and crack when I move.....the Doc is testing me for absolutely everything now, but it does make you wonder whether there's a link. Does your Mum suffer from migraine?

[Joan]

Jenny - I had heard the same thing, suffer from a lot of the symptoms your mom has and am hypermobile (eg, double jointed) to boot. I struggled to get a medical explanation. But when I went to see the guy who operated on my knees (a degeneration caused in large part by my double jointedness) he knew all about it.

The way he explained it is that people who are very flexible are so because they have excessive collagen in their blood. On the upside, this can make them look younger than they are. On the downside, they tend to be clumsy, fall a lot (hence the injuries to the knee), bruise like a peach, drop things etc because, basically, their joints are not as "set". The other big downside, and its relationship to SAH is that it is, of course, the bloodstream that carries the collagen, and just as the collagen makes skin and joints "soft" it does the same thing for the walls of your veins. Hence a proneness to aneurysms. He (the surgeon) had seen it a lot, I gathered. It certainly was not news to him.

Don't know if this helps but for me, who is hypermobile, it explained a lot....

Joanxx

[Guest jennybee]

Interesting stuff - yes mum is also very 'bendy' so that all fits. I think there is a clutch of conditions which affect connective tissue - callogen in particular. And mum has had problems with one knee in particular! I think I might ask the doctors about it this afternoon. Thanks all - fascinating. Jenny.

[Skippy]

Hey

Yeah I bruise easily and am double jointed in my fingers. My mum is 60 and doesn't look a day over 50 - she has really good skin. As for the teeth my mum has one filling and one pulled. I have no fillings, never had one pulled and have all my wisdom teeth through so the bad teeth side of kinda puts me out of it.

Would be good to know if all those symptoms are linked though.

Sami xxx

[Joan]

I think the problem you will find is that while neurologists who deal in this area are familiar with the connectin between Marfan's Syndrome (similar to the hypermobility issue) they are less up to speed on the broader relationship with hypermobility. I eased their confusion by referring to myself as having "atypical Marfans" - eg, many of the symptoms but not the long, lean frame which is characteristic of Marfan's sufferers.

Interestingly, the hypermobility was first diagnosed when I went to the physio with a back problem. He asked me to touch my toes and was shocked when I put my hands flat on the floor. Asked if I had done gymnastics and I just laughed (I was a plump little person at that stage). Hence he probed further and discovered my extreme joint bendability...

JoanXX

[Skippy]

Hey there

I can put my hands flat on the floor when asked to touch my toes but I don't have the long lean frame (unfortunately) - like you Twinni I am a vertically challenged person not overweight - just undertall

Sami xxx

[sue]

Wow!

this is all so interesting, I have always been and still am very supple, I bruise easily and am often burstin little veins in my finger joints with no cause, am double jointed in my fingers, have bad knees (which I've always put down to my running days) My teeth are ok.

Joan you reminded me of myself when going for physio for my back problem, she was amazed when she asked toto touch my toes and I put my hands flat on the floor.

The only difference is my SAH was a Non A one.

Surely all this has to be linked though??

Suexx

[Skippy]

Hey

Either linked or a very scary coincidence. And I believe more in fate than coincidence.

Sami xxx

[Guest jennybee]

Wow - interesting to read all of this. I spoke to my mum's specialist yesterday about all of this. Asked if he knew about my mum's whole medical history - reeled off her list of things - and he said that it does sound like it could be a 'connective tissue' problem. There is quite a lot online about this although people with it can have all kinds of arterial weaknesses - often the heart is affected. Anyway - sounds like there is a link - but because the collection of symptoms (which can occur in combinations) are classed as a 'syndrome' they don't often get diagnosed. It doesn't offer any different treatment as a result, but could flag up issues that are helpful for the sufferer to know. I think it is also reassuring it might be a 'thing' rather than just random and unfortunate. Anyway, if I find out any more, I'll update the group, and if I talk to any of the other Drs I'll let you all know what was said. Mum having a coil put in as I type - they're trying another route as the they couldn't do it on Saturday. Fingers crossed, come on Mum. Jenny.