Hi! It happens alot that way for me, I was dx. in Jan. '05, but recently flaring badly. I laugh that I can't travel, but can enjoy the traveling miseries. Some weeks my blessing is that it's not both...
Hi! This is good news, and part of the required process. I think it's an appt. to see their SSA physician. They are regular docs who are 'rent-a-docs' for the SSA, to give them an independent...
Hi! Could you put off hiring a lawyer for SSD at least until/if your 1st SSD application is denied? I was approved after only 2 months, 3 weeks and a day, and found the SSA website and online...
Hi!I was one of the lucky ones, took 2 months, 3 wks, and a day for my SSD to be approved. I lucked out, I was offered an appt. to see the SSA MD. due to a cancellation almost immediately after I...
Hi! Everyone, Me, too. Me, too. My big toes freq. get ingrown, and because I stumble alot, my toenails have been close to being ripped off several times, and that corner is the bad one. And my nails,...
Hi! Donna /community/emoticons/tongue.gif I look like a weightlifting toad puffed up on anabolic steroids! I'm a carbaholic with a prednisone addiction.....mantra...gotta keep the weight off, too....
Hi! Our family, town and school is FILLED with people who have this URI/head congestionn/sinus infection and very nasty long lasting bug. Dr. gave me augmentin after z pack wasn't enough. My rheumy...
Hi! You've found the best place for friends, for sure. I can relate. After 3 months of 3 antibiotics, and high dose prednisone tapers, I feel like a bloated toad on anabolics. I am sorry you've been...
Hi! and welcome, I never did "drugs", smoked anything, or drank anything more than one summer beer, but have avoided narcotics since dx. in 2005. I take meloxicam daily, and use a Flector patch prn,...
Hi! Miracle drug for me, too. Maybe it would be worth the $$$ increase to try the brand name? hugs, welcome and keep us posted...
Hi! Joy, I know just what you mean. That cognitive impairment That scary oh my God, I don't remember what I just did...that's what made me realize I needed to give up my job. I used The Spoon Theory...
Hi! I am retired on SSD since Dec. 2010. I, too, had a teaching job I loved but could no longer do. Couldn't think straight, no longer could multitask, the exhaustion and neuro symptoms were...
Hi! Thanks for filling in the details, as a nurse I am reassured you are being treated with the best our healthcare system can offer. I am glad they gave you risk %s. Thats just what I would worry...
Hi! I have APS, too. This is a tough one. I am alittle uncomfortable with the "probably old clots" The word "probably" makes me hesitate especially in view of not having had a clot event? Did you...
Hi! I am so sorry you lost your wife, and are so sick on top of not working. Is there a union at your brick layer's job? Some times they have funds for emergency needs that can be donated? Prayers...
Hi! I, too, have regularly occurring episodes of chest pain, usually left chest/midsternal. The first two times it sent me flying to primary dr. for 1. an EKG and 2. a complete cardiac workup...
Hi!It happens to me only when I am in a bad flare of neuro symptoms, and much worse at night. And I have only had tea colored foamy urine twice, but my u/a's have been ok. It is normal amounts,...
Hi! I have felt alot like what you describe, too. My rheumy didn't really listen but he sent me for a neuro consult because my reflexes were absent. When I saw him, I was so grateful he listened to...
Hi!I hope you feel much better and if you don't, please see a dr. asap. Autoimmune illness and many of the meds that are prescribed can suppress our bodies' ability to fight off or mask the...
Hi! Vicki, Welcome and so glad you found us. It helped me alot to read old forum threads and make a list of questions for my family dr. When I got to a rheumatologist, I had had time to construct a...
Hi! Katherine, A positive ANA USED to be the gold standard for lupus diagnosis. Now, an up to date dr. knows better, that it is one of MANY diagnostic criteria that is just one small part of the...
Hi! It happens to me when I am in a bad flare of neuro symptoms, in which extreme muscle weakness is one of my big issues, and it is truly frightening. I tried to explain it to my dr. and he blew me...
hi! all, I love these suggestions almost as much as I love to eat carbs. /community/emoticons/yeah.gif What's a Garlic Knot? and toasted English muffins make into wonderful pizzas. Bad habits are...
Hi! and welcome, I vote with the others, you need to find a rheumy who specializes in pts with lupus, and I hope your dr. did antiphospholipid/anticardiolipin antibody titres. I am sorry you lost...
Hi! My dr's best guess was that it "could" be costochondritis, (sp?) and after a complete cardiac workup and subsequent and repeated EKGs, now, whenever it happens, I use a heating pad as I tell...
