Lupus is often misdiagnosed and it is called an invisible disease because you can never really tell if someone is suffering from Lupus, it’s like we are lupus sufferers walking along like normal people. I personally, never heard of lupus until the doctor told me that I might have one. During my early day with lupus, I was not told right away that I am suffering from that disease. I was first told that I had dengue, since my high fever wont subside despite all the antibiotics and then when my blood test turned out negative, the resident doctor (who in my opinion was pretty dumb) told my mom that I have meningocemia and I’ll be lucky to live in the next 24hours my mom fainted and my aunt shouted at the doctor and asked if he has enough proof that I am suffering from meningocemia and he said no that is just his opinion (pretty dumb and stupid, right?) My aunt went hysteria and immediately asked for me to be transfered in a hospital in Manila and within hours I was transferred by an ambulance, barely breathing. It was only then that the attending physician suspected that I might have lupus and he recommended my case to a Rheumatologist who subjected me to a series of test like blood tests and ANA. At first I turned out negative in my ANA result and my doctor said that I am suffering from Vasculitis, which later progressed to lupus and after three years my ANA result turned out positive that was the only time I was told that I have lupus.
But the weird part of all this is that I didn’t know, I don’t feel anything not even pain except the time that I had a hard time walking and my medical test results are indicating that I am sick but I don’t have any symptoms at all. Well, maybe I am just clueless about it but as far as I know these are the known symptoms of lupus…
- Achy joints
- Fever over 100 degrees F
- Swollen and painful joints (arthritis)
- Prolonged fatigue
- Skin rashes
- Anemia
- Swollen ankles (kidney involvement)
- Chest pain upon deep breathing (pleurisy)
- Butterfly-shaped rash across cheeks and nose
- Sensitivity to sun (photosensitivity)
- Unusual hair loss
- Abnormal blood clotting problems
- Pale or purple fingers from cold or stress (Raynaud’s Phenomenon)
- Seizures
- Mouth ulcers (often painless, at roof of mouth)
Well, I’ve got some of these but I just ignored it. So if you are feeling any of these symptoms don’t hesitate to tell your doctor about it and you might just be one of us.