Lupus causes significant pain because it's an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, triggering widespread inflammation (arthritis, tendonitis, organ inflammation) and damaging areas like joints, muscles, skin, kidneys, heart, and lungs, leading to symptoms like stiffness, swelling, burning, or sharp pain that can be chronic and severe, exacerbated by nerve involvement, fibromyalgia, and psychological factors like stress or depression.
Some lupus complications can include:
Treating a lupus flare
Lupus feels like a rollercoaster of unpredictable symptoms, most commonly overwhelming fatigue, joint pain/swelling, fevers, and skin issues like the characteristic "butterfly rash" on the face, often worsening in flares triggered by sun or stress, but it varies greatly, affecting different people's skin, joints, kidneys, brain, or other organs.
Lupus flares can vary in length. Some may last several days; others may span weeks or more.
Common symptoms that indicate a flare are:
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.
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.
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.
August 29 — The Lupus Research Alliance is excited to share the good news that a potential new medicine for lupus, anifrolumab, reduced disease activity versus placebo in a second Phase III study. Anifrolumab is a therapeutic antibody that blocks type I interferons, a molecule that promotes lupus inflammation.
Head to ER With Chest Pain, Shortness of Breath
“The acute inflammation from lupus can damage blood vessels as well as the protective, surrounding heart lining, leading to pericarditis,” says Dr. Blum.
5 Things to Avoid if You Have Lupus
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.
What is Stage 4 Kidney Lupus (Diffuse Lupus Nephritis)? This is a more serious stage of the condition, where there is usually a lot of protein and sometimes blood in the urine. Blood pressure may become high, and kidney function can get worse.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with an increased risk of hospitalization. Multiple studies have reported SLE flare, infection, and cardiovascular (CV) events as the most common reasons for hospitalization.
Neither RA nor lupus is "worse" than the other. They are different conditions and require treatment accordingly. Lupus and RA patients can have a mild or severe form of either disease.
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.
A lupus flare-up happens when the immune system becomes unusually active, causing inflammation and symptoms to worsen. For some, this may mean joint stiffness, fever, or headaches. For others, it could show up as extreme fatigue, skin rashes, or difficulty concentrating.
Because symptoms present similarly to other ailments, your doctor may not test you for lupus. Many go through a process of elimination through testing for other causes of the symptoms first.
Lupus causes inflammation throughout your body. This can cause problems in your organs, including: Kidney damage (lupus nephritis). Heart problems, including inflammation in the heart (myocarditis), heart valves, or lining of the heart muscle (pericarditis).
Responses from patients with SLE indicated prevalent diagnoses of depression (40%) and anxiety (42%), as well as neuropsychiatric symptoms thought to be due to SLE—brain fog (42%), headache (36%), anxiety (24%), and depression (21%).
Hydroxychloroquine and other antimalarials
Doctors use antimalarials to treat malaria, but these medicines can also treat lupus by: Reducing pain and inflammation. Preventing lupus flares and helping with lupus skin problems.
These may include acetaminophen or aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or naproxen. NSAIDs may produce side effects that worsen some lupus conditions, such as kidney disease, and so your doctor can advise you on how best to use these medications to treat your symptoms.
Chest pain – especially if it feels sharp, tight, or like pressure on your chest. Sudden weakness or numbness in the arms or legs – could be a sign of transverse myelitis or stroke-like symptoms. New confusion, severe headache, or trouble speaking – changes in thinking can be serious in lupus.