Symptoms that are similar to Lupus?

Hello,
The girl that I love just recently came back from the doctor and is being tested for Lupus. She has the most common symptom of Lupus (Painful/swollen joints and muscle pain), and she is still fairly young at 24. She is worried that she may have the disease mainly because her cousin had discovered it at the same age. She is equally afraid that she may never be able to have kids (which is what brings her the most happiness in her life).

What's odd is that she doesn't have many of the other symptoms of Lupus, such as fevers, butterfly rashes, sensitivity to the sun, hair loss, swollen glands, etc.

Are there any other possible conditions that could share the same symptoms of lupus, but is not lupus?

There are 4 types of lupus: cutaneous or discoid, systemic, drug induced and neonatal. The symptoms you listed are for systemic.

Lupus is an unpredictable disease. Over the course of one's life it can change in the way it affects the body. No one can predict that. There are no odds.

Many other diseases have similar symptoms. That is why lupus is called the great imitator. Rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, fibromyalgia, thyroid disease and a host of others have the similar symptoms. There is no definitive lab test for lupus, although the majority of lupus patients will have a positive ANA at some point, other things like pregnancy, can cause the same result. Some lupus patients have a false positive for syphllis.

The majority of lupus patients, if they follow their treatment regimen and are proactive, can live a normal life span and have children. However, lupus pregnancies should be treated as high risk and many will result in premature births. If she has antiphospholipid anitbody syndrome, a clotting disorder, pregnancy will be much more difficult.

If she does have lupus, it's not the end of the world. She may have lupus but lupus doesn't have her.

Best wishes.

As it stands now, there are no definitive tests for Lupus. I have a Lupus- like autoimmune disease that causes the same symptoms, though research is just now being done seriously about it. My doctors believe that I now may have Lupus too, but the Lupus does not scare me.If her tests come back saying Lupus anticoagulant is positive, this is neither Lupus, nor an anticoagulant, but a mis named antibody for Antiphospholipid Syndrome.
http://mayoclinic.com/health/antiphospho...
Yes it is still possible to have children with either of these conditions, but as they are maybe hereditary, what would you do?Best wishes

YES! Celiac Disease is a very common autoimmune disease that can cause neuropathy symptoms! Please encourage her to get blood tested and possibly have the endoscopy done. If she has Celiac, all she needs to do is eat a gluten free diet and she should have no troulbe having children or living a full and healthy life! However untreated Celiac can lead to a whole mess of problems including infertility, cancers and secondary autoimmune conditions like lupus.
FOr mroe info on testing please see these sites or email me.
www.csaceliacs.org
www.celiac.com
www.celiac.org