Confused

[Suecon]

Hi. Since I had flu back in December I've been getting frequent bouts of flu-like symptoms - exhaustion, pain in muscles and joints etc. On these days I can barely move. For the last 6 months or so I've been smelling, hearing and seeing things that aren't there, and suffering from extreme anxiety for no reason at all. I have a butterfly rash between my eyebrow, across the bridge of my nose and on my cheeks, tho it doesn't extend to my cheekbones. I get blisters in my nose and mouth and scabs on my face, hands and lower legs. From what I can gather the blood tests have mostly been negative, tho I will know more when I go back to the rheumy in November. I guess what I'm asking is has anyone with lupus experienced all of these symptoms and had negative blood test results? Thanks

[misty14]

Hi Suecon

Good luck for your Rheumy appointment next month. Your symptoms sound very familiar to us with auto- immune illnesses and it is possible to have negative bloods. It will depend on how open-minded the consultant is and he/she may do a watch and wait on you too to see if anything develops. Let us know how you get on.X

[Suecon in reply to misty14]

Thank u for replying. I'm quite well at the moment, apart from the anxiety. Will certainly let u know xxx

[Suecon in reply to misty14]

I probably should have mentioned that I have pernicious anaemia, hashimotos, vitiligo, reynauds, psoriasis, asthma, eczema and extreme sun sensitivity. I also had autoimmune early menopause (30s)

[misty14 in reply to Suecon]

Hi Suecon

You've certainly an interesting collection of illnesses, some immune and others not like Raynauds which usually appear before the connective tissue disease!. I've had early menopause 30's. Is that what they called it?. I'm such a patient that Paul Howard describes in his really good explanation that could be you too!. Interesting what the Rheumy says to you. Fingers crossed it goes well.x

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi Suecon ,

Many of the symptoms you have mentioned are common in lupus and/or other autoimmune conditions. It is not all that unusual for somebody with these symptoms to have negative blood test results, as I'm sure other members of this community will tell you from their experiences. Sometimes this can indicate a potential diagnosis of something like undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) or a 'lupus-like' condition, which may or may not develop into lupus or one of the other connective tissue diseases.

I hope that your appointment goes well next month and you are able to get some answers for your symptoms and some treatment to help alleviate them. Please let us know how you get on.

If you need more information about lupus and how it is diagnosed, you can request or download one of our free packs at lupusuk.org.uk/request-info...

[Suecon in reply to Paul_Howard]

Thanx Paul x