New to Lupus

Hi lori, welcome to the forum. Tell us about yourself. There are a lot of good people here to help you through this.

Welcome to the club! I was diagnosed nearly 2 years ago, but didn't talk to family and friends about it for 4 months (I was traveling and doing research.) I look at dozens of books about it, but I didn't want to read one written by a doctor. Finally, I found a book in The First Year series. It's written by a patient, but with a doctor, so everything is medically correct. It is an awesome book that walks you through the first year after your diagnosis- what to expect, what questions to ask, what to be worried about (and not worried about.)

This forum is an awesome place to get questions answered and concerns voiced.

Hi im new to this site and would really appreciate some advice on lupus from someone that understands, as i seem to have the symptoms of it. i must add that my doctors are useless and very unhelpful.

I'm 25 and have a bit of a medical history. I was firstly diagnosed with glandular fever at 16, tonsillectomy, then bowel adhesions, gallstones with surgical removal (also adhesions all over my diseased gallbladder), raynauds disease with nodules and finger ulcers.

Since my cholecystectomy 2 and a half years ago i am having the same pain and symptoms, which showed up to be another stone in my common bile duct, which has yet to be removed.

My ANA antibodies came back positive 1.80 recently. For the last year i have really bad headaches, dizziness, fainting spells, blacking out, increased heart rate, low blood pressure,blothy and or sore raised lumps on my skin (much worse in the sun), joint and muscle pain, no energy, nausea, severe night sweats, blue hands and feet in cold weather, swollen feet and hands in warm weather, a swollen parotid gland for several months flaring up randomly. The list goes on. I saw a rheumatologist who diagnosed the raynauds disease and took my bloods, however when the ANA Antibodies came back positive they said i 'may have a mild connective tissue disease', and i am still awaiting a follow up appointment with the consultant.

Also, for the past two years my whitecell count, calcium and ferritin have been low. with a low urea and chloride also.

I am so fed up. Does anyone know what the best course of action is, for other bloods or scans?? I would just like to get a diagnosis so i know what exactly im dealing with. Also has anyone else had any of the same complaints?

Please help!

Hey sicklyone and wolf! Welcome to healing well! Don't really have time to say much right now except this is a wonderful forum filled with supportive and kind people! The people here are what helped me through the most challenging part of my lupus so far! Hope to get to know yall better :)

hey again :)! I did not have any problems before I started having lupus problems. I started out in extreme pain one day and 3 months later had my lupus diagnosis. Before that I maybe got a good cold once every other year or so!!!