Mood swings and personality changes. People with lupus may experience unpredictable changes in moods and personality traits. This can include feelings of anger and irritability.
Lupus and its treatments can impair mental & emotional health. 80-90% of people with lupus. Neuropsychiatric lupus describes feelings of depression, headaches, and lupus fog — trouble thinking or remembering due to lupus. 25% of lupus patients experience major depression and 37% have major anxiety, research shows.
According to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) nomenclature published in 1999,1 there are 19 peripheral and CNS syndromes that are associated with lupus (Table 1). Five of the CNS symptoms are psychiatric symptoms: acute confusional state, anxiety disorder, cognitive dysfunction, mood disorder, and psychosis.
Mild or moderate flares may cause only a rash or more joint pain. But severe flares can damage organs in the body, including fluid buildup around your heart and kidney disease. Call your doctor if you get the warning signs of a flare. Your doctor may want to adjust your medicine or treatment plan.
Neurological complications from lupus can include: Headache. Mild cognitive dysfunction. Damage to the peripheral nerves that carry signals between the brain and spinal cord and to the rest of the body.
Lupus can affect both the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system. Lupus may attack the nervous system via antibodies that bind to nerve cells or the blood vessels that feed them, or by interrupting the blood flow to nerves.
Nervous system problems might be symptoms of lupus, or they might be caused by a different condition. Different medical specialists (e.g. rheumatologist, neurologist, psychiatrist) and neuropsychologists can find out if your nervous system problems are related to lupus.
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.
Many lupus patients aren't able to do intensive physical work, like waitressing or working in a grocery store. Jobs that involve standing for long periods, like working a cash register, greeting customers, or being a hostess at a restaurant, can be physically tiring as well as rough on the joints.
The general symptoms include: fever, malaise, arthralgias, myalgias, headache, and loss of appetite and weight. Nonspecific fatigue, fever, arthralgia, and weight changes are the most common symptoms in new cases or recurrent active SLE flares.
Some people have been known to reduce their engagement in sexual relations when faced with challenging medical symptoms as a result of lupus. In some women, physical effects of the disease may include limited range of motion in the hips or knees and decreased vaginal lubrication.
The effects lupus may have in and around the eyes include: changes in the skin around the eyelids, dry eyes, inflammation of the white outer layer of the eyeball, blood vessel changes in the retina, and damage to nerves controlling eye movement and affecting vision.
Lupus psychosis is a distinct immunologically driven psychosis occurring in patients with SLE after excluding primary psychotic disorder, substance- or drug-induced psychotic disorder, metabolic conditions or psychological mediated reactions to SLE [2].
Studies8–11 show that mania presents in approximately 3%, and bipolar disorder was found in 5.8% of SLE patients. Several case reports confirm that mania may be the first manifestation of lupus and is often considered to be caused by corticosteroid treatment.
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.
Remember that rest is also needed to restore energy. Lupus patients will want to work towards a healthy tiredness where subsequent rest or sleep recharges the batteries, and more recovery obtained in this way should help to minimise lupus tiredness.
Emotional stress -- such as a divorce, death in the family, or other life complications -- and anything that causes physical stress to the body -- such as surgery, physical harm, pregnancy, or giving birth -- are examples of triggers that can set off lupus or bring about a lupus flare.
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.
Saturated Fat and Trans Fat
Foods that contain saturated fat or trans fat also contain steroids that can contribute to weight gain because they increase your appetite. It is best to limit both as much as possible since being overweight or obese could worsen your lupus symptoms.
Lupus and the intestines
Lupus can rarely cause vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels) in the intestines, sometimes called lupus enteritis. Symptoms include: Abdominal pain (pain in the belly area) Feeling very full or bloated.
Complete blood count (CBC)
CBC provides information about the red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), and platelet counts, and health of RBCs, all of which may be abnormal in lupus and may need treatment. Common issues are: Anemia (low RBC, as measured by hematocrit and hemoglobin).
An examination of a sample of your urine may show an increased protein level or red blood cells in the urine, which may occur if lupus has affected your kidneys. Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test. A positive test for the presence of these antibodies — produced by your immune system — indicates a stimulated immune system.
Your doctor will look for rashes and other signs that something is wrong. Blood and urine tests. The antinuclear antibody (ANA) test can show if your immune system is more likely to make the autoantibodies of lupus. Most people with lupus test positive for ANA.