Posted 1/21/2016 1:54 PM (GMT 0)
Several months ago, I had been taking doxycycline for several months for various ailments. I noticed I felt worse so I heard probiotics could help put the good bacteria back into my system. I developed a horrible, itchy rash for about 3 to 4 days. It would hit my left face and arm, next day my right side, day after that it was the left side again, and finally my whole face, scalp, arms, and stomach. Funny thing is, I only took two doses of the high volume probiotic before this happened. Went to the dermatologist and they figured out it was Lupus since I pretty much fell under the same symptoms that go along with it. (I have arthritis in my back, tired a lot, my face gets red and stays red a lot, I've had pleurisy several times in my life, the list went on) But, I'm overweight, at 28 years old I've been in a few car accidents, I work as a custodian from high school and on so I was always around dust and chemicals. So, a lot of my symptoms could technically be explained and didn't necessarily mean I had lupus. Then they did the blood test. It was positive and from what I can tell, the numbers were something they didn't see often. It was high in one part but the test that came with it (the sjogren's I believe) came out very low. My doctor wasn't sure what it meant so I was put on plaquenil for a while. Had maybe 3 attacks but I didn't get the painful itchy lumps all over, I was just really really itchy all over and no rashes developed. After a while I talked to my doc and she said it was the drug induced lupus and it would eventually heal on its own. My dermatologist was pretty sure it was just regular ol' lupus. I eventually stopped the plaquenil for a couple of weeks, nothing happened so we did a blood test and it came back negative. I still get red in the face, my back and some joints still hurt. But I had a low vitamin D count (24 out of 100) now I take 5000 units a day and it's back up to 56.
My questions are this: is the Lupus really gone or is it possibly dormant? Was it really lupus in the first place or something other autoimmune?
If anyone has had any experience similar to this, please message me. Thank you!