My symptoms started last october with severe shoulder pain/arthritis, I couldnt lift my arms at all, went to my regular doctor and they did some bloodwork ...i tested positive for ANA and they said i have an autoimmune disease but didnt know what it was... started me on prednisone and referred me to a rheumatologist (fresh out of med school) who later diagnosed me with rheumatoid arthritis and prescribed me plaquinil and began weaning me off of the prednisone (this was 4 months after i had started it)....after taking the plaquenil for 2 weeks i was rushed to the emergency room having myoclonic seizures,...my rheumatologist took me off of the plaquinil and then put me on arava.....one week after starting the arava, i was sleeping 20 hours a day and throwing up everything i ate, anemia and severe malnutrition as a result and my albumin levels dropped so low that my leg muscles gave out and i couldnt walk for a good 2-3 weeks, missed a lot of classes, had to quit the dance team, etc.. ....i decided at this point that i wanted a new rheumatologist and found one with 41 years experience...he did a full blood panel and concluded that i have systemic lupus and started me on methotrexate which i have been on for 6 weeks, he also doubled my prednisone dosage to 20 mg a day .....two days ago i had blood work done to check my liver function and he said that if everything looks ok with the MTX that i will be weaned off the prednisone starting next week...ive lost a good amount of my hair and i'm not sure if thats from the prednisone or the MTX, but i'm hoping it will grow back when i start doing the prednisone taper....
i dont really have a specific question about anything, just looking for help/encouragement/suggestions/advice...