newly diagnosed and confused

Hello and welcome to the site.

Do you know exactly what the cause of the chest pains is? I've suffered from pleuritis and costochondritis, and have found prednisone to be of a lot of help with pleuritis especially (usually requiring up to 20mg a day though of prednisone for relief). The costochondritis took a lot longer to get over for me... NSAID medication can help reduce the pain as well, so you may want to ask your doctor about trying some. There are other causes of chest pain as well, and the best treatment for it is to treat the lupus appropriately as well as to treat the pain/symptoms.

As for alternative meds, we do have a section on the site that deals with complementary medicine and you could search through there. In general, I personally have some faith in accupuncture although haven't tried it myself, and also believe that there is likely some benefit from a good Omega 3 supplement as well as a daily multivitamin. Most important of all though is a quality diet filled with fruit, vegetables, complex carbohydrates/fiber and minimal animal fats & sweets.

When you mention kidney problems, I hope you realize that only about 50% of lupus patients will get kidney problems that need aggressive treatment (& it is part of the disease instead of a result of the medications used to treat it). Many here have had lupus for a long time with no kidney trouble.

Best wishes to you for controlling that chest pain and shortness of breath.

Hello Anju and welcome

I would agree with Maia that many problems will improve with correct control of your lupus which can take quite a while after diagnosis. Finding the right medication combination for each individual is not that easy.

Lung problems are actually relatively frequent with lupus. However, your shortness of breath and pain could be caused by so many things that it would be important to know exactly what. The problem may not necessarily be very serious though obviously, shortness of breath can be very distressing.

Have you seen a lung specialist yet? I think that might be a good thing to do even if only to get all the tests done and have a reference point for the future.

For the moment you are only taking plaquenil and prednisolone. Hopefully the prednisolone will be a short term thing until the plaquenil works or, if plaquenil alone is not enough, something else is added.

As for alternative medecines. Yes, some things such as acupuncture, good physio and some vitamins may be very useful for you. However, a word of warning, some "alternative" medecines can be very harmful and we need to remember that they are far less strictly controlled than conventional meds.

Nobody wants to stay on prednisolone for long, however, for some peopple it is truly life saving and necessary.

Your doctor is the best person to advise you on medication choices. Of course, you musn't be afraid to discuss concerns with him/her. Often we don't dare ask and it can be very valuable to air your fears, sometimes leading to a solution you're happier with or more knowledge on your part making you feel more in control.

hope that helps a little,
Katharine

Welcome to the forum Anju

It's tough after diagnosis because everything is overwhelming if not downright scary. As the others have said, it can take time to find the right medicines and for them to work. You have come to an excellent place for understanding encouragement and reliable information about all aspects of life with lupus. I hope you have a concerned and knowledgable doctor. That is important, and so is telling your doctor about all the problems you have to get them explained and investigated.

Plaquenil takes several months to feel the full effects. If you mean you are worried about Prednisone affecting your kidneys, it is used for treating kidney disease as well as bringing down general inflammation fast and reducing the severity of all symptoms. It does have a number of very serious long term side effects so for that reason it is used for as short a time as possible at the lowest doses necessary.
Plaquenil has no more potential side effects than OTC medicines that people take without a second thought.

There are a number of complementary therapies, that is added to medicines, some of which have been mentioned above that can bring relief and inmprove general health. You might want to ask your doctor about calcium and vitamin D supplements because Prednisone can cause bone loss over time.
Fatigue is a really big issue in lupus. Make sure you have been tested for anemias. There's a disease called fibromyalgia which causes all sorts of symptoms some very like lupus symptoms that about one third of people with lupus have. One of it symptoms is disrupted sleep patterns so sleep isn't refreshing. Ask your doctor about that.
Most of us find we can't do everything we used to. Rest is very important so make time for yourself by prioritising and minimising. Learn some relaxing and stress reducing techniques. Don't expect too much of yourself. It is a demanding disease that can't be fought by sheer will power. By careful adaptation of your life you will learn to live with it and as well as possible despite the limitations it imposes.

There are no natural replacements for the medicines used for treating lupus although there are lots of people online making money by claiming 'cures' and so on. Big claims need big proofs - you need to be as careful with your health as you would be with any important purchases.

All the best
Clare