Hi Ginger, I am sorry for the pain and problems you have had with your journey with poor health.

Would you mind taking me through the sequence of you're getting diagnosed with systemic lupus?

I have a mixed connective tissue disease and they've called it collagen vascular disease but I've noticed there are something like 86 autoimmune diseases and many, many of them share many of the same symptoms.

If you are comfortable with sharing the process you went through to get diagnosed and the lab test and values I would be very interested to know.

You can private message me if you want.

I do not mean to be crossing any boundaries so if you are not comfortable sharing these things with me, then no worries at all.

I have been taking a demodifying anti Rheumatic drug (DMARD) called Auranofin aka Ridaura, for 23 years. At the same time I was put on daily prednisone and Plaquenil AKA hydroxychloroquine.

After 21 years, the Plaquenil caused some tissue death in my retina so I had to get off of it immediately. However, were I to get Covid-19, I would take it temporarily in a heartbeat!

My rheumatologist, pharmacist and nephrologist could not agree as to whether or not the auranofin was causing my stage 4 kidney disease.

I tried to get off of it 8 or 9 times but when it wore off I was in such intolerable pain that I said each time, never, never, ever again will I make an attempt to get off of this drug! It was so bad yet I still to this day want to try. But now that I have adrenal insufficiency and am steroid dependent because of my daily steroid use for so many years, my rheumatologist and I don't know what to do but we think we will try again.

My pain now with my neuropathy and other health problems is so much worse that I just don't know if I can do it or we'll try.

Besides being a long-term patient of many specialists, I also worked in healthcare for over 20 years and my career goal was to become a physician assistant. I became so ill that I never could accomplish that. But I have been a diagnostician since birth and am fascinated with the human body and pathology so that is why I asked you to share your journey and also because I might find a piece of the missing puzzle for myself.

I hope you are having some victories today and I will be praying you can experience relief and the comfort of God and peace of Christ which surpasses human understanding (Philippians 4 :7). Many blessings, Sunny flower. 🙏😊🤗