Aother poster mentioned the Avise so I just googled it and posted info on it. @trspac I have never had this test. I had an ANA reflex panel which showed high antibodies for scleroderma . That test is done after a positive ANA. I have no idea why noone ever did the panel in the past. I was diagnosed with lupus 20 years ago but don't really meet the criteria in my opinion.
If you were diagnosed with Sjogren's how would your treatment change?
If you were diagnosed with lupus what medication would you accept?
Are you being monitored for internal damage? I really don't care about labels. I care about kidneys, lungs, heart, gut and am being monitored.
Have you had a Lyme test? EBV?
I cannot take any meds at this point. My friend with RA can't either.
Plaquenil is often the first step. Would that help?
I am seeking pain management, PT massage, and seeing a functional medicine doctor who is very accepting but his treatments are expensive. I have done IV glutathione in the past.
@windyshores - I just care about my health. Being that is is obvious I have an immune response causing inflammation it is concerning. Don’t want inflammation sitting around as this can cause further damage. Don’t care about a diagnosis, just want to be treated to resolve the underlying issue if possible. Treatment is the same with sjogrens that I am taking now but don’t want to have to be on pilocarpine forever. I have not had any further testing other than what has already been done to rule out sjogrens, lupus and connective tissue disease. As for monitoring, i am going to leave this up to my internist since rheumatologist has no reason to continue seeing me. I did see an allergist this past week and additional blood work is pending for vasculitis since she observed the angioedema in my mouth. Not sure yet if I will be looking into this further. For now, I will likely try Accupuncture and like you look into functional medicine but it is really costly so have to do my homework. Hope that it is working well for you.