I was under so much stress in 2007 when my grandmother passed away. After she passed, I started having sores and skin blemishes. I was 38 years old, and I knew it wasn't acne. I went to my dermatologist, and as I was walking through the doctor's door it was like once again God was warning me. I could hear him say you have lupus. Blood work was taken and a biopsy done in my ear. A few days later there it was–I was diagnosed with lupus.
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I had been to several doctors that diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome, just worn down, depression etc. Not one of them tested me for lupus. My all time low, the straw that broke the camel’s back, was at my mom and dad's in Nashville, Arkansas. I literally got up, ate a little bit of breakfast and immediately went back to bed – I felt like I was drugged. This was very abnormal for me; I was normally up and going in the morning. This…
I was working with first-grade teachers and students while also pursing my bachelor’s degree in human services to better myself and family. I started having lots of fatigue, hair loss, and red spots all over my fingers and toes. I was in and out of the hospital. It was doctor appointments back to back until one day I went to my appointment with a dermatologist. I will never forget it! He looked at me and said, 'Girl, you have lupus!' Next, he sent me over…
I had pain in my lower back for years before I was diagnosed. I complained about it to my GP, but she just brushed it off. She put it down to my working out, thinking it was just muscle pain. Sure enough, ultrasound scans showed two beautiful kidneys, so there was nothing to worry about, right? Wrong! Back in 2013, when I was revising for my law degree summer exams I noticed that my joints were stiff every morning. I have lived independently since the…
I found out I had lupus when it was almost too late for me to survive. I had no idea that I had lupus before my hospitalization. I was in good health, attending college, and living a regular life. In 2006, I had some kidney complications and I was diagnosed with glomerulonephritis, but none of my doctors thought it was necessary to test me for SLE. I was treated for that and things went back to normal by 2008. In 2012, I started having symptoms…
I was first diagnosed with systemic lupus when I was 12. I had a rash along my hairline, I suffered from fatigue and joint pain, and I had blood and protein in my urine. They thought I had mono until I had blood tests done, and my kidneys were shutting down. After the blood work came back, they hospitalized me for a week and started me on chemotherapy and a high dose of steroids right away. The next three years that's all my life was…
In 2007 my husband found several patches where I had lost my hair. I had also broken out in what looked like hives. At this point I had already been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My primary care doctor recommended I see a dermatologist to determine what was going on with my skin. The dermatologist did a skin punch test and found discoid (skin) lupus, and he told me that most people who present with DLE have SLE as well.
It was a very long and difficult journey to diagnosis. As I experienced more and more debilitating symptoms (joint pain, stiffness, unusual headaches and fatigue), I got more and more frustrated and depressed. The never-ending blood tests and diagnostics to rule out other autoimmune disease made me nervous, scared, restless and hopeless. While on a working diagnosis, I have been on different medications to help me with my symptoms, but most didn't help. A trip to the ER one day led to referral to a…
In 1997 I noticed my left ear was badly swollen and it felt like I had a jawbreaker in my mouth. The whole left side of my face hurt so bad. All of a sudden I couldn’t wear my contacts because of dry eyes, I couldn't get enough to drink, and I was so tired all the time – it took everything that I had in me to climb the stairs at work. In 1998 I went to see a doctor about it. My doctor…
In June of 2013 I had my first major flare. I had some minor health issues here and there prior to that, but I was very healthy and strong overall, and extremely athletic. One evening during dinner, I started having severe stabbing pains in my chest, so my boyfriend rushed me to the ER. After several hours the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me so they sent me home after the pain started to ease up a bit. The following morning I noticed that…
I was 20 years old when I was diagnosed. I felt old and I was always tired. Lupus hasn't stopped me from living, it just causes me to think, listen and pray in order to defeat it. It has been an emotional rollercoaster, but God is faithful. I have lupus but lupus doesn't have me. Do what you can, and let the rest fall where it may. Listen to your doctors and your body. Eat right, exercise and pray. Look at everyday as a blessing…
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