Newbie.

Minx · Newbie Alert Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 4

Hi all. New here. I just found out for sure that I have SLE and I stumbled across this forum.
I have had symptoms for years and Doctors have dismissed them over and over again. I have had joint pains forever, I have the butterfly rash and mottled hands, and all sorts of skin problems. I have also had one severe psychotic episode (requiring hospitalisation) in the past and recurrent miscarriages, the most recent being last December. Most of them were early ones but the last one was at 11 weeks Sad

I am prone to depression.
I am really looking forward to giving and receiving support here.

Minx · Newbie Alert Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 4

Oh, I am nearly 37, married with 2 boys of 6 years and 17 months. We live in England. I also have diabetes and high blood pressure and polycystic ovarian syndrome (Stein-leventhal syndrome). We're currently trying for just one more baby.

Missy · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 9:43 am Post subject:

Welcome - I'm new here, too, and somewhat new to Lupus. I was dx almost 2 months ago due to severe anemia we found was caused by Lupus attacking kidneys. Fortunately, I have little to no joint pain, unlike my little sister who has been diagnosed with mild Lupus (after wrong dx of RA) since she was 20. You are from England - my sister was actually studying in London while having Raynaud's symptoms and joint pain. I'm 26 and she's 24 now.

I have read that Lupus sufferers have more miscarriages. I hope everything goes well with your pregnancy hopes. Getting sick has been interesting for my husband and I, too, as we were just really thinking about 1-2 years for kids, and not sure now what the future holds. We had always wanted to adopt, so that's definitely an option. To make matters more interesting, we moved out of state to a new job for my husband right when we were trying to figure out what was going on with my health.

I'm really glad to have found this board, and hope it's a good place to get support.

Saysusie · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:17 am Post subject:

Welcome Missy and Mink Laughing

I hope that we can be helpful to you!

Saysusie

Minx · Newbie Alert Joined: 26 Jan 2004 Posts: 4

Amrita · Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:35 am Post subject:

Hey everyone!...I'm new here !.....I was dignosed with SLE about 11 years ago...(i was 7+ then)....and I've been on steroids since....I've had a lot of trouble dealing with the side effects since then.....especially the weight gain.....I'd finally lost all that unwanted weight last year and for once i was happy about the way i look.....that was when the disease decided to relapse....(what luck!).....so my doc increased my dosage of steroids to 50 mg daily.....I'm very irregular with my medication mainly coz i hate to think of the side-effects....Has anyone been able to reduce the side effects with diet and exercise??.....also i presently have edema.....all over my body, but more so on my feet,ankles ,calfs,thighs and severely on my abdomen.......usually for me, it goes away with the increased dose of prdnisone but for some reason it's not working this time.....Does anyone have an explanation?