I just found out my mother had it. I and my son both have auto immune disorders. Mine is under active thyroid and my son has ulcerative colitis. Do we need to get checked out
Hi,Wendy,
My mother and grandmother both had LS....so it can be hereditary. However, when my mother had it and grandmother, it was called Leukoplakia...white patches. I have had the white patches for years and years but no other symptoms, then two years ago I had what my dr. thought was a terrible yeast infection, and a year later another terrible yeast infection....but it wasn't a yeast infection either time as I now know...so I don't know if the white patches always are LS or become LS or if LS just becomes acute..not sure if I spelled that right....
I suppose if you have white patches on your bottom area, it would be a good idea to go to a dr. for diagnosis. Then again, I can't say I know for sure if LS always always starts with whitening of skin areas....I am sure others on this forum will add more information for you.
Thank you so much Patricia. I will head to the doctors and have a chat. Will also talk to my son. I don't have any symptoms uet but trying to learn about it in order to act if any symptoms occur
There are lots of letters h ere already written by women who have been dealing with LS for years and years. If you read through those, you will already answer a lot of your own questions, and also be armed with some questions for the dr. if you decide to go for a checkup. I only found this forum a week or so ago and have learned so much more than my dr. told me, and learned even better ways to use the steroid ointment than my dr. told me, and other ways to lessen the worry and fear. So read all the letters before you do anything else!
by the way: the link to the entire LS discussion is under the "Related Information" link down below this box....that's where you will find lots of info. If you already know that, sorry. I only mention it in case you hadn't noticed...
Wendy, it would be a good plan to see a gynaecologist or a dermatologist. If your GP doesn't diagnose LS, that doesn't mean you don't have it. Many GPs are not aware of it.
Thanks for that Morrell. Is it something you carry and can be diagnosed prior to spots appearing!
Thanks patricia. I might have been told but forgot how to find it till now. Will look there too. I too have my monthly checkup with my Womans Dr tomorrow.
No, it's usually a visual diagnosis and biopsies only detect active disease. You really don't want a biopsy if you don't need one. Any skin trauma can trigger a flare in LS patients. (It's called the Koepner phenomenon.) It hasn't been proven to be an auto-immune disorder, but at this point it appears likely, especially since it often happens to people who have other auto-immune disorders. Very little research has been done, since it's quite rare and mostly happens to women, who often suffer in silence. There's no funding for any major research on LS now.
Hi patricia. Are these patches areas on skin with no pigmentation? Also my father had terrible eczema on his body for years and then ten years ago i heard my brother had to be circumcised because his foreskin was stuck which caused painful sex. My dads eczema looked like white scaly patches on his skin and it drove him insane at times.
Wilma
My gynae said psoriasis and LS are 'related'. I have both. Psoriasis can be white scaly patches. Your brother's stuck foreskin is classic male LS. My grandfather's 'eczema' sounds like your dad's.
So would it be fair to say its a family genetic problem? My daughter has skin that scars terribly and although very slim her body is covered in stretch marks. I just wonder if its all connected some how.
My aunt has LS My Father had ulcerative colitis
Think his was because he was a roaring drunk though
It's all linked with hormone levels, auto immune in my opinion. X
I suspect bad skin runs in families. My sister has terrible psoriasis on her scalp.
It is a shock and worry as my mother had LLS I have an under active thyroid iand rheumatoid arthritis. my son was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when he was only 19. I think it will be a trip to my dermatologist soon
hello Wendy...would you explain what LLS is? I know what LS stands for, as, unfortunately, I have it! But I am not familiar with LLS...thank you so much,
Sorry it was a typo
Oh, I'm glad it was a typo! I thought maybe you had a more severe case of LS and it had to be called LLS.....
Hi Wendy
I am not sure if LS is hereditary although I strongly suspect it is. I know other auto-immune disorders go hand in hand with it. I suspect my Dad's mother had it. She had lots of creams in her bathroom. I noticed her skin pigmentation was strange with area's of lighter patches which were more noticeable when she tanned. They weren't the classic totally white area's usually seen with vitiligo (another auto-immune problem) but I have since developed the same marks on my arms and my dermatologist has diagnosed it as a type of vitiligo.
She was also diabetic which I myself have now developed since having LS. There is a known link to Ls and diabetes. People with Ls can go on to develop diabetes and other auto immune problems, or may already have them. I believe the auto immune process is where the body's immune system attacks it's own cells. It seems to attack the pancreas amongst other body parts possibly causing the diabetes. I am not sure which came first the Ls or the other auto immune problems I suffer but I strongly suspect that I had Ls as a young woman, totally undiagnosed for many years, as I often tore during intercourse and was often very sore after. I can only assume in my case the Ls was present from childhood and I was maybe even born with it.
In saying all this my Nan lived to 84 and was quite mobile and mentally alert to the end. She seemed to enjoy life to the full and I won't mind if I am like that. I can't say my father had Ls but he did have diabetes from the age of 40 and an 'Itch' that as children we joked about. How I wish I could talk to him now!!!
I think this is a brilliant conversation. It may throw up ideas that we can all talk to our specialists about.