[mookiem]

Well, i am pretty on to all this.

Just a bit of background. I am 26years old, with a beautiful son and a daughter due in Feb.

I can say that I have not felt right since i was about 14 years old. Nothing really bad just tired, depressed, aches and pains etc. Every GP i went to sadi it was because i was over weight and various other reasons. During my last pregnancy i went to the GP due to severe joint pain and other problems, again nothing was done. However, in the pregnancy i started to suffer again, went to the GP ( i have changed my GP since first pregnancy) and he said something was wrong. Sent me to a specialist at the hospital. Specialist did some blood tests.

Well yesterday i had an appointment with the specialist for a steroid injection my hip. While i was there they checked the blood test results. Everything came back normal accept my ana was weakly positive and my white cell count was low. Now i really don't know what that means. All she said was it did not help the diagnosis much as it was not obvious what was going on. A previous blood test showed i had raised inflammatory markers but they don't know what is down to the pregnancy.

Now she as said that with the blood test results and symptoms that she thinks its lupus but not made any formal diagnosis yet.

So i feel no closer to an answer than before.

Any one with any advice or information please help.

Thanks

Jenny

 

[LolaLola]

Jenny, ANA is not specific to Lupus only although it is a helpful pointer. Are you being referred to a Lupus specialist? You really should be. Please remember not all Rheumies specialise in Lupus! Pregnancy can be a trigger for symptoms. I can identify with the not feeling well as a teen,so can my Daughter.
Give some thought to writing out a symptom list and family medical history. There is plenty of advice here if you do a search using key words.
If I can help at all let me know.
And good luck with the pregnancy!
X Lola

 

[Clare.T]

Welcome to the forum Jenny !
I'm sorry you are unwell, and I think you are in a difficult situation. I know the sed rate rises during pregnancy and the ANA could be positive for any number of reasons and some people have low white blood cells all the time. Perhaps in the circumstances they could run other tests if they haven't already for other antibodies. I am sure they will have checked urine for protein loss.

I would say that the main thing to focus on is getting symptomatic relief for the joint pains, as it seems you are doing, because they are unlikely to start you on any lupus drugs at this stage, I'd have thought . The main one, Plaquenil, takes a few months to take full effect. Low dose Prednisone might be a possibility but I am not sure.
If the specialist you saw is not a rheumatologist who knows about lupus, see if you can access one. I also think they should have a word with the Ob/Gyny consultant or specialist.
Lola's suggestion of a health history etc is a good one. Joint pains and so on are not normal even in overweight teenagers. It is true that pregnancy can make underlying lupus worse.
I'm sorry not to be more help, but maybe somebody who knows more will reply.

Good Luck !

Clare