Neurodegenerative disease diagnosis alongside Lupus
Hello everyone, about 2.5 years ago i was diagnosed with systemic lupus. i am a 22yo female. I started having some weird cognitive issues (different headaches, confusion, word finding issues, balance/coordination problems, and worsening tremors) so I had an MRI of my brain done in November 2025- it showed “bilateral lesions in the basal ganglia” at first, my doctors thought it was Wilson’s disease considering the labs they test for that were conclusive with Wilson’s lab markers. In January 2026,I went to mayo clinic in AZ, and had another MRI done and it showed that the damage was more extensive than we thought. the radiologist commented that there were “mineralizations in the bilateral globi pallidi, thalami, and dentate nuclei and suggestive of fahr disease.” So i met with a hepatologist because we all thought it was wilson’s, but the radiologist was right. It is fahr disease (a neurodegenerative progressive disease)- and it has been life shattering. There is no treatment or cure, and all we can do is watch it get worse pretty much. The decline can be rapid, and the dementia and parkinson’s symptoms can progress quickly- or it can take years. We do know that within the next 5-10 years I will not be able to work, live on my own, take care of myself, and I will be moved to a nursing home essentially. I know Fahrs is rare (like less than 1 in a million) so I don’t expect any of yall to have any tips, but does anyone have tips on coping with a terminal illness?
Posted Feb 26, 2026, 3:35 AM UTC