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Test results point to Lupus

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Lupus
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Posted 9/8/2015 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

I am hoping someone can help point me in a DIFFERENT direction, however all of the research I have done thus far is pointing to Lupus. Though I have not yet received a diagnosis from my doctor, the last two strings of blood work are showing positive ANA and RNP as well as low cortisol. I am unsure if these results are related, but from what I have read, positive ANA and RNP in conjunction point to Lupus.

I am a 37 year old female, experiencing mild to severe muscle and joint pain, abdominal pain, confusion/memory loss, especially during increased activity at work, and emotional hypersensitivity.

My family has a history of autoimmune disease, including Lupus, MS, and Parkinson's, so it doesn't really surprise me that I may have an autoimmune disease, however I have had no skin issues, which seems to be the hallmark of Lupus.

Can anyone please give me some insight as to whether this likely IS Lupus, or if these symptoms may point to some other auto-immune disease.

I have not yet made an appointment with a Rheumatologist, but will be doing so this week.
Posted 9/8/2015 10:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Worrisome! I am relatively new here as well and I am waiting on my first Rheumatologist appointment in 2 weeks, finally. I came here for information also. The responses are relatively slow and I see you haven't received any yet. I wanted to say welcome and I hope that you get some answers soon.

What brought me here is a positive ANA test with 1:640 titer, speckled pattern, bloodwork that was ordered because of sudden severe joint pain in July. I am looking forward to my appointment although I realize that it may take some time before I get any diagnosis. There are probably more tests that will need to be done at this point.

Yesterday one of the joints in a toe became inflamed. I keep telling myself it must be something else.....maybe I injured it or something but I know I did not. If this does not get better this week I will call my primary and see if I should be treated for inflammation while I am waiting for my appointment.

I hope that you call soon to make your appointment. Did your doctor refer you to a Rheumatologist? Do you know anything a
else about your test results, like titer? That seems to be a factor, although not enough to diagnose.

Take care!
Posted 9/9/2015 12:32 AM (GMT 0)
worrisome33,

Welcome to HW! If you haven't yet made an appointment with a rheumatologist, you need to do so. They are really the masters at matching up the symptoms with the appropriate auto-immune disease.

While Lupus can have skin involvement, it is by no means an exclusionary factor in diagnosis. Check out the link to Diagnosing Lupus below -- basically you need 4 of 11 listed symptoms to be diagnosed with Lupus. A positive ANA is not required. Unfortunately there is not a single test that definitively diagnoses Lupus, instead it's the rheumatologist's knowledge and experience of the combination of symptoms along with your personal collection of symptoms that leads to a diagnosis.

In many cases, the rheumatologist uses a couple of different treatments to see how you respond -- and how you respond helps them determine the final diagnosis.

Hope that helps - let us know if you have any specific questions we can answer!
Posted 9/9/2015 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
joe's princess,

Did you have some questions that were not answered? I noticed that you said responses are relatively slow here - not everyone posts every day, I have no idea how often most people even check in, but as a moderator I check at least twice a day so unless I am out of town (in which case I do have someone else checking, but don't know their frequency) there will be some sort of response within 24 hours, if not within 12 hours.

Let me know if there is something else I can do to help you.
Posted 9/9/2015 2:30 AM (GMT 0)
I do have questions but I know my questions will be answered in time, especially when I begin with the Rheumatologist. I just noticed that the new member posted this morning and there were many views yet no replies by after 4 (it's a different time zone because I know it was closer to 6 EMT when I replied) so I wanted to let her know that she's not alone. I do realize that, like me, mostly everybody works and are not on the boards throughout the day, so I can understand why responses may not always come quickly.

So, my biggest question right now is where is HW based? I see it's GMT which is Greenwich Mountain Time?

Thanks!
Posted 9/9/2015 1:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your reply; I understand that responses are not immediate, and although I am anxious for answers, I understand none of those posting are doctors or people that monitor 24/7. I very much appreciate you letting me know that my post was seen and your comforting words.

I have my first appointment with a rheumatologist on Friday and am very "anxious" for her to give me some concrete answers. The results that I was given were not as specific as to the titer, speckled, etc. So I assume I will be giving MORE blood on Friday to determine the specificity of my results. My symptoms, as I mentioned are pretty spot on for Lupus, other than the lack of skin issues.

Just the idea is causing a great deal of depression, which of course is increasing my fatigue. My boyfriend and I have been together about a year and a half and have discussed marriage, but now I am wondering if I should walk away and save him the inevitable burden if this really is Lupus.

My emotions were in overdrive already, and now I'm an absolute wreck! I am trying to remain calm until I am given an actual diagnosis (some of the other threads I have read here have really helped) Yet I have also read a number of threads from spouses of Lupus patients describing their frustrations and thoughts regarding their loved ones' condition. It scares me to think of putting the man of my dreams in this situation.
Posted 9/9/2015 5:02 PM (GMT 0)
Healing Wells founder, owner, and administrator, Peter, is in Utah, and the main computer servers are also in Utah. However, the GMT you see is Greenwich Mean Time. Here is a blurb on that: Greenwich, England has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. GMT is sometimes called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Greenwich is the place from where all time zones are measured. I believe you can set the time zone in your user profile so you can see times relative to your current time zone.

Glad you are seeing the rheumy Friday, worrisome33, but be forewarned you will probably not have all the answers immediately. Lupus, and all the auto-immune diseases, are fairly nebulous and not all that easy to pin down and diagnose. Most of us are treated long before we are diagnosed!

Please don't try and make any huge decisions before you know what is going on, and don't decide for your boyfriend. Lupus doesn't mean you will have a horrible life, there are a multitude of treatments, here is a list of what comes off the top of my head - Plaquenil, Prednisone, Imuran, Cellcept, MTX, Benylsta, IVIG...

Many people have a relatively calm and uneventful time of it -- the people you see posting currently are always heavily weighted to the newly diagnosed and the more seriously affected. The majority get things under control and are out doing other things than posting with us!

My partner & I got together about a year before my dx, braved some really difficult times together (I had some horrid cognitive involvement), and now my Lupus is quiet and things are going well. So from 2002 to now...
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