Been suffering from SEVERE chronic fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, butterfly rash on face, itchy & scaly spots on arms, joint pain, body aches, headaches, and jerking spasms when resting for the past 6 months. A rheumatologist thought I might have lupus until ANA test was negative. As a result his diagnosis is "undifferentiated connective tissue disease". Does this sound like "I don't know what's wrong with you, Maybe you're crazy"? What else could it be?

Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease simply means that you're presenting the symptoms from a number of CTDs, and that western medicine is unable, at this point, to determine which one of them you're suffering form. It can take months and - more likely - even years to diagnose these diseases, depending on the presentation of symptoms, and sometimes the diagnosis remains nonspecific. The best thing you can do is treat your symptoms. I understand that you're probably frustrated... not knowing what's happening to you... but in fact your doctor's answer should be partly reassuring: he has at least acknowledged the reality of the symptoms you're having in his diagnosis of UCTD. If he had meant to say that he doesn't know what's wrong with you and that you're crazy, he would have said something more like, "I don't think you have a connective tissue disease. Try to lead a normal life." Or even worse: "I think you need to stop panicking. You're making yourself sick." Or: "It's all in your head." Hang in there... IBuprofen can help with joint pain... so can ice... And a word on the ANA test - with Lupus, a number of different tests are important (Lupus anticoagulant, anticardiolipins, etc.)... so one negative test doesn't mean you're not sick with lupus, or any other thing. Perhaps in a few months, especially if your symptoms aren't improving, you should go back and request more blood tests. Best.

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