Boooo Systemic Lupus and Diabetes

[Ladybirdy75]

So, i was called by my GP's surgery saying the doctor wanted to see me (gulp :-S ). Along with my HbA1c and other usual suspects (renal, liver, cholesterol, etc) tests the other week I also had an Anti Nuclear Antibody test done for suspected Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Anyway, I went to see him this evening and the test came back weakly positive, something which 20% of the population test as. However, because of the terrible pains i've been having in my neck, shoulders, arms and hands my GP seems worried and is now referring me to a rhumatoidologist for further investigation. Has anybody else had anything like this happen to them? Does anybody out there suffer from SLE?

Over the past 5 years i've had some real problems with my hands and arms. I've had 6 fingers operated on for trigger finger, both wrists operated on for carpal tunnel syndrome, am about to have surgery on my frozen right shoulder and have now developed dupuytrens contracture in both palms. My fingers and wrists are very inflexible too. Is there anybody out there............who has some similar experience of this???

I am fairly well controlled, type 1 on a pump. Young of mind, soundish of body.........not so much of mind :-D. Just feeling a little fed up with it all. My life is just full of so many appointments du medicalé (eyes, shoulder, physio, blah)





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[lrw60]

I can sympathise completely with your condition. I have had arthritis in most of my joints for over 30 years now. The worst ones are my big toes! No don't laugh! My toes hurt! As a builder having bad joints isn't good news. Unfortunately last year I discovered more bits had succumbed. I was trying to repair a leaking gutter, which is best to do when it's raining, see where the leaks are. So I go round when it's raining and find that I can't look up, my neck has now started to sieze up. I get the ladder positioned under the drips of water and climb up the ladder to fix extra brackets. I try to reach up, and find that my right shoulder has joined my neck and the rest of me in being shot. And I do mean shot, it's not a non-swearing spelling thing! It was some months later that I found this forum and found out that a lot of diabetics have problems with their joints. Why? Sorry LadyBird, didn't mean to have a moan on your posting. I now have to find out if the siezed joints are down to diabetes or arthritis. Or maybe, joy of joys! I have something else wrong with me. Oh goody.
Just call me creaky Lee.

 

[Ladybirdy75]

Creaky Lee- made me smile :-D It's such a pain (no pun intended) isn't it? As i get older more things seem to get added to the list and i seem to spend my life going to doctors and hospital appointments. My pain is pretty much caused by inflamation in my tendons rather than the joints themselves. Saying that my fingers and wrists have no "give" in them so i wouldn't be surprised if arthritis struck there. That's my breakdancing career over with. Just gets on my pip because i look younger than my 43 years, i feel relatively well but my body feels like it's 103 years old in places! Sorry to hear about your problems too, joint pain and immobility are debilitating aren't they. I can fully sympathise with your big toe, i have nephropathy in mine and get all sorts of weird and painful sensations. It does seem like a lot of us experience joint pain. There has to be a link.


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[lrw60]

i look younger than my 43 years,

If you look younger than your 43 years, why are you using a photo of filmstar instead of yours??

I am guessing that the 75 in your name is the year you were born, its a maths thing I can do, the 60 in my name is unfortunately not the year I was born! I used to feel such a phony when I had a bad arthritis attack. My arthritis isn't one you can see. So when the pain was enough to nearly make me pass out, people couldn't see why. I am lucky in a way that I have never needed any surgery for mine. I was offered carpal tunnel injections, steroids of some sort, but I refused. I changed my diet and let it sort itself out. I no longer have any pain from that area. I have a feeling that I was offered injections that weren't needed. Do you take any so-called natural remedies for your condition? I tried some stuff many years back. The powders had to be mixed together and I sent to America for seaweed based capsules I could put the powder in as I wouldn't use the (beef) gelatin capsules available here. The taste was awful, my next door neighbour wondered what all the yukking was about! They didn't work either.

 

[robert72]

Hi Ladybirdy

I had 2 frozen shoulders about 15 years ago. Exquisitely painful as I recall, so you have my sympathies. Mine cleared up on their own after around 2 years and a bout of physio. I have a few aches and pains in my toes sometimes but nothing too bad (warning signals to behave) and they're a little numb around the edges. Also concur with you about medical appointments... seems to be something every week. Rheumatology (Monday) and cardiac rehab (Tuesday) for me next week. High maintenance after 40ish years of D

Hope your shoulder op goes well.

