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459853 tn?1283140514

Lupus rash or something else?

I'm a 40year old female that's been battling seronegative rheumatoid arthritis since I was 24. About a year and a half ago I started noticing this redness I had across my cheek bones and nose. At first I thought it was wind burn from the cold winter, but it never went away and is only getting worse! I had a baby last year and that's when I really starting noticing it. My older daughter claims it's been there for years though. But not it's to the point where I'm getting not just the rash, but what looks like pimples with no head. In other words, like a raised rash. The only time it went away was when I was on methotrexate. I had to get off bc my liver functions were slightly elevated, and am now on sulfasalazine (sp?), which I'm getting no relief from. If I could post a pic I certainly would. My rheumatologist claims that it's highly unlikely for me to have Lupus cause it would have shown up in my ANA panel. Any suggestions would be most grateful!
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1756321 tn?1547095325
ANA's are negative in approximately 5% with lupus. Other antibody markers of lupus include cardiolipin antibody, anti-smith antibody, DNA antibodies, SS-A and SS-B antibodies.  

I had a butterfly redness across my cheeks and nose and suspected this symptom might be due to Lupus but after many tests my rheumatologist ruled that out. Many years later I finally figured out this symptom was from bouts of hyperthyroidism from Hashimoto's thyroiditis (autoimmune hypothyroidism).

There are many possible causes of a redness across the cheeks but your condition looks to be immune related since you noted the redness disappear taking the chemotherapy drug methotrexate (may cause very serious, life-threatening side effects however). There is a drug called LDN (low dose naltrexone) and the side effects, if you should have any, are usually mild.

Excerpt from the website - Low Dose Naltrexone...

"In human cancer, research by Zagon over many years has demonstrated inhibition of a number of different human tumors in laboratory studies by using endorphins and low dose naltrexone. It is suggested that the increased endorphin and enkephalin levels, induced by LDN, work directly on the tumors' opioid receptors — and, perhaps, induce cancer cell death (apoptosis). In addition, it is believed that they act to increase natural killer cells and other healthy immune defenses against cancer.

In general, in people with diseases that are partially or largely triggered by a deficiency of endorphins (including cancer and autoimmune diseases), or are accelerated by a deficiency of endorphins (such as HIV/AIDS), restoration of the body's normal production of endorphins is the major therapeutic action of LDN."
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