New Face Rash - Scared

Welcome!

i am ladybrannon!

A few things...

1) yes, lupus can be hereditary, but published numbers show that less than 10% of lupus patients have other close family members with lupus. Passing from a mother to child is stated to be 5% or less. Now, keeping that in mind, there sometimes (and I stress sometimes) can be a connection between other autoimmunes and lupus. I also stress that those numbers are probably several years old.

2) furthermore, current lupus research suggests that genetics alone does not cause lupus...Most feel there is also an environmental trigger that must occur to actually cause the onset of lupus. Trust me when I say that I have seen hundreds of things being considered as the "trigger."

3) ask yourself this...Could it be anything else? Did you change your laundry detergent? Fabric softner? Soap? Body wash? Hair spray? You get the idea...

4) have you had any other recent illnesses? Flu? Mono? Etc?

5) since you do not have a regular gp (general practice) doctor, I would suggest the following actions:

keep a thorough diary of all and any symptoms or changes in your body. You know yourself best. Have you had a fever? Any odd pains anywhere else? Stomach aches? Throwing up? What type of headaches?

Locate a rheumatologist in your area and visit them. See what they think.


I hope this helps!
Ladybrannon

Ladybrannon,
thanks so much for your reply. I am sorry to read you had a flare up which caused you to be hospital bound for a couple of days. However, I am glad to know you are feeling better now.

I appreciate the time you take to ponder all of our questions.

To answer a few of yours, I have not changed any detergents, soaps, frangrances, etc. In the last severa years. I have not had any recent illnesses (not the ones you mentioned). I do have anxiety and panic disorder, however.

I have been having tension type headaches and migraine type headaches for the past couple of months. I have had irregular heart rhythm for 13 years. Also, my fingers go numb whenever I get cold. Whenever I warm up again, my fingers feel like they have fallen asleep (pins and needles feeling). I don't know what all of this means (whether it is anything or not) but I was just curious and a little afraid (a lot afraid) due to my paternal family history.

Again, thanks for your time. I will take notice to any symptoms I might feel.

Hey...You are in nc! So am i! If you want to talk...I have a 1-800 number you can use!

For your hands and feet...Ask your doctor about something called raynaud's phenomenon...

I understand...And I would highly encourage you to visit a rheumatologist...

Hugs,
ladybrannon

Ladybrannon: again, thanks.

Hello-upallnight and lady brannon, I just replied on another post to you. Then I read this one...My problems with my left side is alot like what you just describbed. It feels like that part of my body has gone to sleep and is trying to wake up...You know ..Starts tingeling and feels achy. But it never quits. Or wakes up. I wonder if there is a conection.
I've never heard anyone mention similar problems before. Mine started after an episode which my doctors called a "lupus stroke" am I going crazy or what?
Sharon

When my doctors were first deciding on what I had....They did think perhaps roscea, but before the words lupus came up. I did start having tingling in my cheeks and limbs, but my doctors never came up with an answer to those sensations or lack there of.

Have you thought going to a dermotologist ? They can at least rule out things and they are affordable... Especially as a first step.

Advising feel almost as good as venting

Dear lady brannon and others,

so glad to meet you all and read all the information. I have had similar health problems. I was told two years ago that I had lyme disease. I presented to my dermatologist with a rash on my left shoulder, then again on the right shoulder, on my neck and so on. The joint pain, head aches and fatigue were unbearable. I was on meds for about a year with no relief. I was referred to three other physicians who finally decided it must be just stress so they gave me antidepressants. After more symptoms appeared I finally went to mayo clinic and found a wonderful physician. Through a skin biopsy and other tests I was diagnosed just recently with lupus. There are no family members with lupus. Lady brannon, it was very interesting that you referred to the enviornment in one of your replys. Do you have any more information on lupus and enviornmental issues? I lived in a home that had underground storage tanks and these tanks leaked prior to the homes being built in 1992. I only found out when I decided to sell my home. According to the epa report the contamination was extensive. I would appreciate any information. Again I am so excited to meet all of you. I don't even know anyone with lupus. Now I do. Thanks, le from sd

Hi engelbrecht! I am ladybrannon and am thrilled to meet you!

