New here

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm new here, and to be honest, not quite sure if this is where I

belong.

I had some blood work done recently, and my ANA came back positive

and very high.

We are now repeating the test, but to be honest, I am scared. I've

been reading about high ANA results and the two major results are

lupus and RA.

I have symptoms of neither one. All I have is a high ANA I believe

the Dr. said it was 6.80??

The only thing bothering me is itching. I have baby hives that have

been making me itch. I have suffered from allergies all my life and

thought that they just started affecting my skin.

I was just wondering if anyone was diagnosed with RA without any

symptoms. I'm 45 yrs old and am asthmatic. I also have IBS,but other

than that, all is fine.

All my cBC and Chem 7's came back fine, as well as the liver enzymes

and kidney functions.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Inge

[Guest guest]

I'm not very familiar with Lupus but for RA it is not diagnosed by blood work

but lab tests (both blood and x-ray) are used to help with the diagnosis. Blood

tests can neither confirm nor deny the disease but help in the diagnosis. If I

had no symptoms I would not be concerned but would be attentive to see if any

symptoms start to develop. God bless.

>

> From: " ingeoh " <ingeoh@...>

> Date: 2004/07/06 Tue PM 10:15:52 GMT

> Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Subject: New here

>

>

Hi,

I'm new here, and to be honest, not quite sure if this is where I

belong.

I had some blood work done recently, and my ANA came back positive

and very high.

We are now repeating the test, but to be honest, I am scared. I've

been reading about high ANA results and the two major results are

lupus and RA.

I have symptoms of neither one. All I have is a high ANA I believe

the Dr. said it was 6.80??

The only thing bothering me is itching. I have baby hives that have

been making me itch. I have suffered from allergies all my life and

thought that they just started affecting my skin.

I was just wondering if anyone was diagnosed with RA without any

symptoms. I'm 45 yrs old and am asthmatic. I also have IBS,but other

than that, all is fine.

All my cBC and Chem 7's came back fine, as well as the liver enzymes

and kidney functions.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Inge

[Guest guest]

Dear claire you have already taken a step forward in your journey by

reaching out to this group of caring and compassionate souls. I can

relate to your feelings regarding your mother as I lost mine about 5

years ago. It feels like a piece of you is missing and the constant

ache seems unbearable at times, I know but, this is your time now and

she would want you to go on with your life and be happy. You know

she would. Wnenever you can, try to focus on the new life that is

coming into the world soon. Grieving is a long process [sometimes 18

months or more] and there are many stages that you go through [ie;

denial, anger, crying bouts, sometimes physical symptoms, etc.] so be

patient and kind with yourself. Find a way to take time for you,

even if it's just 30 minutes a day. One of the ways that helped me

was inspirational readings from magazines, spiritual books, and self

help books or music or getiing out of the house with my friends,

shopping, etc. You had also mentioned you would like to explore ways

to find 'inner peace.' There are many pathways available. This is

one that helped me: -- The Center of Peace --

By E.

Deep inside you is a place of infinite calm where you can retreat

from the cares of the world, where you can find reassurance of God's

presence in your life and of God's power to bless you.

Take time to find this place. Make time, if you must, but find it.

The center of peace lies in your inner self, awaiting your

recognition and beckoning your entrance into its enfolding warmth and

love.

How very dear this center of peace must have been to the

Psalmist. " He leads me beside still waters " (Ps. 23:2). " Commune with

your own hearts … and be silent " (Ps. 4:4 RSV). " I will both lie down

and sleep in peace " (Ps. 4:8). These words stand as eternal testimony

of the calm in which all of us are centered.

In this place of stillness, inharmony ceases, sadness is wiped away,

and hatred is turned into love. Here, in this quiet place within, God

assures us: Peace, My child. I am forever with you.

How do we enter this center of peace? How do we find the still waters

within?

Jesus said that " the kingdom of God is in the midst of you " (Lk.

17:21 RSV). We do not find our peace in the things of the world

around us. We find it only within, in the centermost part of our own

inner selves. Looking outside of ourselves is looking in vain. Only

within is there peace or hope of peace.

When we find the center of peace within, we find power. We find

strength for the activities of the day. We find renewal of our bodies

and minds. We find substance for our daily bread. There, in the

stillness, is where the blessings of God begin, for there in the

stillness is God, the giver of all good gifts.

Where is the source of the power that lights your electric light? Is

it in the filament that glows when you press the switch? No, the

source is not in the lightbulb. Neither is it in the switch nor in

the power line.

Follow the power line. Do you find the source of the power in the

transformers? No, it is not there. Do you find it in the huge

turbines at the base of the dam? No, it is not there either.

Is it in the falling water that rushes over the spillways of the dam

and drives the giant turbines? No, not even in the rushing water.

The rushing water, the turbines, the transformers, the power lines,

the switch, and the lightbulb all give evidence of power expended.

But where is the power? What is it that causes all the electrical

activity, from the dam to your lightbulb, which brightens up your

room at night as though it were high noon?

