Lupus Symptoms in Women

She has been sick for 2 years and was diagnosed yesterday. I educated myself about Lupus before and after she was diagnosed.. But I am in the panic stage and I don’t know what to do. Tuesday I should find out what her doctors plan is.. Advise? Words of wisdom you wish you had known when you were new to this? Helpful tools? Warnings? Anything? Please.

I was diagnosed three months ago after a year of illness. I have been on prednisone, Plaquinil (sp) and methotrexate. My symptoms are still uncontrolled and I am still in a huge amount of pain with my right hip, knees, and both ankles. I am terrfied I am going to get hooked on pain meds, but there is no way to make it through the day without them. So, if what I am now is not controlling it, what is usually next?

Just diagnosed yesterday….I am 33 and a mother of a four year old and 19 mth old. For as long as I can remember I have always been tired but recently it has gotten a lot worse. That along with constant pain onto entire right side led me to seek medical attention. Right now, as I’m trying to process what this all means, all I can do is feel extremely sad. Only because I want to be an active mother for my children. Dr said its mildly active, so that’s a good thing right? I don’t want my kids to grow up thinking mommy is sick. But I also have read over doing it can make it worse? Is this true?? How do I know if I’m over doing it???

I would love to hear other moms stories and tips on how to adjust to this new life….

Hi All,

I was just diagnosed with discoid lupus.

Hi fellow lupies!

I have been diagnosed with SLE for 3 years now and I feel like my doctor does not know me. I am 23 and I know I have baby face, but my doctor does not know my age! On multiple occasions she has told me that I dont need to do certain tests because I am 16 or 17 and am too young for them. Since she never remembers my age and always asks me the same things, I lost my trust in her. Also, she never really explain things to me unless I go to my appointment with a list of questions. I have to look for answers on the internet and really do research to understand better by condition. She never sat with me to explain me anything or to give me pointers on what to expect from lupus when I was diagnosed. She is nice but I have the feeling that she is not the right doctor for me. Does any of you know good Rheumatologists in Houston, TX?

Thank you!! I hope you can help me!

-YSMY

After a few months of feeling like I couldn’t share the flu, I went in to see my primary care doctor. She referred me to a rheumatologist, and I’m waiting for my appointment in a few weeks. The wait is killing me.Meanwhile, my blood work came a few days ago, & I’m preparing myself for a lupus diagnosis based on the following results:-Positive ANA-High DSDNAI also have more than four of the 11

Hi everyone,

I am a 27 yr old male (of european descent).

I was recently diagnosed with SLE 2 weeks ago. It all started with what I thought was the flu in mid Jan, prescribed Tamiflu (which didn’t help). Every 2 weeks after that I would have joint pain in my right knee, eventually came down with a fever again and my knee got really swollen and I couldn’t move it at all.

2 weeks after that my left knee began showing the same symptoms, and also occurred every 2 weeks, but the last occurence was after a month free of flare-ups.

Doc wants to start me on Plaquenil 3 times a week to see if the flare ups subside. Waiting for the okay from the eye doctor, but the fact that the meds can cause photosensitivity, liver/kidney problems, and in rare cases vision loss is a bit concerning for me.I really dont want to start a life long medication if it is not absolutely necessary especially with side effects like that.

I am unsure if I can go without the meds if my flareups stop occurring, or reduce in frequency, or if I am I putting myself at risk of having vital organs randomly affected.

I am going for a second opinion on the 20th to see if its conclusive. Just wanted to join these forums to get some info and hear other peoples stories as well. I know my story is fairly mild compared to others I have seen here, and my heart goes out to those people, it is extremely difficult compared to my case.

Any information is appreciated. TIA.

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Hello everyone,

To say that I am freaked out is an understatement.

The rheumatologist our doctor sent me to diagnosed me with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis two weeks ago. It took me a week to even summon the guts to fill the Pacquenil prescription, and another week to start taking it.

I’m an author. I love what I do, but my job is a ball o’ stress. (Deadlines, deadlines and more deadlines, especially in 2013.) I’m freaked out about what will happen when the health insurance company finds out what’s wrong with me – will they cancel our insurance? My husband and I have had a conversation about what this means for our family right now, but I have no idea how to tell him what flares are and how I can manage my health so I can reduce them.

Please tell me it’s normal to be scared and confused. I’ll own the “too chicken to fill and take the prescription” one myself.

-R

Hi, I am 28 years old. Here’s a brief history, and I am just curious if there is anyone out there who can relate and I can talk to about all this. I don’t really have anyone around here and I mostly keep all my personal “health” stuff to myself. I have always been chronicly constipated since birth basically. Scopes and tests done… they figures out that my intestines just don’t want to contact normally like they should, but are healthy and normal and don’t know why. I have had severe chronic migraines from early teenage years, that’s nothing new to me. Just a headache anymore. Been on countless medications and nothing helps. I gave up long ago on trying to fix it. Kidney infections were a constant thing. So much that as soon as the antibiotic round was finished it would come right back. Had scopes and tests done. Biopsies… but to no avail. Now the drs are saying that all the infections over the years have started causing damage with my kidneys. Still can’t figure out why though “I’m just prone to infection.” Fast forward… 1st pregnancy. PRETERM LABOR- stopped my labor 38 times!!!!