Question:
have recently been told I have Lupus , but I also have
Fibromyalgia is there anyone else out there who has both these conditions .I
would be interested to know
Answer:
My doc originally said "Fibromyalgia" .But when my
blood tests dropped and I came in with fevers she started calling it
"lupus-like rheumatism *with* Fibromyalgia." "rheumatism" being one
of those lovely, vague concepts like "aches and pains". Even tho some
of my blood work supports a full lupus dx she doesn't give such dx's
without kidney/heart/lung type damage or other life-threatening stuff.
Once she said even if all my bloodwork came back positive (various
antibody tests) she wouldn't change her dx. She claims it's because
she worries about insurance problems for patients with mild lupus.
But I've seen her try to make it appear like things were "no big deal"
(and she's not terribly good at it). Once when dumping protein she
quickly wrote a note/scrip to my PCP to get a 24hr urine and said 3
times "it's nothing, lot's of people do this sometimes for no real
reason." Had she said it once... fine. But 3 times? so I think
sometimes, in milder cases, she downplays it as much for our peace of
mind as for the insurance risks.
Anywho - anything she can't distinctly attribute to lupus she
attributes to FMS. joint pain, sleeplessness, etc. I personally
think that for the most part it's darn near impossible to tell.
