I've had some itchy scalp from DLE .I found out I had lupus from a skin
biopsy taken from a lil place under my  
right eye.Psorosis (spelling?) can also cause an aggravating
scalp...sounds like a good derma doc could help
                                           
                                            Jenn

jo ann and Jim t wrote:

HELLO JO AND WELCOME :)

I just found out a month ago that i have lupus i am still pretty much in
the dark myself., i read the posts here and it helps since ever since i
found out thats all i can think about., i had a skin biopsy taken from
lessions i was getting from a tanning booth, that i never had till i
went tanning this summer, i have a rhummy appointment Decm 20th, will
knw more then., Brenda

Hi Jo.

There is so much to cover in terms of how to diagnose lupus.  I hope you
don't mind if I point you to our FAQ section on diagnosis.  It says it
better than I can in this brief time I have to devote to the group tonight.

However, there does seem to be a family "predisposition" for autoimmune
conditions and the fact that your sister was diagnosed with lupus could
indicate that you are susceptible to if not in fact suffering from an
autoimmune condition causing these problems. I agree that a dermatologist
might be a good place to start and with the new data point in your history
they might look closely rather than just calling it "dermatitis" and sending
you home with some sort of cream.

The basics would be for you to write down the problems you have had in
recent months and years and how they were treated if at all and what helped.
This could range from rashes to joint pain to fatigue because lupus and it's
ilk attack so many parts of the body that there's a slew of symptoms that
could be related.  Or not. :P

There are some basic tests in the US:  ESR (aka Sed Rate), ANA, RF, VDRL,
CBC, SMAC and Urinalysis.  All of these are explained in the fact glossary
along with the text about them in the diagnosis section.  Diagnosis of any
autoimmune disease can be very tricky and take a while because the symptoms
tend to come and go and one day your ANA can be high and indicate
inflammation, another it can be normal.  it's frustrating, I know.

dang it - i wasn't ready to send that!

here is the link to the diagnosis section I was referring to:

http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/ASLFAQ/diag.htm

and here is a review of symptoms often seen with lupus:
http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/ASLFAQ/symptoms.htm

as I said, there are a number of autoimmune diseases that are related to
lupus and while there is debate over whether or not *lupus* runs in
families, there is little debate that autoimmune diseases in general do.  My
mum has Sjogren's, my sister has lupus with possible MS-overlap, I have UCTD
(but we call it lupus to avoid confusion when discussing it with folks who
are not familiar with any of these conditions) and there have been 4 cases
of endometriosis on my mother's side of the family (mom, aunt, cousin,
sister) which is believed by some to be autoimmune in nature.  So we're just
havin' lots of fun!  :)

Welcome to ASL.  Have you set your monitor and software with large print to
help you read responses?

best,
KCat