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'Invisible disease' a challenge to manage
Lupus, "the invisible disease," can be tough to diagnose and to live withDate published: 11/15/2009 BY BRYNN BOYER For years, Nancy Ferris of Fredericksburg suffered from joint pain, fatigue and migraines, but neither she nor her doctors could pinpoint the cause. It took a bout of severe illness, followed by multiple tests, for her physician to finally diagnosis lupus, an auto-immune disease known for being unpredictable and tough to diagnose. "For many years, I had all the symptoms, but I never put it all together," Ferris said. Life with lupus can be challenging, said Ferris, who is 60. "Some days I get up and feel fantastic," Ferris said. "Other days I get up and can hardly move." In people with lupus, the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. While no two cases are exactly alike, the Mayo Clinic says common symptoms include: Fatigue Joint pain Mouth sores Hair loss Easy bruising Skin rashes Memory loss. Sufferers tend to have flare-ups, or times when their symptoms get worse. After Ferris became very sick in 2001, she said, she went to a number of different doctors, who gave her varying diagnoses, including fibromyalgia at one point. Some doctors suspected lupus was the cause of her pain, and blood tests can help detect the condition. But her first two tests for the disease came back negative. Finally, when her third test came back positive in 2004, her doctor diagnosed lupus. 'THE INVISIBLE DISEASE' According to the Mayo Clinic, the cause of lupus is unknown, though certain risk factors seem to play a role. Women and minorities are more likely to have lupus. Heredity can also be a factor, which Ferris knows firsthand. Her mother and her sister also live with lupus. "Our family has been very hard-hit by lupus," she said. Penny Fletcher, president and CEO of the Lupus Foundation of America Greater Washington chapter, called lupus "the invisible disease." Often, she said, patients do not show any outward signs. "It's a very difficult disease to understand," Fletcher said. "Each case is very different." For Ferris, her symptoms are "all internal," meaning she may look fine on the outside but be suffering on the inside. "People don't understand that sometimes I can hurt from my head to my toes," Ferris said. Treatment of lupus depends on the symptoms, but the Mayo Clinic says three drugs are commonly prescribed for lupus sufferers:
Date published: 11/15/2009
You can try to beat it sometimes it beats you
(posted by
returninghome
, Nov. 16, 2009 1:10 am)
My aunt was told when she was the age of 20 she had lupus she had 6 months to live ,That was in 1964 she did finally die in 2003 she went on to have kids and hwent to college and got her doctorate and become a president of a college and after lots of hits and misses of meds threw the years and hip replacement's she over came it for years . My second cousin and first cousin has lupas . I've been tested so if its in your family please have your self tested .
Check out LEF.org for help
(posted by
Searchin4Truth
, Nov. 15, 2009 11:41 am)
Check out vitamin D3 and d-ribose for help with immune system and chronic fatigue syndrome. Vitamin D3 in 2,000 to 6,000 I.U. dosage a day protects against flu and colds, also. "B" vitamins are also helpful along with folic acid.
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