22-year-old discovers three autoimmune diseases in 6 months

Summary
Isabella Piscetta O’Keefe Levermann was diagnosed with 3 autoimmune diseases over a 6 month period: Crohn’s Disease, Psoriatic Arthritis and Psoriasis.

Isabella Piscetta O’Keefe Levermann, 22, discovered she has three autoimmune diseases within six months. The young woman from Santa Catarina shared on her TikTok profile how she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis.

Autoimmune disease is the term used to designate diseases in which the immune system – responsible for defending the body against invading bacteria and viruses – attacks the body itself.

In the videos she shares on her profile, Isabella says that the suspicion occurred in October 2022, after a week of persistent diarrhea. Upon making an appointment with the gastroenterologist, she was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but the symptoms worsened with treatment.

It was only after undergoing several clinical and specialist examinations that Crohn’s disease was diagnosed, in March 2023. Almost six months later, Isabella was again surprised with the diagnosis of two more autoimmune diseases: psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis.

“A lot of people talk about eating healthy, exercising, etc., but it’s completely unrelated. I always ate very well, I never drank soda, I exercised 2 to 3 times a week even as a teenager, anyway… I did everything ‘right’. In the end, it is genetics and some unknown factor that ‘activates’ the disease”, said Isabella on the social network.

@crohnntente this last year was a ✨wonderful✨ crohn ’s disease crohn ’s disease crohn crohns crohnsdisease dii inflammatoryintestinaldisease inflammatoryintestinaldisease intestine fy foryou autoimmune autoimmunedisease autoimmunedisease health treatment diarrhea intestine ♬ original sound – Bella

The diseases

A Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and can affect any part of the digestive system, from the mouth to the anus. It is characterized by symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue and sometimes fever.

A psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects the joints. It can affect any joint in the body, but usually occurs in the hands, feet, knees, ankles and spine. Symptoms include pain, swelling, joint stiffness, and changes in the nails, such as spots or dimpling.

A psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that causes red, thick, scaly patches to appear. These plaques can appear anywhere on the body, but are most common on the scalp, elbows, knees and lower back. Symptoms include itching, pain and peeling.