of my last blog post, where I talk about my skin clearing up and feeling better. Not so anymore :( My skin has really gone off the deep end, my face, neck chest, belly and back are all covered with angry, red, painful rash. Man, it hurts. I can't really find any cream or anything to make it feel better either, though some salves have helped a bit.
I have added another doctor to my list, this one is a Holistic Dermatologist named Dr. Dattner. I had an appointment with him a couple weeks ago, and I'm hopeful that he will help. He is helping me deal with the disease from a nutritional perspective and we're working on decreasing the inflammation using supplements and eventually some dietary changes.
But in the meantime, I'm coming here to whine. It hurts, it really does. And I want to itch it...which makes it hurt more. It feels like bad sunburn all over. Totally sucks.
I'm still on the Prednisone, have gradually tapered down to 8mg (going down a mg a month), and am also still on the Plaquenil. Besides the skin, I feel fine, no aches and pains. My hair is even coming back somewhat, so that's great.
I may have to change the name of this blog though...Dr. W told me at my appointment that I don't technically have Lupus, rather I have Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. This is most likely good news, MCTD has a lower chance of effecting my internal organs, so that's a big relief. It's even more amorphous than Lupus though, so it just makes is seem difficult to fix. She also said I have indicators for Sjogren's, so that can jump on the list, too.
Mentally I'm feeling pretty crappy these days. I've had to accept the fact that I just can't get as much done as I used to. Spoke to sweet hubby and basically told him we're just going to have to deal until I start feeling better. All this on top of work and Christmas right around the corner, arg, lots going on.
