UCTD and Plaquenil

General
1

For many years, I have been diagnosed with reactive airways. Any upper respiratory infection, sinusitis etc triggers bronchi spasm. I have had countless breathing tests which show mild constriction of the small airway. They always do a breathing treatment even though I tell them it has never made a difference. Of course it does not change spirometry numbers. Since the pericardial effusion last year, I find that I get winded with just mild to moderate exertion. The pulmonolog...ist recently did a exercise desaturation test. My pulse Ox dropped 6 percent after only 5 minutes on the treadmill. It dropped to 92 which is not in the danger zone so at this point, we are just watching things

Could the lung issues be part oh UCTD?

I am tirating up plaquenil and am on 200 a day now. Could plaquenil help with the lung issues and chronic pericarditis?. .

2

I was just in the hospital with pericarditis and I get the same way when I walk or vacuum anything I do I get winded and its hard to breathe. Its like I have swallowed a small ball. My doctor put me on prednisone for a week. I have been taking plaquenil for 20 years now and i guess it does its job. I hope you get better soon.

3

The Plaquenil should help. I’m on 400mg per day. A thought comes to mind about your lung issues though. Have you been checked for Vasculitis? It’s common in people with lupus. I too had lung issues they kept saying was severe asthma but the breathing treatments wouldn’t help. I had my ANCA’s tested and all were negative but still ended up having a type of Vasculitis that can attack anywhere. I have CNS Vasculitis but the most common lung one is Churg-Strauss. The treatment is a bit different if you have these. It’s still an autoimmune disease. I hope you feel well soon.

4

I have had scans of several body parts to check for vasculitis. All were negative