VATam, how is your daughter's treatment going? I hope she responds quickly and well.

I didn't see the followup on this thread and missed gnu's question. I was 31 when I developed the 'butterfly' rash and after a year of non/mis-diagnosis lupus was finally given as the answer. It was treated as a derma problem and the treatment was primarily cortizone cream.

This was back in the days when doctors thought that there were different versions of the disease, i.e. the systemic type and the skin type. Nowadays they accept that they are different stages of the same disease, and some people don't reach the same stages.

10 years after the first diagnosis when I was 41 I came down with the more severe aspects of the disease and was treated with high doses of prednisone and several other joy-making things. I started with what I thought was flu in February of that year, by April I had to stop working, my worst month was June and I had my last shots in October, all in the same year, 1976. I have not had any real problems since.

I was incredibly lucky. I wish the same for your daughter, Tam.