Cope With Stress
Learning as much as you can about lupus and what you can do to feel better. Talking to your friends and family to help them understand what is happening to your body. Taking a break from focusing on the disease, and spending some time doing activities you enjoy. Meditating, reading, or deep breathing.
Work with your doctor to manage lupus. Take your medicine as your doctor tells you to and make healthy choices, such as not smoking, eating healthy foods, getting regular physical activity, and managing your weight.
Having lupus can make everyday life challenging. When your lupus is active, symptoms like joint stiffness, pain, fatigue, confusion, or depression can make simple tasks difficult — and sometimes impossible. Since these symptoms aren't visible, the people around you may have trouble understanding how you feel.
Finding a Healthcare Provider. Once you have a diagnosis, or even if you are still being evaluated, it's important to find a healthcare provider who cares for people with lupus—usually a rheumatologist.
With close follow-up and treatment, 80-90% of people with lupus can expect to live a normal life span. It is true that medical science has not yet developed a method for curing lupus, and some people do die from the disease. However, for the majority of people living with the disease today, it will not be fatal.
Eat an autoimmune-friendly diet
Because lupus is an inflammatory disease, focus on eating an anti-inflammatory diet, such as the Mediterranean diet or the DASH Diet. Providing your body with essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients will help it fight back against flare-ups.
Kidneys About one half of people with lupus experience kidney involvement, and the kidney has become the most extensively studied organ affected by lupus. Lungs About 50% of people with SLE will experience lung involvement during the course of their disease.
People with lupus may experience unpredictable changes in moods and personality traits. This can include feelings of anger and irritability. These may be related to the disease process or, in some cases, the use of corticosteroid medications.
Is Autoimmune disease a disability that qualifies for financial help in Australia? Autoimmune disease is a disability that qualifies for financial help in Australia. Help is available through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which is administered by Centrelink.
Overview of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Lupus)
If you have lupus, you may experience periods of illness (flares) and periods of wellness (remission). Lupus flares can be mild to serious,and they are unpredictable. However, with treatment, many people with lupus can manage the disease.
Lupus can cause serious kidney damage, and kidney failure is one of the leading causes of death among people with lupus. Brain and central nervous system. If your brain is affected by lupus, you may experience headaches, dizziness, behavior changes, vision problems, and even strokes or seizures.
According to the Lupus Research Alliance, about half of all people with lupus experience cognitive difficulties with thought processes. Around 1 in 5 people experience headaches, memory loss, mood swings, and stroke. Blood clots might also develop. These might also lead to dangerous complications, such as stroke.
Your doctor may recommend one or a combination of the following: Hydroxychloroquine: an antimalarial drug that is effective for treating lupus-related arthritis and rashes. It reduces flares by 50 percent and may also help prevent blood clots.
Muscle and joint pain.
This affects most people with lupus. Common areas for muscle pain and swelling include the neck, thighs, shoulders, and upper arms.
Common triggers include:
Being out in the sun or having close exposure to fluorescent or halogen light. Infection. Injury. Stopping your lupus medicines.
Most people with lupus develop the disease between the ages of 15-44. People with lupus can experience significant symptoms, such as pain, extreme fatigue, hair loss, cognitive issues, and physical impairments that affect every facet of their lives.
The best way to describe it is a yo-yo. When I'm good, I have minimal symptoms and can do most things that I'd like to do. Flares are a different story. During a flare, I'll get joint pain, chest pain, swelling, fatigue, insomnia and brain fog (can't think clearly and forgetting things).
Many people with lupus are unusually sensitive to the sun and other forms of ultraviolet light. A day at the beach may trigger a skin rash in areas exposed to sunlight and may worsen other lupus symptoms. Certain medications can make people with lupus even more sensitive to UV light.
Whole-body symptoms — Most people with lupus experience fatigue, fever, and weight changes at some point in their illness. Fatigue — Fatigue is the most common symptom of lupus and can be debilitating. Almost everyone with lupus experiences fatigue at some point, even when there are no other symptoms.
If your symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are mild or well-controlled, you may find it barely affects your day-to-day life and that you do not have any complications. However, for some people, SLE can be a more serious condition that can cause life-threatening complications.