Dear Dr. Stoll,
I am a 31 year-old woman with a lot of little problems. Is it possible they have a common bond? Could this bond be Lupus? Here is a list of some symptoms and manifestations. I have adult-onset epilepsy. Several years ago I noticed, and this sounds terrible, that it hurt me to spank my children. It really DID hurt me more than them, and I didn't swat them hard. In the winter of '96 I broke a finger at the joint. How, I don't know, and it was almost completely healed before it was ever x-rayed. Because I hadn't suffered an injury, I didn't believe that it could be broken. The following summer I managed to develop tennis elbow, and I don't even play tennis! :o) The strength in my left arm was 118psi. In my right arm, my DOMINANT arm, it was only 36psi. Weeks of physical and cortisone therapy did little to improve the condtion. Last fall I developed a rash on my shoulder, about the size and shape of a gingersnap. It was diagnosed as a fungus, however I don't have any pets, nor had I been in contact with any. I frequently get a sore, but barely visible rash in the inner corners of my upper eyelids, and the fold where my nose meets my cheeks. This rash does itch, and is very bothersome. I recently noticed little black, sliver-like streaks in my fingernails. My nails and hair have become dry and brittle. I have had heart palpitations since I was 13, but they have become more frequent and more pronounced over the past eight years. This past january, I began spotting between periods. Since June I have been bleeding at least three out of every four weeks. It is heaviest during menses and ovulation. A simple rap on any knuckle or joint can be excrutiating, and clapping for my daughters' soccer games leaves my fingers sore and aching. What is your opinion, Dr. Stoll?
Follow Ups:
Re: Lupus
Posted by Dr. P. Neil on October 24, 1998 at 23:12:32:
In Reply to: Lupus posted by Sulema on October 24, 1998 at 21:14:10:
Where do you live??? Has anyone tested you for Lyme Disease?
Just curious. If you have had symptoms, ie:joint pain/ stiffness; gingersnap sized rash on shoulder common in Lyme, a newer Lyme test may be in order.
The Lyme Disease Foundation on the internet will be able to help you find a "Lyme Knowledgeable" physician who can help eliminate this as a possibility accurately.(PS The "American Lyme Disease Foundation" is not the same organization. I stay away from them as they are totally, medically entrenched, at the patient's expense. Please forgive in advance my bluntness.)
I hope this helps. Bless You.
Follow Ups:
Re: Lupus
Posted by Walt Stoll on October 25, 1998 at 11:09:03:
In Reply to: Lupus posted by Sulema on October 24, 1998 at 21:14:10:
Dear Sulema,
I would say that ALL of your symptoms ARE connected. Congratulations for coming to that conclusion on your own!
At this point, the most important thing for you is to learn a lot more about how this could be. Lurking around the archives of this bb would be a good place to start because you could find most of your symptoms there & would see how they are connected. Reading a copy of my book would be another place to get started,
Finally, reading one of the books referenced in my book would take you beyond the above: "Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer" by Dr Pelletier.
THEN, if you still have questions, write again.
Walt
Re: Lupus
Posted by Walt Stoll on October 25, 1998 at 11:17:51:
In Reply to: Re: Lupus posted by Dr. P. Neil on October 24, 1998 at 23:12:32:
Thanks, Doc Neil.
Good thinking. Now, if Lyme IS involved, I hope she will look into why she might have become susceptible to it. Few who get the tick bite actually get Lyme even if every tick is infected. Why is that?
Fewer still, who get Lyme actually develop a chronic case. Why is that?
I appreciate your input on the BB. It has been helpful to me as well as the other participants.
Walt
Follow Ups:
Re: Lupus
Posted by Sulema on October 28, 1998 at 10:28:20:
In Reply to: Re: Lupus posted by Walt Stoll on October 25, 1998 at 11:17:51:
I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I haven't seen a tick for many years, and as far as I know have never even been the victim of one. That is not to say that it hasn't happened, and I am not familiar enough with Lyme disease to know if there is another way to contract it. The mounting symptoms all slowly seemed to be pointing in the direction of Lupus. When the manifestation of the black slivers under my nails began, something clicked. In my research of heart conditions, I had read something about those slivers. While they are a symptom of an infection of a heart valve, they are also symptomatic of Systemic Lupus. As for my seizures, I ascertained years ago that they were directly linked to my ovulation. High levels of estrogen trigger my seizures. Whether this reaction to hormonal levels, or possibly an elevated hormone level itself is a symptom of Lupus, I have not yet been able to discover through research. Then again, there has most likely been very little reasearch in that area. Epilepsy is, afterall, a sypmtom of an undiscovered condition, not a condition in and of itself.
Follow Ups:
Re: Lupus
Posted by Phyllis A. on October 28, 1998 at 14:31:56:
In Reply to: Re: Lupus posted by Sulema on October 28, 1998 at 10:28:20:
Anybody..... tell me more about these black slivers under the fingernails. I have them occasionally. I thought it was splinters that had entered the body and the body disposed of by way of exiting the nails.
Re: Lupus
Posted by Walt Stoll on October 29, 1998 at 12:25:31:
In Reply to: Re: Lupus posted by Sulema on October 28, 1998 at 10:28:20:
Dear Sulema,
Your comments about epilepsy tell me that you are beginning to think in a more productive way about chronic conditions of "undertermined etiology". Congratulations! That is a big step that the conventional medical monopoly has not yet made--mainly because it is not good for business.
So what, if you have Lupus????? Does conventional medicine have any solution for it that doesn't have more serious side-effects than the disease itself?
The solution to things like this is MORE, not LESS, of the kind of thinking you have already applied to epilepsy.
To effectively apply that thinking to something like lupus, you need knowledge. Let me know if you want to start with some references.
Walt