 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Lupus / November 2005I would like to join this goup
Hello my name is Brenda I did post before the day i finaly found out i have lupus though a skin biopsy,i have been readind many of the posts daily, right now i need all the info i can get.My family doctor doesn"t treat much Lupus he did make me a rhumatoligst appointment and he sent me for blood work witch i have copies of the results of., the only thing that bothers me almost all the time is the pain in my knees, the skin rash i had seems to be gone for now, I Have a question about these blood test results everything seems to be in the normal range, will i need to go for more? What is my next step?Thanks for help., Brenda Hi Brenda, and welcome to our group which is very friendly and supportive. Re 'what you do next': just go and see your rheumatologist on the appt. day established by your PCP and he will either start you on treatment for your knee pain or choose to watch you; also you might like to know that blood lab values do not always reflect our disease activity and so when they are all reading in the 'normal range' it doesn't mean a whole lot to us or to the doctors, at least not to the doctors who understand how lupus works individually; by the way, lupus is a very individual illness and no two people are alike in symptoms or treatment but almost all of us have shared problems with each other and gotten a lot of help and feedback from those who have been through similar 'flares' with their illness. Ask away, all of us are ready to answer all and any questions you may want to put to us and most of us as well are well qualified to answer on a medical knowledge basis for helping you out whether it be for treatments or just questions to put to your specialist when you see him. Good luck~ ----> http://clik.to/lupus <---- this site should help with your questions. hugs, Shelagh > Hello my name is Brenda I did post before the day i finaly found out i > have lupus though a skin biopsy,i have been readind many of the posts [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > test results everything seems to be in the normal range, will i need to > go for more? What is my next step?Thanks for help., Brenda thanks for the web site, i saved it, i wasn"t even told what kind i have yet my appointment isn't for 3 weeks yet will my Rheumatologist be able to tell me that? other than the skin lessions , i have really bad knee pain, but i do work in a factory standing on a cement floor for 12 hours a day and i always thought thats why i have knee pain and also i will be 40 in 2 months, that doesn"t help me either . Your rheumy should be able to give you the dx of what he 'thinks' you have re 'discoid' or 'systemic' lupus..... and to me with your joint involvement with the knee pains, it sounds like you have systemic lupus with discoid rashes which is common or possibly discoid lupus which has gone into systemic involvement which is also very common; whichever one you have it is treatable and very successfully so! so don't worry about it ahead of time.... even taking extra aspirin can make a difference to the inflammation created by lupus.... usually it is treated with anti inflammatory drugs like aspirin and Non steroidal anti inflammatories like motrin, advil, naproxyn etc... and then the big guns like steroids ie: prednisone, medrol, decadron and the immunosuppressives like chemo drugs ie: imuran, cytotoxan, cyclophosphamide and methotrexate are all available should you need them at any point in your life with lupus. Good luck with your appointment and feel free to ask any questions to any of us here!  Signaturehugs, Shelagh http://clik.to/lupus > thanks for the web site, i saved it, i wasn"t even told what kind i have > yet my appointment isn't for 3 weeks yet will my [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > knee pain and also i will be 40 in 2 months, that doesn"t help me either > . you are now a member of this group! :) welcome and post whatever questions you have. Yes, you should get your labs done regularly. depending on your severity of symptoms that could be once a quarter or once a year. O generally go every 6 months but i skipped the last doctor guantlet because of a ton of turmoil in my life and i was feeling pretty good at the time. but especially if you go on any particular meds - you need to monitor blood counts, and kidney and liver function. Most docs (assuming they are rheumatologists or at least familiar with lupus and it's ilk) will have a standard set of tests they give on an annual or semi-annual basis.* *because this confuses some people semi-annually means every half-year or 2X a year. Biannually means every 2 years. SignatureKCat For Pen Talk, Images, Trading and Reviews: The Fountain Pen Network http://www.fountainpennetwork.com For Lupus Support and Info http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/ASLFAQ/ > Hello my name is Brenda I did post before the day i finaly found out i > have lupus though a skin biopsy,i have been readind many of the posts [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > test results everything seems to be in the normal range, will i need to > go for more? What is my next step?Thanks for help., Brenda [] >*because this confuses some people semi-annually means every half-year or 2X >a year. Biannually means every 2 years. Maybe in Texas English (Texish? Tenglish?) ... here "biannual" means "taking place twice every year" (= every half-year) while "biennial" with an E is "taking place once every two years". SignatureAndy Taylor [Chair, N E Lupus Group] See http://www.northeastlupus.org.uk for more! > you are now a member of this group! :) > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > rheumatologists or at least familiar with lupus and it's ilk) will have a > standard set of tests they give on an annual or semi-annual basis.* and eyes, if on plaquenil - type meds. J Brenda, Welcome to the group! Jump in anytime you want and ask whatever you want and need to ask. Someone here will either know the answer or try to find it! Once again Welcome! Hugs, sherry |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.