Lupus patient that is trying to get healthy support needed

Hi Kelly - I too am Kelly and have lupus. I am 37 years old and have SLE. Fortunately for me it is a very mild case and I've only had to deal with minor issues. I would love to talk and have each other help on our goal for better health!

Hi Kelly.

My name is Amy and I have SLE/RA/Sjogren's.

I started getting tired at 19 when I weighed about 154 pounds. I began gaining weight to the point of 230 at 20.

I was not diagnosed with SLE/RA/Sjogren's until I was 25 (almost 26) and I was diagnosed by a homeopath (not by a doctor...doctor's kept telling me that there was nothing wrong with me!) and he forced my physician to do a blood test, which confirmed my reality.

There are good days and there are bad days. I am allergic to prednisone...soooo, yeah, that sucks. I'm also allergic to a lot of other medications, I treat myself almost entirely homeopathically. I've found that going the homeopathic route not only clears up the rashes (I had horrific ones on my legs, btw, for FIVE YEARS until I met my homeopath) but also helps me to manage all of the other symptoms as well without killing my liver with pharmaceuticals. Once I cleaned out my liver and kidneys my gallbladder tore and I had to have that removed, which kind of sucked and caused me to gain some weight back that I had lost.

Right now, I'm 27 and weigh 160. Working to get healthy. Still have good days and bad days.In December I had an episode that put me in the hospital and stunted my healthy lifestyle. They thought I had cerebritis. Last year in December I got super flu (2011) and nearly died.

There are lot of things that you can do as a Lupus patient that doctors think you can't do. That you think you can't do. Take me for example:

1- In the warm months, I ride a bicycle about 20 miles per day on weekends.
2- I exercise nearly every day of the week.
3- I get 7-9 hours of sleep a night and a lot of times actually feel rested.
4- I work WITH MY HANDS every day of the week from sun up to sun down.
5- I lift weights.
6- I dance.
7- I do fitness boot camp.
8- I eat things I actually want to eat without getting sick all the time.
9- My fave actually is hula hooping...I love love love to Hula Hoop!!! Low impact, high burn.
10- Yoga...is....awesome.

Anyway...I have not completely figured things out, obviously, but I would be happy to talk to you any time and help you get started on your journey.

Feel free to friend me!

I have SLE as well, diagnosed a year and a half ago but have been suffering for about 16 years. I am a 31 year old female and I too struggle with debilitating fatigue, joint pain, muscle weakness and pain, and nearly unbearable stiffness/swelling. As crazy as it sounds, I've finally gotten over my fears about exercise and have found that if I take a consistent dose of NSAIDS throughout the day and just push through the pain in my workouts, I end up feeling like I have the "lupus flu" the day of the workout, but MUCH better the next day.

My current workout program is to workout at LEAST 15 minutes EVERY DAY. I do 4 days of strength training with either just my body weight or with weights from 2-8lbs, and then I do 3 days of cardio on my treadmill where I walk at a pace of 3 - 3.5mph on an 8-12% incline. I can't run because it will hurt my knees but I found that I can walk uphill at a brisk pace and still get my heartrate up and get sweaty. So far, although it hurts while working out in my joints and muscles, and although scary enough, I get the full on "lupus flu" in the hours after my workout, miraculously, the next day I always feel MUCH better!

Stick with it, don't be afraid and I bet that any amount of movement and exercise you can add to your week will benefit you in the long run even if it doesn't feel like it in the short term! Good luck!

Hi all, I was diagnosed with SLE last wednesday. I have been trying to find out was is wrong with me for the past 14 years and I saw a rheumy last week, who put everything together as nothing was showing in my blood stream - just IgG and C3 in the skin and a host of joint issues, fast heart rate and skin rashes, plus general fatigue. I am feeling somewhat "meh" today and I am going to try and eat healthily but it is not always possible when a whole host of treats are thrown at me on a daily basis. it's very hard to resist free chocolate brownies!

BUT I SHALL TRY!!!

I am new to the Fitness Pal App I also have SLE. I have been reading all the wonderful things that others with the same problem have posted. I am very encouraged by all the support i have seen so far. I am looking forward to losing weight and helping others.