 

[Ladybirdy75]

Irw60 (aka Creaky Lee) - ah you actually made me laugh out loud :-D
That photo must've been on a good day lol, the light is particularly good there, in my downstairs loo ha ha.

Gosh i really do feel for you when your pain is that bad. My mom has degenerative (?) arthritis in her neck and the top of her spine which are bad enough but she also gets referred pain into her arms and she loses a lot of sleep through that. There's just nothing out there to ease it is there.

You're right about nobody being able to see what's going on with us. People can't see the pain your in or from the outside you can't tell. Makes me wince to think that you have felt you could pass out with pain, that's just awful for you :-(

The only supplements i take are 6 little tablets of equazen (eye q) fish oil a day plus a B-vitamins tablet. I've read that fish oils help calm inflamation and are good for joints so i thought i'd give it a go. Interestingly, there have been a lot of posts on here about Simvastatin, which i've been on for years. There's evidence to suggest that it causes all sorts of problems including joint and tendon, fatigue and gastric problems. I mentioned this to my GP last week and he agreed that there was evidence to suggest issues with it. I sort of ommitted to tell him i'm now on a "statin holiday". My diet is very healthy, i exercise, i don't smoke and rarely drink and my last cholesterol check was 3.8 and i wasn't even high when i got put on them in the first place!!! I've looked at some of the concotions out there but they're quite expensive so i'm going to trial the fishy oils for a bit.

I hope you've got someone who can do that roof for you Lee? X


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[Ladybirdy75]

Hi Robert72, interesting to hear that you had frozen shoulder's too. I was hoping mine would clear up of it's own accord but after 2 years there's still no progress (despite daily home stretches, physio and £300 spent on a chiropractor!!). So, i've given in to surgery and am just waiting on a date now. My left shoulder isn't so bad but all the niggling pains suggest that frozen-ness is on it's way. Hhmmm yes i agree, 38 years of disbetes for me and things are seemingly on the slide ;-). Doing everything i can though to halt it. I think it's the systemic lupus part that's most worrying for me now :-S

Thanks for responding and take care.


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[janeecee]

A weakly positive ANA test does not automatically confirm a diagnosis of Lupus. It may be "normal for you" or it may indicate other autoimmune illnesses other than Lupus. When you see the rheumatologist you will probably have more specific blood tests that detect antibodies more characteristic of Lupus to rule it in or out. Usually people with Lupus have a significantly higher ANA positive. I've recently gone through the same investigations. As well as testing ANA+ I have malar rash on face that comes and goes, sicca syndrome, Raynaud's, etc, but more likely to be Sjorgrens in my case. I wouldn't automatically jump to the conclusion that you have Lupus just yet. A weakly positive ANA is quite common in 'healthy' people too, as you have already learned.


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[lrw60]

Hi Ladybirdy,
Many thanks for your sympathy, I do feel for anyone who suffers with their joint pains. Many people think that arthritis is only for the elderly. I started to get mine in my twentys, I sam some posters once, they had pictures drawn by young children who had arthritis. The pictures showed the way they felt when the pain hit. Very sad. My own arthritis might have been caused by the way I used to work. I have twisted my spine through carrying heavy weights on my shoulder, this of course then puts strain on a hip joint etc, etc. I spent a lot of money going to a chiropractor and an osteopath and phisio etc. They all told me the same thing as did my doctor. Pack in work and do something else. Not very helpful, but I am sure they meant well. I was offered fish oil capsules for my aches by a man at Holland & Barret, I pointed out that I am a veggie and couldn't/wouldn't eat any animal products. He is one of the very few people who understood my position as a veggie. Over the years I found one thing did help me, and that was pure lavender oil. I used to mix it with a carrier oil, never rub it on neat! and I also used to put some in a very hot bath. I ran the bath and as it became full I would add 4 drops of oil and then some bubble bath! I figured the bubbles might act as a layer of insulation to keep the heat in. The baths did help ease my pains, they never stopped them completely, it was only eventually packing in work that has helped ease them. I am now semi-retired (which means I work more for less money) and living in Cornwall. I did think that the damper air down here would make my arthritis flare up but it hasn't. I have only had a few bad attacks which were down to me doing something I shouldn't have, laying on a cold floor working under a car. I try not to go up ladders if I can as I lost my sense of ballance many years ago. I have about 80 to 90% back now, but I never walk in a straight line! Me and roofs don't get on, even working under a car can set off another dizzy spell, and cause my damaged neck to flare up and the arthritis might join in too. You've got to laugh! :lol:
Good luck with the things you are having done, I hope things work out well.
Lee.