I have felt very unwell over the past year and a half. I'm always tired, feel run-down, and just not as clear-headed some times. I even quit my job as a teacher after the school year b/c I felt physically unable to handle the work there and being a decent mom and wife at home.

Two weeks ago I felt like I was dying. My joints ached so badly...Especially in my legs. I felt weak and had chills and low-grade fever. It hurt to pee, so I assumed I had a bladder infection.

When I went to the Dr. The urinalysis showed white blood cells, but no bacteria, so they said it wasn't a uti. The dr was stumped. He told me to go to my gyno as maybe I had something going on on my ovaries....

I went home and the next day I thought I was having a heart attack. My chest was tight and it hurt to breathe. I felt like someone was standing on my chest. It would come and go, so I figured it wasn't that serious and I left it alone.

I went to the gyno the next day...All the symptoms still present. I looked so weird because when I walked the bottoms of my feet hurt along with the joints in the legs. I wanted to just cry. I had just had my "normal" gyno exam 3 weeks prior, so the Dr. Didn't feel the need to examine me. He was at a loss b/c like at my general dr's office, my urinalysis showed no bacteria which is what causes uti's.....He saw the white blood cells, though, so he told me to take antibiotics anyway just in case.

Well, in a day or so I felt perfectly normal. Figured that I just had a weird uti or something...No biggie.

Yesterday, the chest pain came back. Very sharp when I breathe in. Tight overall. I called the Dr. (feeling embarrassed and like a stinkin' hypochondriac) and they said my Dr. Wasn't going to be in the next day but I could see another. I went in today. I thought I was beginning to notice the soreness in my legs returning, but I didn't mention it to this new Dr. He asked questions about my chest discomfort and almost immediately diagnosed "pleurisy". I got a shot and was told I would feel better in 6 hours.

When I got home I looked up pleurisy and was very disappointed to see it is typically a symptom ....... So I wondered what in the world could be causing this strange symptom? I found a list of scary diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, blood clots, and pneumonia. Then I found lupus.

When I saw the symptoms of lupus I saw some very familiar things:
-just a few days ago my husband noticed my toes "looked dead"...They were purple.
-i seem to get sores in my mouth about once a month for the past 6 months.
-joint pain
-pleurisy
-depression-i have been on effexor for over a year now and have really struggled as it gets worse and worse.
-fatigue

i don't know. I am sick of feeling sick. I am normally the healthy one in the family. I am constantly complaining and it is taking a toll on my family. I'm scared to take these thoughts to my Dr.....So I thought i'd see what you guys think.

Thanks in advance!
Beth