Constantly getting sick is this linked to SLE ?

[Penelope-Pipin]

Hey there me again!

So did the past two months I have battled a chest infection that keeps coming back in the last month I’ve been on 2 lots of antibiotics. I called the GP last week and they didn’t want to put me onto more antibiotics. I have my rheumatologist appointment next week Wednesday to discuss treatment.

The weird thing is I kinda know when I’m going to get “sick” I seem to get really fatigued and then boom as I have this morning I wake up sounding like I’ve smoked for 20 years.

It is possible this is related to my SLE?

[Chris21]

Hi Penelope pipin, it’s possible that your chest infections are related to lupus. I used to get a lot before diagnosed in 2014, once I was put on hydroxychloroquine they disappeared until I one in 2017 that took forever (or that’s what it felt like) to settle and again in 2020 only this time being in the middle of a pandemic. No one wanted to see me face to face, they said they could hear me rattling g down the phone. A couple of rounds of antibiotics didn’t do anything, I’d also got sinus problems develop (another thing that happens often) February this year, they decided to refer me back to respiratory. In the meantime I’ve got a fairly strong inhaler, nose spray and carbon stein tablets to help bring the junk up. All helped , March I finally had a face to face with GP who gave me another round of antibiotics, 5 days worth of prednisone and an x ray. X ray came back clear! But I swear the prednisone was the one that did the trick. Everything has settled down to the extent I can carry out everyday tasks. I’ve finally got my hospital telephone appt with respiratory next week. I think this time round didn’t help that COVID symptoms are very similar.Sorry! I’ve waffled 😂

I hope your feeling better soon as it’s surprising how tired it makes you feel. I would certainly recommend discussing a course of prednisone rather than antibiotics with your GP. 💐

[Penelope-Pipin in reply to Chris21]

Thank you so much for your response. I’ve been on and off with my chest infection since Feb, but as like you because it’s all over the phone by the time I had gone in to see the GP the infection had kind of cleared. It’s only in the last two months that he actually heard something on my right lung and prescribed a course of antibiotics and then it came back again and it keeps coming back. I’m seeing the rheumatologist on Wednesday for a follow up appointment where he said we’d discuss treatment options so I’ll see what he suggests.

Funny you mention sinus this weekend I’ve been feeling awful again and this time I’ve had a bout of sinus with it too !

[MusicalFurbaby]

Hi Penelope-Pipin, it is entirely possible lupus is connected to your recurrent infections, fatigue and vocal problems. Lupus is tricky to pin down: on the one hand, it can target any organ in the body at any time, so it gets scapegoated. On the other hand, it is easy to blame lupus for symptoms and illness which may be merely co-occurring rather than causally linked.

I have had recurrent chest attacks for the past 21 months (still looking into it), and I’ve also had very rare vocal problems linked to lupus (Google it, you’ll find almost zero documentation on it). Definitely raise it with the rheumy—I recommend taking a list of every single symptom you’ve got, regardless if they appear related or not. All the best, let us know how you go!

[Chris21]

Good luck for your appointment today, hope you get some positive response from the rheumatologist 😉

[Penelope-Pipin in reply to Chris21]

Thank you so much. So he has decided to put me onto hydroxychloroquine. A low dose to start. And then basically I need to see how I fair on it. But some steps moving forward finally !

[Chris21]

That’s good. Hope it helps, it certainly helps my fatigue and achy joints 🙂