I've been diagnosed with some rare form of rheumatoid arthritis. At first they thought it was lupus. Now its one of those strange auto-imune "syndromes".
Nothing so far has worked without serious side effects.
All I know is it is kicking my a$$. Dont' know whats going to be affected each day. Now my eyes are giving me fits. Exhaustion sets in early now.
What next???
Any tips on how to deal with this crap?

i was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease as well, CIDP. I was diagnosed very late, and i could barely walk, i could not lift, i had problems with balance and all my nerves were going crazy, my muscles would twitch, i had pain in my hands and my feet, etc. Exhaustion was a REAL problem for me. I have to climb steps to get into my work, but now i park my car in the warehouse so i am not so exhausted and i can actually do a great job. I thought I was going to have to go on disability. My house is a wreck because i am way too tired to do ANYTHING when i get home. I have a landscape service do the yard, and i really need to hire a maid.

I started taking these infusions of immunoglobulins two weeks ago. It took until today for me to feel the effects of my first infusion, and i go again on Saturday. My sister has the same disease and she's been getting infusions for 6 years now and has no more symptoms. She was diagnosed with RA before they figured out the real problem was her nerves. Apparently we both have the chronic version of this disease. The acute version is Guillin-Barre (sp?) syndrome. We both have to take these infusions every two weeks to keep the symptoms at bay. I still walk with a cane but i can see that i will be able to throw it away pretty soon. I can't wait!

I would advise you to seek out a neurologist if you have not already done so. I hope you have health insurance because if you have to have infusions, they run about $20,000.00 each time. they really do help though, i was skeptical at first but once it kicks in you feel it.

Good luck to you!

__________________
TXBill



Former owner of a few diesel MB cars
1998 Lexus ES 300 In Chicago We Trust

Yikes. I have a little arthritis in my hands, and I'm pretty young, but nothing like what you folks are talking about. God Bless You both, you're in my prayers.

Pete