Hello Tricia
I guess I should let you know that I always refer to my lupus as subacute cutaneous lupus, but I did have one of the nodules removed and it was lupus profundus or pannicalitis (sp?) Does that make a difference in what we were discussing
I suggest you start calling your lupus by its proper name to avoid misunderstanding. It would have made a difference to me saving me time and effort and of course it makes a considerable difference to anybody who knows anything about skin lupus. If you call it that to doctors it suggests you don't know what you are talking about.
Perhaps you are simply confused: lupus profundus is
subcutaneous meaning under the skin. The term subacute means "less than acute" Skin lupus is divided into three groups according to the degree of associated systemic disease. Skin problems associated with SLE are called 'acute cutaneous',ACLE, mainly the malar or butterfly rash; people with subacute cutaneous, SCLE, usually but not always have some degree of systemic illness and as I said it has quite distinctive lesions. The third group is chronic cutaneous (CCLE) by definition only the skin is affected and discoid is the most common sort.
I still don't know what we are discussing. If it is LP, all I can say about it is that is a very rare sort of CCLE. It's like discoid lupus lesions in the deep layers of fat under the skin. I only know what I have read about it online. At a talk on laser therapy to repair damage from lupus skin, I saw before and after photos of a woman who had a golf ball sized hollow on her temple the result of an LP lesion.
Like all sorts of CCLE, some cases might be the first sign of SLE or accompanied by some typical symptoms of systemic disease, rarely, outright SLE.
Hence the need for testing at time of diagnosis, regular tests afterwards and awareness of signs of spreading disease. If your dermy never did a complete blood count or the usual lupus tests, ask for them to be done including urine and tell him of any health problems.
Some sources refer to problems diagnosing and the need to exclude other possible causes of similar symptoms The most thorough discussion of it that I have found is
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA862,M1
Chapter 29 p 860
You appear to be getting the usual sort of treatment for skin lupus. If the LP isn't responding I suggest getting a second opinion as to what might be tried next.
Funny, I didn't notice your reference to surferboy and chest pains despite reading your post several times. I just wondered why your doctor would have prescribed Iboprufen for skin lesions. Anyways, if chest pains is what we are discussing, there are innumerable causes of chest pain including over anxiousness and general stress as well as muscular. A lot depends on their nature.
Probably the best thing for the occasional niggle, is to see your GP. He should know from the description of the pain and on examination if there is anything to worry about.
Each of us has to decide for ourselves what is urgent and what isn't, which isn't always easy. It's a good idea to be informed about the signs of a heart attack in women as they can be different from in men, then we have to use our own judgment.
We aren't doctors so we can't diagnose or give medical advice.
All the best
Clare