Hello! I was diagnosed late last August. I felt that I have had Lupus since my early 20's but all docs said I was fine. My former doctor stated that I had Raynaud's disease (which could turn into lupus). Last summer I was getting major rashes that wouldn't go away. I thought it was just eczema but I am usually able to manage it. Last June I started feeling very very weak and the rashes were so bad that I knew something was wrong. I had to fight tooth and nail to get any doctor to go beyond the standard blood work tests etc... I finally got in to see a dermatologist. She did a biopsy on the back of my neck and sure enough the tests came back that I had lupus.

You have to be an advocate for your health. The docs will not do anything unless you demand it. If you are having trouble with your skin, maybe ask for a biopsy... I had them do it on the back of my neck because the biopsy will leave a scar.

It is a good feeling to know what is happening to you and not feeling like a crazy person. It was hard for me to digest the news but at least I knew what I was dealing with.

I hope you feel better and find the answers you deserve.

First off i would like to suggest to start a medical journal to keep record of you symptoms and say where it is and what meds you are taking. It just might show a pattern if it is lupus of what some of your triggers couild be. With lupus the strange thing is we all dont have the same symptoms that is why it is hard to say take this or do that it might now work for each person. My symptoms are swollen joints, faigue, brain fog, pain, sores in the mouth, rash, senstive to the sun and will come out in a rash afterwards. There are many more but they are the main ones. Then most of us have other issues along with it that cause more complications. Good luck in getting some answers, find a doctor who will listen to you and answer all your questions. gentle hugs and blessings

I was told for a long time I was depressed every time I went to the doctors. I told them it was not depression however I was getting upset and they were going to cause me to be depressed if they did not figure out what was wrong! I think they like to say you are depressed when they do not have the answers!!

I am in the same boat. It’s SO frustrating when your family and doctors don’t believe you. You know something is wrong but is being overlooked. You are not crazy!

I feel for you as went through a lot of the same thing for years. The doctors kept telling me I was depressed. I finally ended up finding a doctor who did an ANA test and only because I also had Raynauds I was referred to a rheumatology specialist who told me I not only had Lupus SLE but the other doctors should have told me I had Mitral Valve Proplapse because she said she could tell just by listening with her stethoscope and wondered why I had not marked it on my intitial intake paperwork as having it. I told her it was because I never knew I had it so I could not mark it if I was never made aware of it. Dr. Petrie is at John Hopkins. I told her they kept telling me I was depressed but I told her I was not but might be gettng there if I did not soon get some answers as to why I was so sick and so extremely exhausted. She said she would get to the bottom of it and she did. Thank God!! He is my Lord and Savior. I prayed that He would lead me to the right doctor as we all know our own bodies. No two of us are alike on this site but alot of us have alot in common. I have Lupus SLE, RA, Fibrolyalgia Mixed Connective Tissue Disease that presented itself several years later, Anti-phospholipid Factor, Dupuytren's contracture which started about two years ago, I have had 8 strokes. If you have Antiphospholipid-factor it can cause you to miscarry a baby, which I have two sons but miscarried a baby girl in between them, and it can cause strokes, but the hospital put me on Plavix, but I kept having strokes. Then when I had the last stroke the hospitalist asked me why I was on Plavix. My husband told him it was because I was having these strokes. He said when a person has anti-phospholipid factor Plavix will not stop them. I was in the hospital on extended stay to start me on Lovenox shots for 30 days of which my husband learned to give me which was in my stomach, and then put on Coumadin and have been ever since. I hemorraged alot after the birth of both of my sons and after my miscarriage. Lupus SLE. I am extremely photosensitive. I have to have my entire body clothed. The sun is my enemy even through tinted windows in our vehicle. I wear 100 percent SUV sunglasses year round. We all have to be our own advocate for our own bodies. I have learned more on this site than any other place. We learn so much from one another. This is my go to place to be helped and hopefully help others. I am so glad I found this site. I find this site a true blessing indeed. I have found there is never a question you should not ask for sure!