I saw an article about the nuns, but I guess the person that was writing it was using it as an example of meditating. They were saying the nuns they studied had practiced a certain type of meditation daily.
I bet not having children is probably part of the reason, but I wouldn't rule out meditation as part of the reason. Just from my experience with anxiety I realize how powerful "mind over matter" is. I've given myself real symptoms of diseases I don't have.

Plus, the clergy are supposed to be the happiest people when grouped by careers. This is coming from the Oprah Show, but I find that a reliable source!

Hmmm... good question with the nuns. One has to wonder...

We'd need a population of women with the same underlying genetic risk factors who didn't get pregnant, and to measure their rates of autoimmune and hypertension.

I wonder about the lower rates of hypertension in nuns. I don't think it has a thing to do with the fact that they're living a "stress-free lifestyle", because the controls who didn't have children also have lower rates of hypertension.

So true.. which did come first the chicken or the egg? How will we ever know?

That is *so* the question researchers are asking - chicken, or egg?

Either this was a genetic tendency of yours unmasked by pregnancy, and you would have developed it in any case, or the trophoblastic cells from the pregnancy have triggered autoimmune disease. I am not entirely certain that those are not *the same* explanation, in a way. The genetic predisposition to be annoyed by your partner's trophoblasts (if they are the right sort of trophoblast to annoy you) would be underlying, but would also only be triggered by pregnancy by the right partner. Unless they want to say that a baseline rise in inflammation as you aged would *also* annoy your immune system - which is a different trigger, but very similar.

Anyway, they don't know.

Do you think the fibro was always dormant and HELLP brought it out or do you think the HELLP caused the fibro?

You know, your underlying disorder is probably fibromyalgia.

I can relate.

Oh, we should really be related. I woke up today with a pounding heart and a panic attack. I did a cardio at-home work out and that helped a lot. I think what feeds my panic attack is the fact that I think it is happening because there is something wrong with my heart. My sister gets them, too. She won't even drive she has become so paranoid. I refuse to get that bad.
Yeah, I always try to hide my crazy, but I feel like people must know.

I feel like I was 95% sane before I had my son. Now it is more like 5%......

I should stick to beta fish, I guess, as well.