opps that posted before i was done!!!!
My appointment with my internist is tomorrow afternoon. I had the appointment set before i even got my results back with the new positives. I've been waiting a long time for something new to come positive in my blood work. I've known for a few years that something was wrong just based on how i felt. Only thing is that my symptoms dont match any disease exactly quite yet.... but then again things have been changing a lot for me over the last year.
When i say i dont have skin involvement i mean it's not like that of any description i've seen for lupus or scleroderma, and i've only have a few instances of strange skin reactions that i can't seem to figure out what they are.... I only have a few small brown patches on my arm that have cropped up with in the last few months.... one of them has completely lost pigment and gone from brown to white though it's only a small irregular patch about a cm large. The other skin reaction i have in the sun.. but not like the normal lupus reaction: I get really red and my skin becomes painful to the touch as though i am severely sunburned.... but then a couple of hours later it will be fine. Along the same lines I will get a random red patch that looks like a sun burn, and then much like a terrible severe burn, the skin will sluff off and leave an open wound which will heal over the course of a week. This has only happened one time on my face in a long patch next to my nose and upper lip in a size of about 1 inch by 1/2 inch.
I do not seem to have any skin hardening like that of scleroderma... if anything my skin seems thinner as i age...
I know antoimmune diseases are peculiar, and personal... and effect each person differently. I'm just so worried because i was NOT expecting to have positive SCL-70 and it scares the crud out of me given it seems to be pretty specific to diffuse scleroderma.
I will let you know what my internist says tomorrow but i cannot help but be a little nervous about this..
hi Karajo,
thanks for your reply... they are always helpful and informative. I didn't realize low c3 could be indicative of kidney involvement! Interesting.
Hi Jen, I remember you.
I have a few things I would like to point out. Speckled pattern is seen in SLE, numerous other autoimmune diseases and in some healthy individuals w/ low amounts of antibody. With that said. You also had possitive SCL 70. This could indicate scleroderma or SLE. Low c3 and c4 means the body is undergoing a severe immune reaction, primarily in the kidneys. Lupus and other things can cause this. A repeatedly positive aPL test means a higher likelihood of developing internal blood clots or problems w/ pregnancies. Weakly positive test that come and go are common and generally not important.
I would think the swallowing issue "could be" scleroderma. I do know that autoimmune diseases can show up in labs years before symptoms become an issue.
This sound very familiar to me. I got sick on 5/3/2010, mine started with a rash or out break of spotts all over my body. Did you have this incident too? Today I felt totally drained and unfocused, kind of like I was drunk. I too have had lab work that the doctors seem to be guessing at to make a diagnosis. It's been complicated and frustrating! I go see the doctors for direction, but seem to get more information off the internet than from the doctors. One thing that is remarkable is that I now stutter, sometimes to the point of not understandable. If you get any good information could you please share with me? My husband and I are wondering what we are paying for with doctors that can't come to a diagnosis then pass me to another doctor. The new doctor does the same tests that were just done and come to the same conclusions. Then I am referred to another doctor.