Behind the dam is a vast lake of still waters. Here, in the stillness

of the depths of this lake, is the power. Only in stillness is there

power.

In the peace and calm of your inner self is power. As you enter the

stillness of your soul for a time each day, you find all the power

you need to renew yourself for the activities that lie before you.

Follow that power line to its source. Move inwardly in your

consciousness to the stillness at the center of your being.

Push the switch that turns off your attention to the things of your

outer world. Go in, over the power lines of concern for daily

situations, and leave them behind. Pass through the transformer of

your thinking mind that turns God-ideas into human pursuits, and put

it behind you. Go past the great dam and turbines of your feeling

nature, where the waters begin to flood into consciousness as thought

and feeling. There you find the still waters of the Psalmist.

You have found the infinite calm, the center of peace.

Here you commune with your Lord. Here you are renewed for the tasks

of living that lie ahead of you. Here you find your daily sustenance

and substance. Here you are replenished in the power of God. Here you

are assured that every need is being met.

Once you have found this place of infinite calm within you, trust, as

the sheep trusts the shepherd. Your need is God's assurance of

fulfillment. When you have communed with God beside the still waters,

go knowingly into life, trusting in the eternal promises of God.

You are a child of God, and God is your Creator. Trust in God's love

for you.

Go often to the center of peace within.

Trust. Be at peace. ------ Love and blessings, Patrish

>

>

> Hello,

>

> I am new to this group, I was drawn to it somehow. I am looking for

> peace. I want to learn how to have inner peace, but patiently. I

tend to

> want to understand everything this minute...but I would like help

as to

> where I should start on my journey.

>

> I want to teach my children how to meditate and relieve their

stress. I

> feel that I have an energy and intuition that is different than

many. I

> would like to direct this to help others as well as my own soul.

>

> I lost my mother in December unexpectantly to a rare cancer called

LMS,

> and am pregnant with a baby girl due in just a couple of weeks. I

have 2

> children from a previous marriage, my mother was my cornerstone. I

am

> scared and angry. I want to feel peace and acceptance so I can

introduce

> my beautiful mother's memories to our daughter(I have remarried) in

a

> beneficial way not tramatic.

>

> Please help me with my first baby step, as to a good starting place.

> Whether it is reading material or some thing else...I am lost.

>

> Thank you,

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

, i hope this resonates well with you and i send you positive healing energy for you to find peace in your heart! ** 'A NEW DAWN' ---Faced with the passing of someone we love, our hearts cry out in the passion of loneliness and are not comforted with easy answers. Our hearts tell us that we are meant to live, not to die. We are meant to express life ever more consummately. When someone fails to do this, we wonder why. To understand the meaning of death, we must understand the meaning of life. Looking at life, we see that all things change. But although all things change, nothing perishes. If this is true in the world of things, how much more true it is in the world of mind! Soul has a substance of its own, no less permanent for being immaterial, no less real for being invisible. We cannot measure it

with calipers or weigh it in a balance. We cannot feel it with our fingers or see it with our eyes. But it is there, substantial and real. It changes, but it will not perish. Life does not begin with birth. It does not end with death. Life is an eternal process, an eternal progress. A visible form, an audible voice, an aggregation of organs, a network of ideas—we are more than these. These are the trappings of visibility. We are expressions of the spirit of life. Eternity is not an alternation of life and nonlife. There is only life. The truth is that we cannot die, for we are life. Life is energy. Life is expression. It cannot end, because it is endless. We may change form and vanish from view, but we cannot cease to be. We cannot be separated from life. We cannot be less than life. There is a unity beyond the unities of time and place and even thought, a unity that links us as one. Does not love link us

with our friends, though they be on the other side of the earth? So those we love may pass beyond the reach of hands, but not outside the heart. Exactly what is on the other side of death we do not know. But we may be sure that it is life. Life is on the other side of death as it is on this side. Death is a door through which we pass into another room. It is a rest between two notes in an unfinished symphony. It is a page we turn to a new chapter in the book of life. It is not the end; it is a new beginning. It is not the fall of night; it is another dawn. -- Dillet Freeman Blessings and thanks to: redheadparadis <redheadparadis@...> wrote: Hello,I am new to this group, I was drawn to it somehow. I am looking forpeace. I want to learn how to have inner peace, but patiently. I tend towant to understand everything this minute...but I would like help as towhere I should start on my journey.I want to teach my children how to meditate and relieve their stress. Ifeel that I have an energy and intuition that is different than many. Iwould like to direct this to help others as well as my own soul.I lost my mother in December unexpectantly to a rare

cancer called LMS,and am pregnant with a baby girl due in just a couple of weeks. I have 2children from a previous marriage, my mother was my cornerstone. I amscared and angry. I want to feel peace and acceptance so I can introducemy beautiful mother's memories to our daughter(I have remarried) in abeneficial way not tramatic.Please help me with my first baby step, as to a good starting place.Whether it is reading material or some thing else...I am lost.Thank you,

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