How did your UCTD start?

Hi! I am a girl in late twenties, got diagnosed last month. Have had symptoms for a year: constant low grade fever (37,2C), slightly high blood pressure, fatigue, aches in joints/bones, aches in chest, a rash on my finger that does not go away (I did not pay attention to that until got diagnosis and found out I'm supposed to have rashes), very dry sensitive skin (cold makes hands/legs go sore and red for the whole day), sensitivity to cold (but no color changes, fingers just hurt), constant sore throat. I also had one weird sore in my mouth, that was not painful and persisted for months, did not pay much attention to that either, only now in retrospect it seems relevant. My blood shows positive ANA 1:320 fine speckled, positive dsDNA (don't know titer), slightly elevated anti-thyroid and slightly elevated creatitine. It also shows an Epstein-Barr infection sometime in the past. So I have vague symptoms, but quite specific blood indicators. I have also not had any distinct flares, just constant feeling of flu and exhaustion. Having read other forums, it seems to me that other people with uctd generally have flares, and they are likely to have it other way around - all sorts of swelling and distinct rashes, but no blood indicators. So I am a bit confused - should I be satisfied wth the diagnosis, or should I keep seeking for other opinions? P.s. - I was put on Plaquenil, 400 mg. And sorry if there are any grammar mistakes, I am not from an English-speaking country

Dear Oieke,
apparently nobody is going to reply either to you or to me... I hope this means they are all well, and too busy with their own lives! So I thought it would be a good idea for me to write to you.
I'm very, very sorry you have so many problems, and you so young. I'm on the other end of the range: I started feeling unwell at the age of 72. I too had a whole series of vague, but very unpleasant complaints, and it took me six months to get a definite diagnosis (this happened quite recently). I was put on Plaquenil and Prednisone, and immediately started feeling better! I concluded that both the diagnosis and the therapy were correct. I'm very grateful for this, of course, but I must go on being alert to the onset of possible new symptoms that might define my UCTD.
My suggestion is that you go on with the medications that have been prescribed to you, at least for a while, and see if they make you feel better. It's important, in any case, for you to have a doctor or doctors that you trust completely: if you don't feel sure of your present physicians, it's definitely worthwhile to look for others.
Vagueness and variety of cases, I gather, are the main characteristics of UCTD, so it's quite normal for you to be puzzled. Don't be discouraged by this! Carry on! I wish you the best possible luck.
Oh, and by the way, your English is fine. I too am from a non-English-speaking country.
Please keep us posted about you.
Warm regards from the Bluetit.

I am thirty years old and just got diagnosed. I have had symptoms for years that I never paid attention to. I used to get sick in the sun or the heat. I get a rash on my face. I can sleep 16 hours and wake up and still go back to sleep. My hip hurts terribly. I have UC. I had Pleurisy. I am anemic. Plus a fever and headaches. I think the Plaquenil is making me have weird vision. Are you guys still around?

I have had rashes when sick with a fever for about 20 years or so. A DX of DJD too. In 2011 I had a hysterectomy and learned afterward I had adenomyoosis for years. The next year a DX of Plantar Fasciatis that would not resolve with treatment,doc sent me off to a rheumatologist. All the blood work came back negative but my health began to get really weird. My shoulders began to hurt terrible.knees got sore and calf was painful enough for me to be seen to R/O a clot. Then a pop behind the knee led to a discovery of nodes up the tendons behind the same knee. Shoulder repair of rotator cuff in July of this year . My P/T is not going well because of the stiffness. Mouth sores,pain in the thumbs,shoulders knees and stiffness that begins if I sit for more than 10 or 20 minutes. I get up to walk and walk like and 80 year old woman. My doc wants a CT scan of my c-spine because an MRI showed marrow edema there. He ordered a bunch of labs that are pending but on the lab slip he wrote UCTD and the icd codes let me begin my research about this DX. So here I am,searching for answers. Oh I forgot I have very dry mouth especially at night and afib,also having a urinary system workup for microscopic hemeturia (blood in urine). Family history of Sjogren's and RA.