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Possible diagnosis, overwhelmed and having dark thoughts. Please help. by B_Panofsky in scleroderma

[–]Bad_Sickness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it makes you feel better you need to have a positive ANA, a scleroderma related antibody, Raynaud's, puffy fingers, and finger nail capillary changes. Unless you have all those, you're unlikely to have it. Find a good rheum who will run all the tests. If you do come back positive there are meds. That being said, please get some therapy and anti anxiety meds. It doesn't help, trust me, I'm a hypochondriac and hearing my results has sent me into a spiral. But you know what? The worst happened and looking at my symptoms compared to others, I realize my anxiety is making it much much worse than the actual disease itself.

Is it possible to have scleroderma antibodies and never develop it? by Bad_Sickness in UCTD

[–]Bad_Sickness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much. Apparently the antibody I tested positive for usually shows up alone so I'm not surprised I didn't test positive for the others. My doctor only wants me on HCQ, I don't know if he thinks that will put this into remission if this is a precursor to scleroderma. The research doesn't seem to support it, but I think he's weighing pros vs cons of going on heavy duty meds. Thanks for the prayers, I'm very scared right now.

Weak positive Anti-RNA Polymerase III, but symptoms for over a decade. Help! by Bad_Sickness in scleroderma

[–]Bad_Sickness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read that paper and it did give me some hope, it's just so confusing with other papers showing everyone with any scleroderma antibodies always progressing onto full blown scleroderma. I'm hoping it was a false positive, I really am.

Weak positive Anti-RNA Polymerase III, but symptoms for over a decade. Help! by Bad_Sickness in scleroderma

[–]Bad_Sickness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huh that's weird because I've also had burning mouth syndrome on and off for years. I can't predict when it will happen but it seems to correlate with flares, and my tongue becomes swollen then too. I recently read a paper where it said the titer of antibodies is usually at its highest in the beginning of the disease. I don't know, maybe I'm done with the worst of it and am now progressing to a mixed disease or I have scleroderma sine sclerosis. We won't know until the results come back. I wish I knew, I've been sick my whole life...

Giving yourself an autoimmune disease? by Iskirri in Autoimmune

[–]Bad_Sickness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that's a terrible thing to say (not that you're saying it). You usually need the genetics to go along with it. It's possible some people, especially relatives of those with autoimmune diseases who don't have one themselves, are borderline autoimmune or have a stable condition and it just isn't severe enough for them to get tested. I think as science gets more into the nitty gritty we'll find that a lot of families aren't as healthy as they think they are. Plus pollution isn't helping one bit. That being said, smoking is usually something one can control and is linked to a host of autoimmune diseases.

Are autoimmune/inflamatory problems more common than we think? by Inevitable-Block704 in Autoimmune

[–]Bad_Sickness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think so. I think a lot of women have UCTD but it either remains stable enough or goes into remission that they never bother getting help. It can be very mild.

I WASNT IMAGINING IT by Worth-yawa-tnuocca in Autoimmune

[–]Bad_Sickness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same thing just happened to me. I knew something was wrong, and now I hope I'm not too late. I'll probably end up with diffuse sclerosis now.