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7 Posts
hi,
i posted a very similar message on another message board, but i thought i should post here as well. that way i could get a more well-rounded opinion.
i'm a little embarrassed about posting here, but i figured i might as well. i just wanted to get some opinions about whether or not i should bother a doctor over these symptoms. before i start, i should say that i know very little about lupus. i know it's an autoimmune disorder, and i know it can be serious. i was trying to figure out some of my symptoms and when i googled them, lupus kept coming up, so here i am.
so...some background on me. i'm in my early 30's. about 2 years ago, i was diagnosed with celiac disease. 10 years before that, i was diagnosed with hashimoto's thyroiditis, so i'm hypothyroid. celiac and hashimoto's are both autoimmune disorders. i also have polycystic ovarian disease. i was really sick when i was diagnosed with celiac, a lot of those symptoms have gone away, except for a few. and now i have some new ones. here goes...
i have VERY pink cheeks, nose, and to a lesser degree, forehead. the pinkness stops abruptly underneath the outer corner of my eyes. i noticed that i became much pinker about 5 years ago, but didn't give it much thought, since i am ruddy skinned and i figured it might be rosacea. i have to exfoliate every day (even though this leaves my skin feeling a bit raw), otherwise the redness is much more apparant and bumpy. i have problems with fatigue. most of the time i'm okay, but some days (like yesterday), i just feel wiped out. when i feel this tired, i can't concentrate and my memory is shot. i've had, during the times of greatest fatigue, irregular heartbeats and palpitations (though they couldn't find anything wrong with my heart). i have sore and achy joints, mostly my hips and hands. the thing that made me think to post here...i recently moved to a sunny climate from a rainy one. most of the time i try to stay out of the sun because i am very fair, but i can't avoid it here, and i've been noticing that after i spend more than 20-30 minutes in the sun, i develop a small blistery rash (without the heat of a burn) over my cheeks, nose, and forehead. this will hang around for a day or two, and then my skin will become scaly. if i drag my fingernail across my cheek, it will come away with gobs of dried skin under the nail. my hairline is also receding (but that could be the polycystic ovarian disease). my eyes are always dry and goopy, with a yellowish discharge daily. and my hands, and to some degree my feet, swell in warm weather when i do much walking. i also have a tendency to bruise very easily, this seems to come and go.
what do you think? it was the sun blister thing that made me suddenly wonder about lupus. since i have other autoimmune disorders, i guess it's not that far-fetched. but, i really don't want to go to any more doctors if i can help it. they make me nervous. normally, i would just deal with the symptoms, since i haven't had much luck getting help for the other things i have. however, if you think it's possible that it could be lupus, then i guess i should go get it checked out.
thanks in advance for your input.
i posted a very similar message on another message board, but i thought i should post here as well. that way i could get a more well-rounded opinion.
i'm a little embarrassed about posting here, but i figured i might as well. i just wanted to get some opinions about whether or not i should bother a doctor over these symptoms. before i start, i should say that i know very little about lupus. i know it's an autoimmune disorder, and i know it can be serious. i was trying to figure out some of my symptoms and when i googled them, lupus kept coming up, so here i am.
so...some background on me. i'm in my early 30's. about 2 years ago, i was diagnosed with celiac disease. 10 years before that, i was diagnosed with hashimoto's thyroiditis, so i'm hypothyroid. celiac and hashimoto's are both autoimmune disorders. i also have polycystic ovarian disease. i was really sick when i was diagnosed with celiac, a lot of those symptoms have gone away, except for a few. and now i have some new ones. here goes...
i have VERY pink cheeks, nose, and to a lesser degree, forehead. the pinkness stops abruptly underneath the outer corner of my eyes. i noticed that i became much pinker about 5 years ago, but didn't give it much thought, since i am ruddy skinned and i figured it might be rosacea. i have to exfoliate every day (even though this leaves my skin feeling a bit raw), otherwise the redness is much more apparant and bumpy. i have problems with fatigue. most of the time i'm okay, but some days (like yesterday), i just feel wiped out. when i feel this tired, i can't concentrate and my memory is shot. i've had, during the times of greatest fatigue, irregular heartbeats and palpitations (though they couldn't find anything wrong with my heart). i have sore and achy joints, mostly my hips and hands. the thing that made me think to post here...i recently moved to a sunny climate from a rainy one. most of the time i try to stay out of the sun because i am very fair, but i can't avoid it here, and i've been noticing that after i spend more than 20-30 minutes in the sun, i develop a small blistery rash (without the heat of a burn) over my cheeks, nose, and forehead. this will hang around for a day or two, and then my skin will become scaly. if i drag my fingernail across my cheek, it will come away with gobs of dried skin under the nail. my hairline is also receding (but that could be the polycystic ovarian disease). my eyes are always dry and goopy, with a yellowish discharge daily. and my hands, and to some degree my feet, swell in warm weather when i do much walking. i also have a tendency to bruise very easily, this seems to come and go.
what do you think? it was the sun blister thing that made me suddenly wonder about lupus. since i have other autoimmune disorders, i guess it's not that far-fetched. but, i really don't want to go to any more doctors if i can help it. they make me nervous. normally, i would just deal with the symptoms, since i haven't had much luck getting help for the other things i have. however, if you think it's possible that it could be lupus, then i guess i should go get it checked out.
thanks in advance for your input.