In the spring of 2005 I was helping my son paint his storage room. I bumped my thumb against a nail a tiny scrape that barely broke the skin. Two hours later while sitting at my friend’s house over coffee I developed a high fever. With in those two hours I developed a thick red line protruding up my arm; I went to stand up and passed out. Over the next eight weeks I fought repeated bouts of infections that included my blood, lungs and kidneys. Every type of antibiotics wouldn’t work by pill form. They ended up giving me a combination of Penicillin/ antibiotics all by IV. They discovered I had an under active thyroid, arthritis in one spot on my spine and ribs. I was getting unexplainable fevers, head aches and blurred vision. I could go on with quite a list of infections I have become familiar with since then sinus, eyes, ears, throat …etc by the end of the eight weeks I lost 27 pounds. Following a battery of test I was diagnosed with Lupus. I have gained 14 pounds of my weight back.
It never fails what when the seasons change for people with Lupus. Don’t get me wrong I look forward to beautiful flowers, or autumn leaves, to a scenic picture of a snow covered street. For those of us with Lupus we know what else to expect: it’s time to expect the pain. There are numerous studies out there that say that autoimmune disorders tend to flare at the change of seasons, but no one seems to know why.
I trust my doctor to a degree but his constant writing prescription for pain killers seems to be the same as putting a band aid on a wound. I learned on Monday that I have Psoriatic Arthritis in both Knees, Hips, Elbows, hands and feet. When the Doctor delivered me that bag of goodies I replied with no reaction for the Doctor he must really wonder some times. For me I had to process what he was telling me. I had already been diagnosed with arthritis on my spine and ribs in 2005. I can’t really explain why I was as listless as I was in my response other than his diagnoses came across as a bit over whelming, all of it together seemed all encompassing. At least I know some of the causes why I experience all the pain and fatigue. I’d love to fool myself into thinking I’ll have an epiphany and discovered the reason I have developed this illness, but the only thing I’ve been told is that it’s possible it was environmental, gender, females have a higher chance of getting Lupus, high stress first pregnancy may contribute and possibly genetics.
I have spent the last couple of weeks fighting fatigue, pain, and fevers. I have suffered fevers on sporadic bases with out any explanation for years; my Doctor says the fevers are caused by Lupus. Some times I get head aches and blurred vision which he also accounts to Lupus. I have had lung inflammation issues and once during a flare up my kidneys became engaged and stopped doing their job properly, my legs swell like balloons. At present my joints are very sore every movement tempts me to have the prescriptions filled. Only once did I actually go the distance and get one filled. When I got home I ran a hot bath, poured a tea and took one of the pain killers. I woke six and half hours later buck naked, freezing, my muscles were cramped up and the bath tub was empty….hmmm. I have never taken any of them since or filled any of the pain killer prescriptions he gives me. I rely on Ibuprofen and some times Tylenol Extra Strength. I have been researching diet and I have discovered several foods that help in keeping inflammation in check. There are vitamins and supplements I can be taking. Tomorrow I’m going into the City and stocking up on better choices. I’m going to be a better advocate for myself. Next week I’m booked to see the Specialist and start therapy for the arthritis and calm it down. I hope he doesn’t write me more pain killer prescriptions, I hope he actually helps me. Maybe someday they will find what causes this disease and thus find a cure or a way to treat it. I will post my research and recipes I come with that contain foods that are for us Lupus survivors. Keep fighting; I hope this post finds you well.
