My blood work usually comes back normal even though I am obviously having a flare. Unfortunately they don't have many definitive tests for lupus. You are not going crazy. When i was first diagnosed they put me on a high dosage of prednisone & weened off of them. then put me on celcept and plaquenil and methotrexate. Every now and then i have to go back on the prednisone. You are not crazy. I found this article called "The Spoon Theory" and it helped friends & family understand better what you are going through. Also going to support group meetings will help as well. Try to at least get on prednisone. It acts as an anti-inflamitory

Sounds like a flare to me!!!!!

so sorry you are going through this. I am newly diagnosed. what they were concerned about lab wise: My ANA and Anti-dsDna were positive. did you get those labs done? the Anti-dsDna is 95% positive in Lupus patients. try a food sensitivity panel to see if your body is responding with inflammation to any foods.

What was your C Reactive Protein the next time around? I’m experiencing crippling pain and mine was only 6.9! I was on prednisone when the test was taken so it might have skewed results and lowered it considerably but I digress.

I’ve read a bunch about CRP and find it all confusing. Normal levels are supposedly under 1. Some consider anything over 3 abnormal and a sign of inflammation. Yet most consider evidence of potential autoimmune issues to be 10 and above. Based on this 36 seems to be a really big red flag! Plus your symptoms.

Is the issue that your doctor doesn’t want to treat you?

My doctor started with the ANA (antinuclearantibody test) to determine if I had an autoimmune disorder first. It is a blood test. I would ask for that first and go from there. Mine was positive and then they sent me to a rheumatologist.