I'm going to post pics of the copies of my first labs ... I went in recently and re-did something but I have no idea if we re-tested one of these that I'm posting or if they were new tests.
But anyway, I have my follow up with my regular doctor on Wednesday so I'm hoping to understand these a little better and maybe some tips for what I should ask her??
From what I can understand, it looks like everything was negative? I have no idea how to read these, but that's kind of the impression I'm getting. So I don't understand, if everything is negative why do I feel SO horrible?? :(
All negative should be good, right? It’s not if you have symptoms of an autoimmune disease and you desperately want answers. I’m sorry yabby, it can take awhile to find out what is wrong and begin being treated for it. Your doctor will interpret your tests and determine where to go next. The waiting can be torture, I know. Hugs.
My lab results have never correlated with how I feel. I have felt fantastic and had labs that were so bad that my doc was ready to put me in the hospital and every time I feel like a herd of elephants has trampled me my labs are great. My old doc “got” it and would rx according to how I felt not what the labs said. Unfortunately my new rheumy doesn’t think that way and I’ve had to go head to head with him several times. I’m sorry you are feeling so awful and I hope your doc is like my old one and listens to you and not just your labs. Good luck, Annemarie
well, I've also kept close notes on how I feel every day for about the past month, so I'm going to print all that out and take with me ... hopefully that helps.
Mine are all negative too. I do have lupus and all the pain and problems to prove it. Don't worry, your symptoms are the most important sign. They should be anyway. Good luck!
Lupus makes me tired and in pain whether I’m in a flare or not. My doc goes with tests on whether I need to change meds. Fibro feels awful a lot of the time too. I’m in a medicine induced state of exhaustion (side effects) but my tests were normal 2 weeks ago. You might not feel a flare that the doctor worries about. It’s part of what makes lupus so hard to deal with. Never knowing how you’ll feel tomorrow, having to rest when you want to do something, hurting for no reason. Having to explain it to people who think you could feel better if you’d only try, or change your diet. It’s like living on shifting sand sometimes. I think it’s important to work on patience and acceptance, it help me figure out when I can do things or not because I can rmove myself more easily from being emotionally a wreck. Stay out of the sun, too. It took me years to realize that the sun makes me too tired to move for three days if I sit in it for an hour!
I second everything Jane said,couldn’t have said it better,but&no 2 cases are exactly alike,what works for 1 may not another…I’ll be 41 in April& got sick with my first symptoms at 12 & the best advice I think I can give you is once you have your diagnosis &sounds like your doing everything right there,but once it’s figured out educate yourself to the point you are knowledgeable,but not trying to diagnose or treat yourself. Then make sure you have a Dr that you first,like,communicate well with & trust because that relationship becomes very important & to me is a deal breaker. The stress of a Dr your not comfortable with for any reason is too stressful,good luck to you,I hope you feel better & find answers soon,God Bless!
I'm pretty comfortable with my doctor...I've seen her for years now. Although years ago when I was having trouble getting pregnant I ended up seeing another doctor for awhile because I felt like she wasn't being quite aggressive enough in figuring out what the problem was.
Sidenote of something cool I just learned: when I was at the hospital last week for my latest lab draw they told me I can sign up for online access to my labs! So I can now login and see everything myself :)
Any idea what this means?
REFERENCE RANGE for dsDNA Autoabs: Less than 5.0 IU/mL . . . . Not detected 5.0 - 10.0 IU/mL . . . . . Indeterminate Greater than 10.0 IU/mL . . Detected
