Confused

Hello, I am a new member here. I am a 31 year old woman. I have been having joint pain in my knees, feet , hands and wrist for over a year, I went to the rhumey and had a postive ana and a levated sed rate a year ago. Recentally, i have started having pain in my chest when i lay down and my knee pain is much worse. I am always feeling a little tired. I just went back to dr and ana was postive with a higher titer 1:160 and sed rate of 35. my hair is thinning aroud the front of my head, and i sometimes have a light redness on my cheeks at night. Dr said to go back to rhumey for lupus???? I just dont know what to think, anyones advised would be much apperc. Thanks

go back to the rheumy and if he or she does nothing find another who is a lupus specialist- make sure they treat mostly lupus patients not older people, no offense to older people but their problems are very different from lupus unless they have an autoimmune disease. Having a handful of lupus patients does not an expert make.

Hi Dennylynn,

Welcome to the board. Glad to hear you have an appointment with your Rhuemy soon, he/she will be able to run a full lupus panel and give you some more answers. To answer your question about pain and swelling, the answer is yes, you can have extreme pain and little to no swelling involved. Lupus is a very strange disease, it is not unusual for individuals to have different symptoms or results. I have severe joint pain, but very seldom get red or swollen joints.

As far as the chest pain goes, that could be a number of things, so it's good that you are going to see your doctor next week. Chest pain could be caused by inflammation of the lining in the rib cage and/or lungs. It could also be fluid in the lining of the lungs and/or heart. Does it hurt when you breath? Or more when you take a deep breath? I have been battling inflammation in the lining of the lungs and rib cage, it is very painful, and does hurt more when I lay flat. Some nights I sleep in the recliner because it is more comfortable.

There are some great links on this board that will help you find some of the answers you are looking for. They are at the top of the main lupus page. Also, the Lupus Foundation of American has some great information for newly diagnosed individuals. Here's the link if you need it: http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_about2.aspx?articleid=473&zoneid=23

Take care and good luck at your appointment.
Melissa