I have read that there are very few lupus/ra patients and understand that some symptoms are very general and could characterize the majority of different autoimmune connective tissue diseases, but I currently sit here with a pos RA factor, pos ANA and disfiguring fingers (aches, fatigue and most normal symptoms of RA) and a huge chanker sore in the soft part of mouth by my cheek, a rash (looks like tiny red pinpricks) on my chest (that gets more pronounced in sunshine), recurrent kidney issues, a discoid rash on my wrist that was dubbed a fixed medication reaction (just happens to react to antibiotics that you are supposed to avoid sunlight with)...to top it off, I'm experiencing periodic menopausal symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats)...I have extensive family history including: RA, Lupus, Scleraderma, possibly marfaran and AS...I think genetic testing would be helpful to give final diagnosis but don't know if it really matters that much as far as treatment...does anyone have any experience with odd symptoms that fit into other diseases? Just wondering...