Hi everyone! I just want to say that this is a great board. I found it by accident one day, which actually probably wasn't an accident,i really needed to read everyone's posts. I am 35, mother of 4, and an rn. I started having symptoms about 5 years ago, when I had kidney stones. Then last year, I thought I had a really bad kidney infection, was hospitalized and turns out my kidneys were fine but an ana came up positive at 1:160. I know this isn't as high as some others, but who knows. That was my one and only positive. I wound up going to a rheumatologist who did tons of tests and basically told me to assume I have lupus because the tests were fine, but I did have alot of the other symptoms. Ie: joint pain, fatigue, gritty eye feeling. The reason I found this board was because I have been feeling fine for about 1 year, I had my gallbladder taken out last sept and have been great ever since, until about 3 weeks ago. Let me mention that I became a vegetarian because everything killed my stomach. I basically lived on bagels for about 1 year before my surgery. Anyway,,,one day a couple of weeks ago, I could hardly get out of bed. That feeling of sleeping 24 hours a day was starting. I went to my regular dr because I usually got this way when I had a uti. Everything was fine. Went back to the dr because now my wrists feel like they are going to fall off. My feet feel like they are broken in different spots. I have on and off flank pain, now coupled with wheezing and congestion (r/o pneumonia, but still wheezing) my dr is really good, so she did some tests, which of course came back negative. Still waiting for the double stranded dna, but I am not holding my breath. I started getting paliptations so now I have to see a cardiologist and have a rheumatology appt next week. I found an ebook called "the lupus recovery diet". It has helped me a lot. I really feel there is something to the nutrition part . I really do not want to be put on meds. I hardly take a tylenol to begin with and the thought of steroids..Ugh. Anyway,,has anyone tried accupunture or seeing a nutritionist? I am very into homeopathic remedies and would like to try that route before anything else. I had a massage on thursday,,,and let me tell you,,,i felt like a new person on friday....So, if anyone has any suggestions or experiences with holistic treatment, I would love to hear about it. Even though I haven't gotten a definite diagnosis, I am convinced that I have lupus vs fibromyalgia (my aunt has lupus and my mom and fibro)....I am not waiting for the writing on the notepad saying this is what I have. I would like to clear it up as much as possible now! Thanks for listening,,this is really a great board and everyone should be proud to help others out.

diane....Neonurse03