Hi! On the 'Magical Mystery Tour" that we call lupus, it can evidence itself as anything it wants to, and that varies from day to day and person to person. In many medical and nursing textbooks it is...
Hi! Everyone, Thank God for Ambien. I have taken it every night for almost 7 years, and I still sleep lousy, with periods of such exhaustion where I wake up almost as sick and tired as when I go to...
Hi! Stacy, Chin up, shoulders back, and one step forward at a time with our hugs. You are going to a very well respected medical facility. Make a list of all your questions, in priority order, and...
Hi! and welcome, I vote for a rheumy asap, too. I found it really helpful to read old topic threads from this forum, too. Hang tough, dealing with AI is tough on a good day. Don't give up. Get copies...
Hi! I think Rachel Ray's magazine is great, too and it has a 7 day shopping list and menu guide in it, but.....when, too often I don't have the energy to do anything, I find myself grabbing for the...
Hi! and Happy Travels, Try and take a good picture next time it happens. In good light, and with both hands side by side for best comparison. Then email it to your dr. for your medical record. hugs,...
Hi! Before I was diagnosed, I tried exercising. In part, to address my teenage daughter's conviction that if I just got off the couch and got some exercise, I'd feel way better. Didn't work. I've...
Hi! Don't give up and it is an excellent idea to check for a dr. on the Lupus.org advisory board. Please oh please see a hi risk ob to follow your future pregnancy closely. Find one who treats AI. I...
Hi! You AREN'T going crazy, you aren't. And it is NOT in your imagination. I could have written your post, and I had to give up my job for those very reasons. Nights feel a week long, and it is so...
Hi! I don't think so, but a good rheumy should recognize that titres come and go as does the disease activity of AutoImmune diseases. I am pretty sure that plaquenil has a good reputation and drs....
Hi!Your pattern of illness sounds much like mine and many, many of us here. Don't panic about your BUN/Creat. ratio yet /community/emoticons/yeah.gif there are lots of reasons for it, so I bet your...
Hi! My dr. does a slew of blood work every 6 months, and that includes a cbc, vitamin levels, and an autoimmune panel, which is complement, antibodies, dsdna, ana, thryroid, and just about anything...
My doctor prescribed plaquenil for me even before lupus was conclusively diagnosed. He said it was prudent, and acted to help prevent inflammatory damage in the long term. It worked really quick for...
Hi! Go and have fun. I'd suggest buying the good quality masks, not the papery fabric kind, which are only good until they get moist, or 20 minutes which ever comes first. And, hard as this might...
Hi! Everyone, I don't think spontaneous fractures in women are that uncommon. It is linked to low bone density, osteoporosis, menopause and hormone changes, thyroid gland/parathyroid gland...
Dear Butterflake, It really is ok to cry, I just wish you didn't feel like it so often. You have been through enough, and more than your fair share, for sure. I will think of you and send a prayer...
Hi! When I was approved for disability, (it only took 2 months, 3 weeks and a day), the very nice person at the SSA office said I would perhaps have my disability status reviewed in 5 years, but that...
Hi! and welcome, Please hang tough and get copies of every test, and every picture you can take, and every md report and don't give up looking for a decent doctor. There are more than a few out...
Hi!Glad today is better, and sunshine does a job on me, too, and I love being out in it or near it through a window. I was lucky with the menopause deal, 7 months, and 25 hot flashes and I was over...
Hi!Take digital pictures of every symptom you can and email them to all your doctors. hugs and hang tough, suetoo...
Hi! My screaming nerves and almost overwhelming anxiety grew intolerable. My neuro listened and gave me a trial script for trazodone, didn't help, and the dry, cotton mouth was horrible, and then...
Hi! I was actually falling 3 x week, worked with both my pcp and Gyn docs, and finally snarled at my family doc..... "YOU TELL ME!!!! AM I FALLING BECAUSE I AM DEPRESSED OR DEPRESSED BECAUSE I'M...
I'm a mom and I say no, too. But I think sky blue and lavendar are lovely colors for a hair weave through just a few framing strands. ps. your mom can be proud of you that you are making tough, but...
Hi! Plaquenil seems to have a good reputation, I researched it after my new rheumy prescribed it even before he wrote lupus as a diagnosis. He said it is preventitive for down the road and prudent to...
Hi! Ginny, Wow, a dilemma. My heart says Go! and see the world. My head says...maybe you shouldnt but go anyway. Is it a working trip or a vacation trip? But some thoughts.. Are you going to be on...