Prayers please, it's believed that my cousin has Lupus! Advice?

[Mahonri]

Autoimmune diseases run in my family. I have a sister with Lupus. (in remission now) I have a brother with Reynauds and two other siblings with severe Rheumatoid arthritis, I have had autoimmune hives .... no scleroderma in the family... yet.

If I were your cousin, I would go to www.herb.com and order the "liver/gallbladder" cleanse. It works wonders it put me in remission.

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

I also have Lupus, I was diagnosed 12 years ago, although I had the symptoms long before I was diagnosed. I actually have mixed connective tissue disorder lupus, fibromyalgia, sjogrens type meaning I have all of those disorders. I take plaquenil, heavy doses of vitamins (B-complex, D, and Prenatals) to fight the fatigue, and NSAID's for inflammation and pain. I have so far refused the methotrexate and pain pills like Lyrica. Lupus is not easy to deal with, but he has to want it. There are many days my alarm goes off and I am stiff, sore, fatigued, but I get up, make my coffee and go to work like anyone else. I could choose to call in, or choose to seek disability, or choose to give up, but I refuse. I run my mini farm, I work as a fulltime RN. It can be done. He might benefit from a local support group if one is available. I honestly believe the most important thing is state of mind, he can beat it, or he can let it beat him.

 

[Mahonri]

by all means, have him stay away from the methotrexate route. It's a dirty, filthy drug that has so many dangerous side effects and interactions.

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

No tattoos do not affect lupus, but immunizations can. Mine was triggered by the Hepatitis B series.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

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Wow, I hadn't thought of immunizations as being a possible trigger. I wonder if he's gotten a flu vaccine. I'm assuming then that any vaccination can be a trigger?

I called Sean today and I told him everything that you all had written here, and all the wonderful advice you gave, and he was very grateful. I asked him about his symptoms and he said it's really just the rash, some headaches, some mild joint pain but nothing severe enough to be considered Fibromyalgia or anything, and the fact that he is constantly getting sick. He told me that he too has inherited the arthritis and his is mostly in his upper spine right now. He's having a lot of issues right now with his father's side of the family and isn't on speaking terms with anyone other than his father, but I encouraged him to find out if anyone on that side of the family has any autoimmune diseases or any chronic ailments that maybe never were diagnosed or the person died before a diagnosis could be made, you know? He didn't say he wouldn't ask, but then again he didn't say he would either. I urged him to convince his sister to get tested too. She has her own health problems and she is a lot more run down than the average 26 year old. With all the pain that she wakes up with and lives with throughout the day, I suspect she might have Fibromyalgia. But she is more stubborn than a mule, and would probably only listen to Sean. But once he has his formal diagnosis (I'm assuming the blood tests aren't everything they plan to do. I still don't understand why they are sending him to a Dermatologist instead of a Rheumatologist) is made, I suspect that she will go and get tested too just to know for sure. I asked Sean how long he has had the rash and he said a couple of years. A couple of years!!! I'm surprised I never noticed it before! He said he's been suffering the symptoms for about 3 or 4 years now. So he was probably about 18 when this first started going on. I remember vaguely him complaining that he had a red mark on his face some time ago, but apparently it's bigger now. I'm going to email him tomorrow everything that is in these posts, and thank you Mahonri for the link to that liver/gallbladder cleanse. I explained about him trying a more natural diet and cutting out gluten. He didn't even know what gluten was (he doesn't know anyone with that allergy), but I explained what it is. His only complaint was that he loves bread, lol. I told him he can get gluten free breads, he just has to look for them. He said he doesn't like pasta too much. He doesn't eat a lot of fast food either, so that's good. He's into weight lifting and exercising, and I think that's why he isn't as sick as he could be. He's never been much of a pop drinker. He's more of a milk or water drinker. Same with his sister. She's big on tea and juice too.
I told him to try the gluten free diet for a few weeks and see if he feels any better. I hope it helps him. Thank you everyone for the wonderful advice. I'm going to see how difficult it will be for my family to eliminate gluten for a few weeks, just to see if it makes any of us feel better, or if it stops some of the Aspergers traits altogether. I wonder if it will improve mine and my older daughter's ADD. Hers seems to be getting worse. It's gotten so bad in the last few months that I now can no longer allow her to cook unless someone is standing over her because she is burning everything. She just randomly gets up and walks out of the room. Yesterday she was cooking rice, but didn't tell us she was doing that, and then put on her coat and walked out to feed the chickens. About ten minutes later I smelled the burning rice. My younger DD ran and pulled it off the burner. I'd love to find a way to deal with the ADD without resorting to medications. It's frustrating to say the least.

Thank you all for keeping Sean in your prayers. It means a lot. He plans to take this information to his doctor so that he can ask more detailed and knowledgeable questions. He goes in the 2nd, and I told him to let me know what the doctor says. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go well.

 

[AngieChick]

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I had never heard that, but I can see how it can happen. Illnesses can also trigger a flare up, it's like the body's immune system kicks into gear to fight the illness and just doesn't know when to stop. My husband has had spider bites, cuts and scratches turn into psoariasis plaques. He's on Methotrexate right now (yuck! It's just until it goes into remission again). So far he's had no side effects from it this time, but it's cumulative and he's only been back on it for a couple of weeks. Anyway, because it's an immune suppressor he did get his (dead virus) flu vaccine before starting it. We didn't want to risk his getting the flu while having a compromised immune system. While he's on the meds he has to stay away from children who have been recently vaccinated for polio. I loathe that drug, but it does work and he should only have to be on it for a few months before he can get back off of it, once this flare up is under control.

 

[BarkerChickens]

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Keep us updated on her progress and how her bloodwork looks when it comes back in January! Crossing my fingers for you and her both! I am sure that you and your Rheumatologist will be pleasantly surprised. I know I sure was!

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

I finally have a rheumo that will admit that vaccines can trigger this type of immunological response. Needless to say I pretty much flipped a biscuit when they mandated NY nurses to get the H1N1. I was going to have to choose between potentially being sicker or my job. Oh well. The fact of the matter is there is a huge increase in these types of diseases. No one really knows why. There are lots of theories including pollution, diet, immunizatons, etc. It's not really being addressed. Truly our diets are getting worse (GMO, pesticides, etc), there are new vaccines coming out every year (clearly the pertussis vaccine that's being used is not terribly effective) and there is all kinds of pollution around us on a daily basis from second hand smoke to the off gas from the paint in our homes, to the drugs that aren't filtered out of our drinking water. I could rant for hours, but I won't. The moral of the story is we are all unique, our triggers can be unique, he may need to hunt and peck until he finds what works for him. Best of luck.

 

[BarkerChickens]

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Really?? Hmm...I hadn't heard that before. But, my first symptoms popped up just a couple months after I had the Hep B series. Coincidence? maybe...maybe not. Definitely interesting though.

 

[BarkerChickens]

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Sorry...I cropped it to focus on the part I am responding to...
Most, if not all, of us are referring to Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus (SLE)...the one that most people think of when it comes to Lupus. However, some people have Discoid Lupus Erythmatosus, a form of Lupus that affects the skin (rash), but does not affect other organs like SLE. THis form is far less devastating and generally easier to manage. It can progress into SLE, but not always. The singer, Seal, is a great example of Discoid Lupus (the scarring on his face is due to Discoid Lupus...scarring is not common, to my knowledge). A Dermatologist would likely identify Discoid Lupus since it falls in their department (skin oppose to joints, etc).