Yes, I did mention environmental factors being possible "triggers" along with having a genetic predisposition.

It was interesting that yesterday, I was given permission to attend a resident's seminar on lupus in children and adolescents at duke university. Which, by the way, was very neat. The speaker was Dr. Christy i. Sandborg associate professor of pediatarics director, division of rheumatology stanford university school of medicine. Anyhoo, that was one of the topics she addressed.

I have heard all kinds of things. Most researchers/doctors/etc admit that there are a lot of theories surrounding this topic and no absolutes. Here is a short list of some things I have heard:

1) a virus- some specific ones mentioned are ebv and cmv.
2) excessive sunlight exposure
3) an allergen that harshly effects the person
4) some type of chemical in the person's environment (which I think you were alluding to in your post, correct?)

none of this is absolute...In anyway! The reality is that noone knows. There have been about 6-7 genes identified that seem to be "on" or "off" in lupus patients. The last I heard, a lot of well known researchers are hypothesizing that there are about 12 genes that play significant roles in lupus.

I hope this helps answer your question about "triggers" in some small way!

Hugs,
ladybrannon

i did not know that these were lupus symptoms, too?

I have recently started to get a face rash on and off, I am 40 and 26 weeks pregnant. The rash started to show up at about 18 weeks I think, and comes about every 4 weeks. Unfortunately, it hasn't been there when I go to the ob. It usually starts to fade after about 2-3 days, and has been coming back about every 4 weeks. When I mentioned it to the ob, he thought it was most likely just the normal mask you get with pregnancy, but I doubt it. He did mention lupus, but at that point he did not think so. I also mentioned it to a work program nurse that checks up on me, and she said that they pretty much don't do anything unless there are other symptoms, at this point, but she was referring to the rash, and my rash doesn't itch or anything, although this last time my skin at the rash felt really dry and a little sore... Kind of like it was chapped... But that could be the weather.

I have so many symptoms that are also typical during pregnancy, it is hard to tell.... But I do have extreme stomach gas and some reflux, I still throw up sometimes because of it, even though the really bad nausea I had from months 2-4 has gone away. I haven't mentioned to my ob that my knees occasionally bother me, but I thought that was from the extra weight...I started out a little overweight.

Should I just wait until I deliver, and see if these things go away? That is pretty much what everybody is telling me. The baby's ultrasounds all look good so far, including it's heart and kidneys, though my amnio fluid is on the high side, but in normal range. Ugh.

Thanks for any info.

Hey nice to meet you all

if anyone can help, I would appreciate it.

So I am 17 years old turning 18 next month. In the past 2 years I have had pericarditas 7 times. So I have seen specialists, and I got tested a lot of lupus. They came back negative, but they did say that I could develop lupus later on down the road. So I started to get canker sores with my pericarditas. I haven't had pericarditas for a month now, but in the past 4 days I have gotten rashes. They are not on my face, but on my arm and shoulders and sometimes a little on my neck, the first time I got the rashes it was all down the left and right side of my body starting from the arm pits. I haven't changed soaps, or anything like that I will just be sitting and they appear for unkown reasons. I have been sick since friday with headaches, sore throat, and a mild fever. Although I am starting to feel better, today I got another couple of rash patches on my arms. Could these possibly be systems of lupus starting?

Thanks for the help

hi,
i am new to this site but have had 'some kind of connective tissue disease' for the past 16 years. One of my first symptoms was as you described numbness and tingling on the right side of my body. It was like a line was drawn down the middle of my body and the right side felt like it belonged to a different person. Even my tongue felt different on the right side. I had this daily for more than 2 years and was treated with prednisone. It finally went away. Now when I get really tired, it will start to come back but has not stayed for long periods. Doctors just look at me like I am crazy when I tell them about it. After the symptoms went away, one md I mentioned it to had me undergo a cerebral angiogram and an mri. Neither test showed anything. Very frustrating. Also, there are times when the right side of my body feels hot to touch, but my left side feels normal or even a little cool. One md commented that he felt like there are a lot of connective tissue diseases that are so rare that they haven't been isolated yet so in the mean time, we just treat the symptoms. It would be interesting to do a study on how many of us have had symptoms like this.