{"id":672,"date":"2013-05-03T12:22:28","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T12:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=672"},"modified":"2013-05-01T19:45:30","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T19:45:30","slug":"lupus-first-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html","title":{"rendered":"Lupus: First Symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>The first significant symptom that I had that indicated something was seriously wrong was that my hair began coming out of my scalp in thick, cylindrical clumps, leaving behind smooth, round bald patches from which no further hair would grow. The first time this happened, I was sitting at my desk, working, and idly twirling a lock of my long, blond hair. Suddenly, the whole lock pulled away from my scalp, and I sat staring at it, completely shocked.<\/p>\n

Over the course of several months, the same thing happened over and over, until\u00a0I could no longer cover up the very glaring bald spots with\u00a0my\u00a0remaining, increasingly sparse, hair. After the first episode, I saw my doctor, who told me to see a dermatologist and assured me “nothing bad was going on.” But\u00a0neither he nor the dermatologist ran any bloodwork for a full year (they did tell me to “reduce stress,” however, which was impossible due in great part\u00a0to seeing myself go bald for\u00a0 no apparent reason!).\u00a0 Once, the internal medicine doc even\u00a0asked me, “Are you sure you’re not pulling your hair out yourself because you’re so stressed?”<\/p>\n

After a full year of hair loss, I realized that other symptoms had been occurring, too, although at the time I didn’t identify them as symptoms (and didn’t know what lupus was at all). I was bone-numbingly tired, oversleeping alarms and barely able to get through many days. My hands were very painful, and I began dropping things\u00a0without warning. Finally, I prayed for wisdom to know what to say, then asked my dermatologist to run some bloodwork, “just to humor me,” even though she was certain I was fine (after all, besides the hair loss, I looked healthy,\u00a0didn’t I, with those rosy cheeks…which turned out to be a very red, inflamed lupus rash).<\/p>\n

The bloodwork\u00a0results led me to a rheumatologist who did the most comprehensive examination I’d ever had from a medical professional. She went back in my medical history, ordered more tests, and, when all was said and done, told me, “Lupus is trying to kill you. And if you don’t do something about it, now, it will.” I’d developed internal organ involvement, and some of the damage was already permanent.<\/p>\n

I had no idea what lupus was, but I learned quickly!<\/p>\n

Not everyone will experience the same set of symptoms that I did. Each lupus patient is an individual, and each has an individual set of symptoms. Also, not everyone with hair loss and the other things I experienced will be diagnosed with lupus. But it behooves anyone who experiences these or other significant symptoms\u00a0to seek good, attentive medical advice. Be persistent, too; I have spoken with many lupus patients whose doctors at first dismissed them and their symptoms like mine did. And pray for guidance all along the way. As I have and continue to experience, God never abandons us, especially when our lives seem to be changing in ways we do not understand.<\/p>\n

For more information about lupus symptoms, visit the Lupus Foundation of America’s website: www.lupus.org<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day!<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first significant symptom that I had that indicated something was seriously wrong was that my hair began coming out of my scalp in thick, cylindrical clumps, leaving behind smooth, round bald patches from which no further hair would grow. The first time this happened, I was sitting at my desk, working, and idly twirling…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,379],"tags":[29,44,557,252,16,72,556,502,18,559,555,558,30,501],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-diagnosing-lupus","tag-diagnosis","tag-fatigue","tag-hair-loss","tag-joint-pain","tag-living-with-lupus","tag-lupus","tag-lupus-awarenss-month","tag-lupus-symptoms","tag-malar-rash","tag-pain","tag-symptoms-of-lupus"],"yoast_head":"\nLupus: First Symptoms - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lupus: First Symptoms - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first significant symptom that I had that indicated something was seriously wrong was that my hair began coming out of my scalp in thick, cylindrical clumps, leaving behind smooth, round bald patches from which no further hair would grow. The first time this happened, I was sitting at my desk, working, and idly twirling…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-03T12:22:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-01T19:45:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic6-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lupus: First Symptoms - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lupus: First Symptoms - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"The first significant symptom that I had that indicated something was seriously wrong was that my hair began coming out of my scalp in thick, cylindrical clumps, leaving behind smooth, round bald patches from which no further hair would grow. The first time this happened, I was sitting at my desk, working, and idly twirling…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-05-03T12:22:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-01T19:45:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic6-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html","name":"Lupus: First Symptoms - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic6-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-03T12:22:28+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-01T19:45:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic6-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic6-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/lupus-first-symptoms.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lupus: First Symptoms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}