Lupus Symptoms in Women

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!!!!

April 11, 2013

I am a 16 year old with lupus. I have been going through bouts of not eating. It lasts a few days and when I get this way I have diarrhea as well as nauseousness. I want to eat but nothing sounds appetizing. It is so frustrating and I was wondering if anyone else has this issue. All responses are appreciated

I also recently found out I have Lupus. I don’t really know how to deal with things. it just seems like things are going from bad to worse. I hurt ALL the time. I sleep ALL the time. My wife says she understands now why I don’t do as much as she would like me to do around the house, but she constantly argues with me about what I don’t do. I feel so helpless.

Hi everyone!

I’ve posted in these forums a few times and have always gotten great opinions from everyone. I’m hoping to get some more help from all the lupus veterans out there!

Hello Everyone,I’m Heather from San Diego, CA. I was just diagnoised after two frustrating years of this rollercoaster. For over a year the doctors kept telling me I had Fibromyalgia. Which I was being treated for along with chroonic migraines. In July of last year , I was laid off from work and lost my medical benefits, however I did manage to get gastric bypass surgurey done. So with the weight off I hoped this would get better. Boy was I wrong. At the begining of this years things started to kick into high gear and kick my butt ! So now I’m 31 and diagnoised with Lupus as well as Fibromyalgia. So I have started the new meds, Methotraxte and steroids, just last week. However, I am loosing wait faster than I did after the surgery and feeling so overwhelmed and exhausted. I have two young kids, 7 and 8. I have been off work for the last two weeks and hoping to go back soon.

I’ve had my diagnosis for nearly a year. In some ways finding out I have Lupus was a relief because it explained the weird illness I kept coming down with. In hind sight, those were major flare ups. I had no idea.

The whole Lupus thing started about a year after I completed chemo and radiation. I thought it was related to the cancer treatment, that my body just couldn’t shake off the after-effects.

Since I was dx I have taken things easier so that I don’t have the huge flare ups anymore. I pretty much spent a week of every month in bed before that, for five freaking years.

Now I sleep longer, later, ignore the dirty floors and that the dog needs a bath. Or, I put my minions (kids) to work. Right now my two oldest minions (son and his fiance) are dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming. Earlier I was in the kitchen cleaning my kitsch, but I had to come sit down. My poor body started screaming, “ENOUGH!!” at me.

Because of my physical condition I haven’t held a regular job in years. I did play piano at a local church for 2+ years but in a move that really showed to me the lack of faith in God the church board has, they let me, the janitor, and the buildling insurance go at the beginning of this year because they don’t “have enough pledges”. Wow. Pledges? What happened to faith? But, that’s another rant I won’t start on.

My fuzzier half is self-employed.

Insurance? What insurance?

My poor PCP is having to act as my Rheum. He’s the one that dx me. I had this stupid rash on my neck that wouldn’t go away, it felt scaly and bumpy, was raised, red, and omg was it itchy. NOTHING I put on it made it better.

Because of family history I thought it might be psoriosis if it wasn’t an allergic reaction to something. I couldn’t wear necklaces anymore because when it did fade if I wore a necklace it came back with a vengence. That’s very annoying as I am rather fond of accesories and embellishment.

Larry, my dr, after a chat about those other things that had been going on, looked at the rash and said, “Huh. I’ll be right back.” He went for his camera. Never a good sign, right? He looked at it again, took a couple of pictures and said, “That is neither psoriosis nor a rash, I think you have Lupus.”

Well, knock me over with a feather. I’d looked at the symptoms for fibro a couple of times, but my symptoms didn’t fit the criteria. It had never dawned on me to look at Lupus.

Now, one of the weird things is that while I do get the butterfly rash, I never get it on my face (thank you, God). I get it on my neck, arms, breasts, and abdomen. ::shrug:: How weird is that?

I went and gave blood yesterday to one of the office vampires to check my kidney function, cbc, and I don’t know what all.

Another thing that’s weird is that sunlight does not adversely affect me. I can aboslutely broil myself and I’m fine. Let me dust too much though and I go to bed >< I am thankful for this because I have a Rx to get 15 minutes of sunlight a day to help with the depression (which predates the Lupus by many, many years).

I’m glad I’ve found y’all But for now I’ve got to go drag the past bag of perch hubs and I caught last fall out of the freezer and get them thawed for dinner. Ummmmmm, fish!

My name is Jennifer- I live in PA, I came to this site to get a better understanding of my disease or however the doctors call it. I have Lupus Anitcoagulant, which my doctors still tell me I have Lupus-because it affects my blood, because I am also on Xerlto, it is a blood thinner I had blood clots in my legs that almost killed me, so I am just looking for friends or people that have this and can help me better understand, I am 27 years old and I have a 3 year old son and I would like to have one more.

Any advice would be helpful this is scary for me

Hi! This is my 1st post, I just joined. SLE runs in my family. Lost my mom to it as well. I am 36 and have just been tested positive for ANA. This past Friday I got more bloodwork done and will get the results this coming week. Aside from feeling tired and weak, I have no other specific symptoms. I saw a Nephrologist because I had protein in my urine, but he stated if I indeed have SLE, it’s not affecting my kidneys (normal function). I am very eager to get my results. I am 100% sure I have SLE. Oh, my CRP is

I was diagnosed with Lupus this week. I am very familiar with Lupus as my mother and sister both were diagnosed. My sister was diagnosed 5 years ago and luckily has only been affected by hair loss. My mother however, was diagnosed 15 years ago and passed away 10 years ago. She had sever organ damage and was in the hospital and in commas for her last three years. I have major joint pain, confusion and memory loss, vision problems, lung and heart inflammation and am going in tomorrow for more testing for other organs. I am very scared. I understand that my mother was a very extreme case, but I feel very overwhelmed and scared. I have been strong and positive for my family because I have five children I don’t want to worry. I am open with my husband and he is supportive but it is still very hard. I broke down today and cried all day. I know I need to be positive and move on with this, but in this initial phase I am jut very overwhelmed and terrified. I guess I’m just here for support so I don’t feel so alone. Everyone in my family is so terrified because they associate Lupus with everything my mother went through and part of me does tok. Just hoping to find some tips to get through the initial shock. Thank you all.