There are lots of overlap between the different rheumy diseases. Is there a particular reason the doc thinks it might be lupus? Pain in the bones and muscles could be RA with some fibro thrown in for instance. I'm not a doctor, of course, but the symptoms you list are pretty general. It's sort of like asking if you have lung cancer because you coughed. It COULD be lung cancer, but it also could be 100 other things too. So don't start to worry yourself about having lupus. It's too early in the game for that.

When you say that you're having pain in your kidneys, what do you mean? Are you having pain in the areas over your kidneys? Again, pain in that area can be fibro or any number of other things. If you had kidney problems bad enough to cause pain, there would be changes in your blood work and urinalysis, elevated proteins and creatinine, BUN, etc. And you'd show bits of things in your U/A because cells slough off an inflammed kidney. Pain OVER your kidney area is usually not from the kidney.

Do you know what tests your doc is running? And what tests have already been run? Those might give us more information to point you in the right direction.

Tracy

Hi Again All she told me was she was going to check on something but did'nt tell me . I read the ordered lab paper and it said ANA and a U/A test so I looked it up on the computer and it said ANA is a test for lupus I was tested back In January when my first test came back with Ra they did test for lupus the following week came back neg, so I guess they want to check again.My pain is coming from my back on the sides they feel week and sore , again not sure what they are looking for. Thanks for responding to me. Take care and hugs for you.. marie

It is good your Dr. is checking it out. Good Luck. It does usually take quite a while to get a diagnosis. Hugs marilyn

Hi Marie,
ANA tests can be elevatated because of other auto-immune diseases (RA would cause it to be elevated) and even viruses' can cause the test to be positive. The ANA is not specific for lupus which is why they use other tests to diagnose lupus. ANA's can also be high in perfectly healthy people. My sister has an extrememly high ANA and is healthy as a horse. RA can cause alot of lupus like symptoms as well. My father in law had it and had many of the same symptoms I have. He was also on the same meds as me. Are you on RA meds yet? You may feel much better once you start them or find the right one for it. Chances are, the RA is what is causing you to feel badly right now. It can be just as debilitating as lupus.

The kidney problem may be totally unrelated. You could have a kidney infection or even possibly kidney stones. You may want to check into seeing a kidney specialist.

Get copies of all your bw results for your files. Ask us anything. we are here to help you. I hope you dont also have lupus. Like tracy said, try not to stress out yet...Stress is horrible for any auto immune disease.
Hugs
Melissa