Hello everyone, I'm new here but have been reading some of your questions and have gotten answers myself from reading them. I'm hoping some of you will read mine and hopefully be able to help me out and give me some answers too.

I'm 23 years old and have been sick since I graduated high school in 2003 (almost 6 years). I have seen numerous doctors and specialists and no one has been able to pin point exactly what is going on inside my body. I'm becoming very frustrated as you can probably all relate. I just need a diagnosis and hopefully treatment that will allow me to live a 'normal' life for someone my age.

It all started out as GI related symptoms. Nausea, Vomiting, Mucous in my Stools (and sometimes blood), Abdominal Pain, etc. I lost 25 pounds in only 6 weeks which put me down to 98 pounds. I was very thin and very sick...but no one could figure out what was wrong with me. I saw numerous GI specialists who all preformed Colonoscopies and Endoscopies which revealed nothing abnormal, so they then decided I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). After suffering through all of those problems for 2 years, I finally saw a new GI specialist at a different hospital who also preformed a Colonoscopy and decided to take biopsies of my colon during the process as well. Those biopsies came back demonstrating inflammation which lead my GI doctor to believe I may have Crohn's/Colitis. He started me on Salofalk which seemed to help. I am no longer on the medication, and am also no longer suffering from most of those syptoms. The medication was able to get things under control and therefore I stopped taking them about 2 years ago. I haven't had any more problems with my GI system, however about 2-2 1/2 years ago new symptoms started. The new symptoms consist of severe night sweats (waking up 2-3 times in the same night to my clothes and bed soaked from the sweat and me so cold and shivering that I need to take warm baths - as you can imagine this is frustrating in itself as it severely impacts my sleep patterns on the nights I have sweats); skin lesions on my upper back/shoulders, down my right arm and on the top of my chest and even some on my breasts. These lesions are sore and they look like holes in my skin. They bleed and ooze and eventually heal after a few weeks but have left scarring. Just as one batch of them is clearing up, a new batch always seems to start; severe fatigue, I probably sleep at least 12 hours a day and whenever I go out anywheres I always come home and have to go straight to bed to take a couple hour nap. I just feel like I don't have any energy anymore. I also developed a skin rash on my body 6 weeks ago that seems to be getting worse (ex: spreading to other areas). It's mainly on my thighs and buttocks but is now moving down my calves and up onto my abdomen. I also have 3 little spots on my right wrist. The rash is not itchy and looks like red circles that are raised only a tiny bit and are scaly. They’re more of a salmon color but as soon as I get in the shower/bath they brighten up and come out in full force. I saw an Infectious Disease Specialist last week who did a very thorough assessment and did some more testing. He wants to have some time to see if he can look at all of my past medical history, get the new results from the tests he took and hopefully piece together a diagnosis. He does not however believe that my problem is Infectious related but possibly Autoimmune Disease. I go back to see him for hopefully some answers on May 12th. I also suffer from Reynaud's Syndrome (my feet are ALWAYS frozen and they turn white/blue, my hands are cold a lot too but not as much as my feet). I have also had protein in my urine on 2 seperate occassions in the past to which my urologist referred me to a nephrologist however I still haven't received a call from him. I have a constant issue with kidney stones as well. In the past 4 1/2 years I have had 8 and I still have another inside my right kidney. They cannot figure out why my body keeps making stones. I also went through a period where I was loosing a lot of my hair (thankfully I have thick hair so it wasn't too noticeable). I still lose hair everyday in the shower, probably close to a handful each time. I have one skin lesion on my scalp that has been there for probably a year as well. I also from time to time get canker sores in my mouth but after a couple days they always go away. I have not experienced any pain or swelling of my joints, however have had problems with my lower back for a few years (off and on) in regards to pain that goes down my leg (sciatic nerve). All my bloodwork (red blood cells, white blood cells, SED rate, platelets, etc) have always come back normal however I had an ANA blood test done a couple weeks ago which came back weakly positive. I have seen an Oncologist/Hematologist to which Lymphoma has been ruled out. I do have some small swollen lymph nodes in both of my groins however. I also suffer from frequent Sinus Infections and started with headaches about a year ago (I have almost never had headaches my whole life until a year ago). I also suffer from Anxiety for which I take Effexor and Ativan, and Insomnia for which I take Imovane to help me sleep. I also get low grade fevers, usually in the evening or right before I go to bed. I sometimes also get EXTREMELY hot ears. They just turn really red and get really hot out of nowhere’s. I don’t know if this could be related or not.

Just wondering if anyone thinks I could be suffering from Lupus and that everything that I've been through in the past 6 years may all be related to the Lupus??? My doctor mentioned Lupus at my last appointment but he also mentioned a number of other things it could be. I did some research and couldn't believe how much I see myself in Lupus. Has anyone with Lupus suffered any similar symptoms as me?? Is it possible to have Lupus with a positive ANA but all other bloodwork normal and no joint pain/swelling?

Hope someone is able to help me out!! Sorry this post is so long, I just wanted to note everything so that maybe if someone has suffered like me they could relate!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and hopefully respond,

Krystal