Dubai resident launches autoimmune disease support group, offering hope to affected individuals

A new support group has been created that claims to be Dubai’s first community for people navigating autoimmune diseases.

British expat Daryl Grigaravicius says her venture named Stride is not just a passion project, but it’s born from her own health journey.

Autoimmune diseases are a diverse group of disorders in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells and tissues in the body. Autoimmune diseases are generally more prevalent in women compared to men.

Narrating her story Daryl says almost a decade ago, she was introduced to a world that she never expected to be a part of, when she got diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.

But as a result of her own struggles, Daryl decided to pioneer a group mobilizing efforts to address this issue as a community, creating pillars of prevention that may be overlooked in mainstream medicine.

“The company conceptualised beginning of the year and started putting the word out four months ago and then really building the community only recently. I only started the WhatsApp maybe six weeks ago. We're now nearing 40 participants already. There are different types of autoimmune disorders and it’s lifelong. This is something that is not going to go away,” she adds.

The Dubai resident explains her mission is to create a supportive and inclusive community for individuals living with autoimmune disease in pursuit of empowered health.

They aim to simplify the vast array of information, present key insights, and offer practical steps towards symptom management and self-healing.

She adds, “Currently autoimmune is incurable. So, you need a clinical circle support to help you through it, learn with you because chronic fatigue is one of the major complaints that people will talk about. Therefore, you're not always in the right mindset or have the energy of educating yourself. So, if you can have someone to help you with that, that's beneficial. We run support sessions, educational workshops and activities making sure that we always place an emphasis on fun and enabling people to feel like themselves. We try to give you the power to become your own health advocate.”

Daryl recounts the circumstances that led her to embark on this venture. She says, “So as a young person just starting out my career…I began in finance, studied business at university, so it was a natural progression. This went on during my early 20s. Even then I had symptoms which were typically related to Crohn's disease. But later all this aggravated. I had symptoms like cramping, bleeding, going to the bathroom multiple times a day, regular hospital visits and as an inpatient as well. I was getting admitted to hospital at least once a year until 2022. It’s been a decade that I've been dealing with this now.”

She says she was on countless medications, from steroids through to heavy duty drugs. “They're called biologics and they're immune suppressants. I always dealt with severe side effects throughout my health journey. The medications just failed time and again.”

In 2021, after Daryl gave birth, her health spiralled downwards with debilitating joint pain, chronic fatigue, neurological symptoms, skin sensitivities, and issues with internal organs.

“it was six weeks postpartum, when I began experiencing really serious symptoms and was getting dismissed by doctors because it was being related back to postpartum issues. It was related back to my Crohn's disease as well and I was being told that my disease is dynamic, and this is to be expected.

My labs were ‘normal’, and I was discharged from hospital without any solutions or diagnosis. I hit rock bottom. Like many others in my situation, conventional medicine left me feeling dismissed, helpless and lost.”

Diet and lifestyle factors are significant in managing symptoms

While identifying root causes of autoimmunity is difficult, genetic factors, environmental toxins, inflammation and viruses could be some of the attributing factors.

Having been a patient herself for years, she highlights there is growing evidence to suggest that diet and lifestyle factors play a significant role in the development and management of chronic diseases, including autoimmune diseases.

Daryl then trusted her instincts and her body. “I embarked on a journey to educate myself, embraced food as medicine, and made significant lifestyle adjustments. Nutrition and immunity are closely related with much of the immune system. Now I'm about to launch what I'm calling the 14-day autoimmune challenge.

Science says 80 per cent of health starts with small choices we make every day. Stress management, such as meditation, yoga, or cognitive behavioural therapy, can also be beneficial. Adequate sleep is vital for healing and recovery,” she adds.

ALSO READ:

• ‘Brain on Fire’ doctor to head advanced neuroscience institute at Abu Dhabi hospital

• Abu Dhabi: Hospital treats patients suffering from rare life-threatening disease

• UAE