Lupus Support Group
Lupus is an auto-immune disease in which the immune system cannot distinguish between threats (like viruses and bacteria), and healthy cells and tissue. As a result, the body produces antibodies that inflict cell damage, most commonly targeting joints, skin, kidneys and the nervous system. Join the group and find support for coping with lupus.
Once you have your biopsy, they'll know more about what's going on with you and hopefully better how to treat it.
All of us have issues that can significantly decrease our quality of life or our life expectancy if it's NOT controlled. If it's controlled, there's no reason we can't have normal lives. Some of us may have to modify our lives to fit our needs and some of us may not...but we do what we gotta do, ya know?
I was diagnosed with complete kidney failure in 1971 when I was brought to hospital in a coma... the doctors tried to prepare me for dialysis there and I was also put on the transplant list... but my kidneys recovered their function again to about 40-45%. From then on I kept a very strict vegetarian diet, no alcohol, no late nights and in 1972 I also had a kidney biopsy which diagnosed me with chronic proliferative Glomerulonephritis... and in August 2006 I was again diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure... I am still going and I am still not on dialysis yet...but I must admit that my kidneys are not doing too well anymore, my kidney function has deteriorated to only around 6%, but I am not yet on dialysis... I am writing all this, because it shows that with the right healthy life-style there is still life possible despite a severe kidney involvement with SLE/MCTD for quite many years to come...
Good luck and let us know how things develop,
kind regards from Kristina...