I am unable to watch videos with my connection here. However, I have a friend who has lupus. It is indeed a complex and difficult issue; symptoms are not the same from patient to patient, and it can be very frustrating.
Sadly this doesn’t discuss common symptoms or treatments. Tiredness, cough, and nausea are–sadly–vague and common to other things, which of course is why diagnosis is such a problem. The good thing is that we see Jennifer running at the end, some indication that one can live a relatively normal life.
Although my wife does not have Lupus, she has MS. Also being an autoimmume disease, there are overlapping symptoms like with fatigue and pain. My wife was not properly diagnosed with MS until 3.5 years ago, which was over 20 years after she first presented symptoms. We were married in May 1989, and I must have taken my wife to 6 different doctors that first year, and I kept up the “there is something physically wrong!!!” mantra for many years later until she was diagnosed correctly. After the doctor that correctly diagnosed her and ordered the brain MRIs that confirmed the diagnosis told me the news, I told my wife “remember all those doctors that said this was all in your head? They were right, except you aren’t a PMS/depressed/hypocondriac, you have multple plaque lesions in your brain!”
My wife heard the same things these lupus patients heard: you have PMS, you are depressed, you are making these up since the doctor did not personnaly observe the symptoms, there is no reason for your fatigue or pain so get counselling. Before I was married, I heard that many male doctors did not take women’s problems seriously, and I found out that was true.
There’s an added issue here, namely, that lupus can be completely debilitating and even fatal. My sister-in-law died a year and a half ago from the rare but catastrophic form of lupus. Not only were her initial symptoms vague ( weakness, tingling in her extremities, etc.) but she did not fit the typical profile for Lupus–she was in her early 50’s etc. Within three months of an actual diagnosis for lupus, she suffered a pulmonary embolism which led to mulit system organ failure and death, despite the heroic efforts of experts at one of the best hospitals in the United States. The bottom line? Medicine is not an exact science and we are consumers. If you do not feel right, you are not right. And even when the doctors suggest that it is “in your head”, keep looking. And if you are blessed to be relatively close to a major medical center or university medical complex, seek out an expert there. Life is too short; don’t take any of it for granted.
I am unable to watch videos with my connection here. However, I have a friend who has lupus. It is indeed a complex and difficult issue; symptoms are not the same from patient to patient, and it can be very frustrating.
I remember my grandmother had Lupus and some people thought she was crazy or a hypocondriac or something.
Sadly this doesn’t discuss common symptoms or treatments. Tiredness, cough, and nausea are–sadly–vague and common to other things, which of course is why diagnosis is such a problem. The good thing is that we see Jennifer running at the end, some indication that one can live a relatively normal life.
Although my wife does not have Lupus, she has MS. Also being an autoimmume disease, there are overlapping symptoms like with fatigue and pain. My wife was not properly diagnosed with MS until 3.5 years ago, which was over 20 years after she first presented symptoms. We were married in May 1989, and I must have taken my wife to 6 different doctors that first year, and I kept up the “there is something physically wrong!!!” mantra for many years later until she was diagnosed correctly. After the doctor that correctly diagnosed her and ordered the brain MRIs that confirmed the diagnosis told me the news, I told my wife “remember all those doctors that said this was all in your head? They were right, except you aren’t a PMS/depressed/hypocondriac, you have multple plaque lesions in your brain!”
My wife heard the same things these lupus patients heard: you have PMS, you are depressed, you are making these up since the doctor did not personnaly observe the symptoms, there is no reason for your fatigue or pain so get counselling. Before I was married, I heard that many male doctors did not take women’s problems seriously, and I found out that was true.
There’s an added issue here, namely, that lupus can be completely debilitating and even fatal. My sister-in-law died a year and a half ago from the rare but catastrophic form of lupus. Not only were her initial symptoms vague ( weakness, tingling in her extremities, etc.) but she did not fit the typical profile for Lupus–she was in her early 50’s etc. Within three months of an actual diagnosis for lupus, she suffered a pulmonary embolism which led to mulit system organ failure and death, despite the heroic efforts of experts at one of the best hospitals in the United States. The bottom line? Medicine is not an exact science and we are consumers. If you do not feel right, you are not right. And even when the doctors suggest that it is “in your head”, keep looking. And if you are blessed to be relatively close to a major medical center or university medical complex, seek out an expert there. Life is too short; don’t take any of it for granted.