| Re: How do I get relief?
Dear 8rgreenes, Hello & welcome. In response to your question about how drs. tend to react... Personally, I had a long, hard haul.
But I think the delay I experienced was largely because I have a minority "subset" of SLE, called SCLE, first given its own name in 1978. I never had the *best-known* SLE signs, like positive ANA, malar rash, blood in urine, or anti-ds-DNA or anti-Sm antibodies. Instead I had fatigue, pain, mild fever, hair breakage, nonscarring arm/torso rashes, GI & urinary irritability, urinary stones, migraines, weight loss, chronic B-12 anemia, early osteoporosis, photosensitivity, esophageal spasms, etc.
My skin biopsies had been positive from the get-go, but local dermies & rheumies did not react to really obvious skin biopsy results. I finally did test positive for anti-Ro autoantibodies, a compelling finding; but I remained ANA-negative, which was confusing to my suburban docs but not at all confusing to my big-city doctor. That said, my city rheumie expressed shock that my suburban drs. were so far behind, knowledge-wise (20+ years, or so).
As for ER doctors: I honestly think your best bet is to see a rheumie. ER drs. excel at fast-paced trauma, I think, as opposed to complex diagnoses for subtle diseases for which a detailed medical history must be taken, specialized blood tests ordered, etc. But this is just my opinion & is NOT meant to slur ER drs., who obviously have a very important role to play.
I hope you keep posting; the people here have such wide experience, which they are always willing to share. Meanwhile, sending you my best wishes! Bye for now, Vee
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Re: How do I get relief? 
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