So have your lives been ruined?

[Guest guest]

.... well, only tell me if they haven't been!

I've posted here a couple times but am new to all this. I'm 37 and was

just diagnosed with Lupus within the month or so.

A friend bought me a book called something like " Everything you need

to know about Lupus " and after reading it I feel like I want to kill

myself!

Everything sounds so awful and hopeless: Your life will never be the

same again; Your personality will change and you'll never be the same

person you were; lots of Lupus patients need anti-depressants to cope

with the effects of the disease; you have to make tough choices about

which things to cut out of your life, you need to have a support group

to talk about how much it sucks, etc, etc.

Plus the chapters of all the physical things that happen to you ...

the author keeps making the point that you can have Lupus and still

live, but I think if the rest of my life is going to be like this, I'd

rather be dead!

Please, if it's true, somebody with Lupus tell me that your life

hasn't been ruined and you get to function pretty normally and aren't

miserable all the time!

On another note, what is remission all about? Do the drugs help you go

into remission? What is the likelihood of that ever happening?

Anything you can do to help it happen? How long does remission last?

Thanks

Sad