Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) is a condition in which a patient's symptoms don't quite meet the "criteria" (the markers or indicators doctors use to make a diagnosis) of a well-defined connective tissue disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), lupus or scleroderma. A person with UCTD may have one or more of the symptoms found in these types of connective tissue diseases, but not enough of them to make the diagnosis for any one of them. The lab tests for these diseases may even be negative (suggesting the disease is not present) in patients with UCTD. Some symptoms include arthralgia (joint achiness), arthritis (joints that are swollen and hot, often with redness of the overlying skin), rashes, usually on the face, which can worsen in the sun, hair loss, raynaud's phenomenon (color changes in your hands and feet in response to cold), ulcers inside the mouth, dryness of the eyes (due to decreased tears) or mouth (due to decreased saliva), low-grade fever (usually under 100o F), leukopenia (decreased numbers of white cells in your blood) and anemia (decreased numbers of red blood cells in your blood).

Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease

Hospital for Special Surgery

Pain

Fatigue

Leg weakness

I tell them what my doctor said - it has overlapping symptoms of lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and myositis. I tell them pain is irregular and unpredictable. A sudden burst of twitching in my calf muscle can start while I'm writing at my desk. My leg can suddenly feel weak, as if it will give out, while I'm crossing the street. 

Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, and Gold Stars