Quote:

---

Maria,

Sounds very much like the mixed bag that I am faced with. I too got + for RA, + ANA and have a sed. rate that is elevated, but not sky high. My rheumatologist is calling it lupus for now and does not rule out the RA diagnosis in the future. Do you swell up in the sun? Do you get random sore throats when you're not "really" sick? Do you feel like you should be in a nursing home some days because of the aches and pains? Do you have psoriasis? No to everthing, except feeling like I should be in a nursing home. Sometimes taking a shower can be hard work! I just wondered how much if any the dr. talked to you about lupus. These autoimmune diseases are such a gray area it seems. No, they haven't brought it up at all. But I agree - it seems like autoimmune diseases are not only hard to diagnose but also difficult to differentiate. My rheum. is a great guy and he will say things like "Well, whatever it is, I'm glad you've been doing better." Oddly enough, I am satisfied with that because I really, really to not want to go on DMARDS and maybe I am in denial. If my next round of x-rays shows any damage, I will seriously rethink my position on that, but so far no damage has occured.

Anyway, I can sympathise with being undiagnosed because I'm sort of in the same boat. What about Plaquenil? It is supposed to help all of these immune diseases. Did you talk about that with the doctor? I haven't been to the rheumatologist since I got the test results back from my PCP. I'll be seeing him in two weeks and I have no idea what he'll say.

Mostly just giving hugs to you, Maria and hoping that you can feel beter soon. Laura, thanks so much for your support! I didn't know you were going through something so similar to what I've been dealing with. I hope you're doing well.

Laura

---