Could It Be a Virus or a Lupus Flare?

TeresaHip

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For 3 days now, I've been very sick. I'm extremely worn down, feel nauseated, and have aching in my muscles and joints. At times it's difficult to tell which one it is, since several symptoms overlap. Normally, my rheumatologist has me start steroids on a tapering dose. But my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. So I won't start that until my surgeon and rheumatologist and I have spoken.

Yesterday I was so ill that I doubted I'd be able to get from the car into the house. Heat really sets off my lupus.
 
If you had a lupus flare or a virus, would they still perform the operation? Could a standard blood test and inflammatory markers such as CRP show which one is present? That information might be useful when deciding whether to go ahead.
 
If a virus is behind it, you’d hopefully be over it by the time surgery comes in 2 weeks, and that would settle the question. I understand what you’re going through. A lupus flare can be utterly draining and disruptive. Have you thought about picking up pee dip strip tests that check microalbumin, protein, leukocytes, etc.? For me, they’re a reliable way to identify a flare, because when I’m in one, the concerning results show up as positives on those strips. I order a 7- or 10-way test from Amazon—I can’t remember the exact number, but I can share a link if you’re interested—and it’s the same thing they use at doctors’ offices.

If you don’t know either way, though, then I’d only encourage you to keep your fluids up, keep eating when you can, and rest as much as you’re able. I’m so sorry 🙁
 
lessthanhalf said:

If you had a lupus flare or a virus, would they still perform the operation? Could a standard blood test and inflammatory markers such as CRP show which one is present? That information might be useful when deciding whether to go ahead.
With a virus, they wouldn't go forward. For a lupus flare, likely, but n

TeresaHip said:

For 3 days now, I've been very sick. I'm extremely worn down, feel nauseated, and have aching in my muscles and joints. At times it's difficult to tell which one it is, since several symptoms overlap. Normally, my rheumatologist has me start steroids on a tapering dose. But my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. So I won't start that until my surgeon and rheumatologist and I have spoken.

Yesterday I was so ill that I doubted I'd be able to get from the car into the house. Heat really sets off my lupus.

TeresaHip said:

For 3 days now, I've been very sick. I'm extremely worn down, feel nauseated, and have aching in my muscles and joints. At times it's difficult to tell which one it is, since several symptoms overlap. Normally, my rheumatologist has me start steroids on a tapering dose. But my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. So I won't start that until my surgeon and rheumatologist and I have spoken.

Yesterday I was so ill that I doubted I'd be able to get from the car into the house. Heat really sets off my lupus.
 
TeresaHip said:

For 3 days now, I've been very sick. I'm extremely worn down, feel nauseated, and have aching in my muscles and joints. At times it's difficult to tell which one it is, since several symptoms overlap. Normally, my rheumatologist has me start steroids on a tapering dose. But my surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. So I won't start that until my surgeon and rheumatologist and I have spoken.

Yesterday I was so ill that I doubted I'd be able to get from the car into the house. Heat really sets off my lupus.
 
Things haven’t gotten better for me yet. My husband insists I head to er. I’m getting lots of water in, yet food won’t stay with me. I’m vomiting and having awful diarrhea. My mom believes it’s the vegetable virus, but no matter how hard I try, its name escapes me. That doesn’t make sense to me, since I’ve gone a couple of weeks without any fresh vegetables.

I really do think this is more than a lupus flare.
 
TeresaHip said:

Things haven’t gotten better for me yet. My husband insists I head to er. I’m getting lots of water in, yet food won’t stay with me. I’m vomiting and having awful diarrhea. My mom believes it’s the vegetable virus, but no matter how hard I try, its name escapes me. That doesn’t make sense to me, since I’ve gone a couple of weeks without any fresh vegetables.

I really do think this is more than a lupus flare.
Fingers crossed that they can determine what's going on and give you treatment! It's wonderful that your good husband is keeping an eye on you. Teresa, I'm sending my best wishes. You've had a tough stretch recently. Sending huge hugs.
 
HouseCat said:

TeresaHip said:

Things haven’t gotten better for me yet. My husband insists I head to er. I’m getting lots of water in, yet food won’t stay with me. I’m vomiting and having awful diarrhea. My mom believes it’s the vegetable virus, but no matter how hard I try, its name escapes me. That doesn’t make sense to me, since I’ve gone a couple of weeks without any fresh vegetables.

I really do think this is more than a lupus flare.
Fingers crossed that they can determine what's going on and give you treatment! It's wonderful that your good husband is keeping an eye on you. Teresa, I'm sending my best wishes. You've had a tough stretch recently. Sending huge hugs.
Thanks. They told me it’s a virus and that it will need to run its course.

Life has never exactly been easy for me, yet I count myself blessed. My husband and family are wonderful, and I have great doctors too. I take each thing as it comes. Sweet Jesus, just one day at a time.
 
Hello, does anyone know of peptides that could be useful for lupus SLE, along with the joint and muscle pain that comes with it? My wife has this condition, and I'm not comfortable with her using the steroids her doctors have prescribed. She also deals with a butterfly rash and gets flakes on her scalp.
 
Agility1 said:

Hello, does anyone know of peptides that could be useful for lupus SLE, along with the joint and muscle pain that comes with it? My wife has this condition, and I'm not comfortable with her using the steroids her doctors have prescribed. She also deals with a butterfly rash and gets flakes on her scalp.
In my experience, kpv, Bpc-157 and tb500 have worked really well. For simplicity's sake, the KLOW blend alone would do the job, though given your wife's background it may be wiser to introduce each one on its own. As for me, I take them individually and inject tb500 every 3rd day.
 
Thanks. Yeah, I’ve been reading up on Klow, though I want to understand it better before going further. My habit is to test things on myself first, because I’m not comfortable giving her anything unless I’m confident about it, especially with her lupus. I ran Klow on myself for 3 weeks, but as far as I could tell it barely changed anything for my shoulder or the tendonitis I get from lifting. Would it make more sense to get 10 vials rather than just one and use it for a longer stretch?
 
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