This is very interesting, I have had similar issues and just took it off to be part of the weird quirks of lupus. It can be so incredibly painful....
I typically see the rheumatologist about every 3-4 months. At this point I am see my rheumo more often due to flares, but before that was about the typical time frame. I have heard of people going...
I see that you are recently diagnosed with lupus. Have you tried contacting the lupus foundation? They have some great mailings they send out, also the website lupusandme sends out free lupus...
I think for me it was a lack of desire to eat-severe nausea, frequent urination (discomfort) protein in urine, and my urine had a foamy look to it....
there are alot of alternatives, some that i have heard of (but not personally used) are methotrexate, rituxan, aralen and cimzia. I hope whatever new treatment you go on next :)...