[ellie99]

Hi all,
My name is ellie and my rhumey has been treating me for ra over the last four to five years, last month I reported that I was so exhausted I nearly didnt keep my visit with him and also reported that my joints were flaring once again.

Following this he did a blood test for lupus and strangly one of the blood test he did (I think anti dna and ana) or something, turned out to be positve. I was very surprised to say the least. Im still not sure if I have lupus or not, since he said one of my other tests was negative?????

I have raynauds in hands and feet, joint pain and inflamation in hands, wrists, feet, knees and shoulders and am on Sulphasalazine, methotrexate, folic acid, amitryptyline, prednisolone 10mg daily. The funny thing is since Ive been on steroids, Ive improved the most. Im 42 and feel like 82, also have sun sensitivity causing funny brown marks and every so often am so tired I cant even raise a smile.

Now my question is....if one blood test is positive....does this mean I could have lupus and could this be causing my joint probs. Previously it was assumed I had sero-negative ra as my bloods were always negative to ra. I also rarely have a raised crp dispite obvious inflamation in my joints.

Well thanks for leting me ramble, I just dont know what to make of things at the mo.

Hugs Ellie

 

[KarolH]

Hi Ellie and welcome to the boards.

Anti dsdna is pretty specific for Lupus and of course a positive ANA only helps to confirm things. Typically if you have anything Auto immune going on it seems that eventually other AI issues will follow.

Nice to meet you and others here will be along with more information. I am pretty new to Lupus and still learning a lot myself.

Hope to get to know you better and join us in the chat room sometime.

Glad you found us here.:wink2:

 

[LolaLola]

Hello Ellie,
Glad the steroids are helping. Lupus does not always show in the bloods immediately. Mine took many years despite severe symptoms and a small proportion remain sero negative.
How long have you been on the Methotrexate, I find it pretty good. The other thing I was wondering is if you are going to be started on an anti malarial like Plaquenil. It has very few side effects and is really a first choice medication for Lupus. It takes a while to work so the sooner the better.
Hope this helps.
x Lola

 

[Gerri54]

Hi Ellie, I am pretty new here to.

I have a number of autoimmune disease going on. As for Lupus I have many of the criteria, just waiting for a positive ANA that is above 1:40.

I swelling of joints, connective tissue disorder, photosensitivity to the sun, number arthritis(s), Raynaulds, Auditory Processing disorder, Central Apnea, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Vitiligo, both my ESR, CRP are always raised, etc etc. It seems once you get one the rest like to follow.

Hope to get to know you better.

Hugs

Gerri

 

[ellie99]

Hi Lola and Karol,
thankyou for your replies, as far a plaquaneil goes, I had this when I first saw my rhumey, that was about 3 years ago, he then decided to take me off it and put me on metho and sulphasalazine, just before christmas I was still flaring badly and he added pred. I have a problem with metho in that my alt goes up greatly and I cant get any higher than 10mg of metho thus the steroids at the mo.
Ellie

 

[ellie99]

Hi Geri,

thanks for you reply, so sorry to hear how poorly youve been, with so many ai things going on, what a rotten deal it is........looking forward to chatting,

Ellie

 

[BigSis]

Hi Ellie,
Sounds like your rheumy is doing the right thing in investigating further. There are others on the board who were treated for RA for many years before lupus is diagnosed.

Good luck
BTW...........my CRP is always low....my sed rate and anti dsDNA are always high even when I'm feeling 'lupie normal' ie.....not so bad.

 

[onetay]

Welcome ellie,
I wanted to welcome you to the site. It seems that you doctor is headed in the direction of lupus and the pos ana will support that. I seen that you are 42 lol, I am Tammy and am 41 for a couple more months away lol. I have found that feeling older than you really are is very common and even my rhuemy says that my joints are that of at least a 65 yr. lol. You will find that we do a lot of laughing on here we have figured out it is better than crying lol. I hope that you learn a lot and make many friends here as it is so easy to do. Please do come and join us anytime in the chat room.

 

[ellie99]

Hi Tammy and Big Sis,

thankyou for your replies, its good to know your not alone, I agree laughing is definatly the best medicine, its funny, Id never heard of lupus til I was on the path and now my hubby has been chatting to a friend and one of his wifes has had lupus for years and we never knew until he mentioned about me.

Anyway, thanks again adn hope you are all ok,

Hugs Ellie x