To Rachael Re: hello, I'm new

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My name is Tana and I also live in Utah - Orem to be exact. I'm older

than you and although I know I have lupus and probably have for many

years, my doctor hasn't given me an official diagnosis. He is mainly

doing it for insurance purposes right now, but is treating me as

though I have it. I'm sorry that you have to deal with all of those

health issues. It's frustrating I know. Do you have a lot of fatigue?

That's probably the hardest thing for me, because then I can't do the

things I should be or want to be doing. It makes me feel guilty and

lazy.

I've got 3 kids - ages 22, 16 and 15. It sounds like you could really

benefit from a rheumatologist. I went to tons of different kinds of

doctors who never could figure out how to help me until I got to him.

Like you, I've had numbness and tingling. I have one toe and parts of

my back that are permanently numb and a couple of weeks ago, my whole

left side went numb for hours. The side of my face also goes numb

frequently like you. I've also had unexplained hives (but not as

severe as you) and new allergies. That's the immune system going

nuts. Sore/stiff joints are also part of lupus.

If you want to e-mail me directly, feel free. My e-mail is

tanafcook@....

Welcome to the group.

-Tana

> Hi! Thanks for letting me in. I joined this group because I am

confused

> with all of my symptoms and i have nobody who understands or can

really

> relate. I didn't know where else to go, even though I have not been

> diagnosed with Lupus or anything else..yet.

> I am 30 and I have 4 boys, ages 8,6,3 and 8 months. I live in Utah

and I've

> been married 10 years. I recently got my B.S. in Psychology and I

start my

> Masters next month. Hopefully I will feel up to it.

> I've had such strange things going on for so long, it's kind of

driving me

> nuts. First it was tingling on one side of my head many years ago,

then it

> was my hands and toes falling asleep or going numb, then being

allergic to

> cats and breaking out in severe hives for months (when I grew up

with cats

> and had no problem!), on to joint pain in my fingers and wrists.

One day

> when I had a bad hives reaction, I could hardly move and my SED

rate was way

> up. My most annoying problem is my joints. They don't bother me

all the

> time, but lately more often than not. I do a weight lifting class

that has

> kept me in good shape and now it hurts my wrists and it hurts my

fingers a

> bit to type email. My fingers feel stiff. Most recently my hair

started to

> fall out and I found out my thyroid had a problem. I had the ANA

test done

> and it was 1:640. There is no answer to why I am having irritating

> problems. Now I am being referred on to an Endocrinologist and I

don't

> really know why. So, this is me in a nutshell at the moment.

Thanks for

> e-listening. )

>

>