Lupus can make your legs feel painful, weak, numb, tingly, or swollen, often due to muscle inflammation (myositis), nerve damage (neuropathy), kidney issues (nephritis) causing fluid buildup, or joint inflammation (arthralgia) affecting feet and knees, leading to aches, burning, "pins and needles," or difficulty walking. Sensations can range from deep muscle pain and weakness to skin-level stinging or burning, and sometimes tremors or bone pain, depending on which part of the body is affected.
Lupus can also cause inflammation in the joints, which doctors call “inflammatory arthritis.” It can make your joints hurt and feel stiff, tender, warm, and swollen. Lupus arthritis most often affects joints that are farther from the middle of your body, like your fingers, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, and toes.
An itchy rash on the legs could be a sign of lupus, particularly if it develops in response to environmental triggers that often affect people with lupus or if they have a family history of the disease. The rash may look similar to sunburn, cause circular lesions, or cause scaly patches with distinct edges.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, and organs. One often overlooked aspect of lupus is foot pain. If you have lupus, you may experience discomfort, stiffness, and swelling in your feet, which can affect your ability to walk or remain active.
Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus
SCLE can cause circular red patches with a ring-like border that may be scaly. These rashes often show up on sun-exposed skin, including the legs, and usually don't itch or cause pain.
Lupus can damage nerves in the body by causing inflammation of the nerves or the tissue around the nerves. This nerve damage is sometimes called peripheral neuropathy. The main symptoms are numbness, tingling, and being unable to move a part of your body.
Small-vessel vasculitis can also be seen, especially in children, as palpable purpura (red dots that feel like tiny bumps), which causes a rash, but also causes abdominal pain and kidney inflammation (called Henoch-Schoenlein purpura, or IgA nephritis).
Chilblain lupus symptoms may also include:
Walk to End Lupus Now® events provide people affected by lupus and their families with the opportunity to come together for one purpose: ending lupus.
Lupus causes swelling and irritation, called inflammation, that may affect joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. Lupus can be hard to diagnose because its symptoms often are like those of other illnesses. A common sign of lupus is a facial rash that looks like butterfly wings across both cheeks.
Some people with lupus notice uncontrollable shaking or tremors, often in the hands, arms, or legs. These movements happen without your control and can feel like light vibrations, muscle twitching, or more noticeable shaking. Tremors may occur during a lupus flare-up or in people with neuropsychiatric lupus.
Some lupus complications can include:
Lupus can attack many different parts of the body. Some call it the cruel mystery. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can strike any part of the body, but the wide range of symptoms can be easily mistaken for something else.
About half of all people with lupus experience muscle pain and weakness, especially during flare-ups that make symptoms worse.
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.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
NSAIDs that you get without a prescription can treat pain, swelling and fever linked with lupus. NSAIDs include naproxen sodium (Aleve) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others). Your healthcare professional can prescribe stronger NSAIDs, if needed.
Steroids Synthetic cortisone medications are some of the most effective treatments for reducing the swelling, warmth, pain, and tenderness associated with the inflammation of lupus. Cortisone usually works quickly to relieve these symptoms.
Lupus fatigue can be so severe that it is difficult to engage in daily activities such as going to work or school or even simple things like taking a shower. This fatigue is even worse when someone with lupus is experiencing a lupus flare.
Many people with lupus have problems with their joints. Low-impact activities can be easier on your joints and bones and make activity feel more comfortable. Walking more is a great way to start! Try taking a walk around your neighborhood before work or after dinner.
Lupus and Sjogren's syndrome are both autoimmune diseases. Up to 5.5 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with lupus or Sjogren's syndrome. However, Sjogren's syndrome occurs up to three times more than lupus, but one-third of lupus patients also have Sjogren's syndrome.
Swollen glands. Over time, people with lupus may get swollen lymph glands during a flare. Headaches. These are usually related to stress and tension but can be related to a lupus flare.
As many as 1 in 5 people with lupus have peripheral neuropathy, which is widespread pain caused by nerve damage. You may also feel numbness or tingling. Parts of your body may become weak, or you may have trouble moving them.
Lupus can also affect your hair and nails
The most common type of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), can cause dry, coarse hair to develop along the hairline. These dry, coarse hairs break off easily, causing the sparse-looking hair known as lupus hair. Other types of hair loss also develop.
What Are the Signs/ Symptoms? Vasculitis symptoms include rashes that could be red spots (purpura), lumps (nodules) or sores (ulcers), headaches with vision changes, shortness of breath, cough, and numbness or weakness in a hand or foot. Some patients may have joint pain, fatigue, or sinus problems.
People with lupus should avoid certain supplements, including echinacea, spirulina, and vitamin E. These supplements may increase the immune system response and trigger lupus symptoms. It is also helpful to avoid excess sun exposure, salt, and alfalfa sprouts, which may also make symptoms worse.