Question about lupus and it running in families...and Should I be tested?

Question

Okay heres the thing I have pain in my hands,wrist,elbows,and shoulders and my doctor said that is may be carpal tunnel but then I went back a year later because I still have pain almost everyday day now and she said she wasn't sure so I am going to see an hand/orthapedic surgeon and specialist. But then the other day I post a question on here and someone told me ask my doctor about "Mixed Conntective Tissue Disorder that has rheumtoid arthritis involved" because he had similar problems with his arms so I looked it up online and they said it had do with lupus so this is why I was asking if it ran in families because I have someone in my family with it and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to ask my doctor about it when I see him in march? I am only 17 so I really would like to figure out the problem before it just gets worse you know?

Answer 1

lupus does run in families but you should not be tested until you start having symptoms. It does sound like you could be having some of the associated joint pain but it also sounds like it could be carpal tunnel. The first test that they would run on you to see if you have lupus would be an ANA- antinuclear antibody. If this is positive, you will need further testing to see if you have lupus. If it is negative, you don't. Even if your ANA is positive though, it does not mean that you have anything- half of all females have a postive ANA and very few actually have lupus... Other signs of lupus include a facial rash across the nose, hair loss, fatigue, fevers, joint pain and swelling, sun sensitivity, dry eyes and mouth...
Rheumatoid Arthritis is also an autoimmune condition in which you would have painful and swollen joints. You can also be tested for this.
Talk to your doctor about your concerns. good luck- i hope everything is ok for you!

Answer 2

I have a little sister with lupus,and rhemitoid arthritis. She was diagnosed at 20, when she was pregnant with my niece and developed pre-clampsia. My mother was also diagnosed with lupus once but shoes no signs. My sister on the other hand is now 24 under-going dialisis and waiting for an approval for a kidney transplant.
Your discription does sound like rhymitoid arthritis , and that was diagnosed in my sister before we found out it was lupus.
Here is the thing, and how to tell if you should freak out or not worry to much at all....
if you retain water, meaning for example you wake up and your rings are to tight on your fingers, your face is puffy, your ankles are huge, or clearly swollon, worry that you more than maybe have lupus. On the other hand I have carpro; tunnel and if you are not swollon as I discriped, you'll be alright. There is surgery to correct carprial tunnel, but you seem very young to have developed carpril tunnel.
Lupus can and is heriditary, but can go far back in generations to before we knew it was what it is.
Lupus is an immune-dificancy disease like aids, except you get it like cancer. Lupus can get to an effect every part of you. The name lupus translates to red wolf because of what it can do to your a face , from that to filling up your lungs and heart with fluid, it stops at nothing.
Most cases people live with lupus and a little extra health care just fine, but in rare cases lupus takes you through what to awful for words.
Don't freak out. But if you retain water, go to your doctor.
God Bless You.
- _-.

Answer 3

It definitely runs in families. My mother and grandmother both had it. I do too. It took years for my mother and I to be diagnosed. At first my mother was diagnosed with Arthritis. Myself, Fibromyalgia.....then in my 50's they finally found for sure that I had SLE (a form of Lupus). My brother also had it. (It is rare for a male to have it but he did).

So a big YES!