Your symptoms of lupus can be overwhelming and dramatically affect your quality of life. Cold weather is one thing that can trigger and worsen your symptoms of lupus. Cooler temperatures can take a toll on most people, even if they don't have an autoimmune disease.
For those living with lupus, the cold winter months can increase the incidence and severity of the condition. Lupus winter flare-ups result from cold-induced spasms in small blood vessels, which restrict blood flow.
With lupus, cold temperatures activate painful flare-ups as blood vessels constrict to minimize heat loss. As this happens, pressure increases in different parts of the body, thereby reducing blood flow to the extremities.
Research has established links but not whether those factors cause lupus symptoms to worsen. The best places to live may be those with moderate temperature fluctuations and low levels of wind, humidity, and air pollution.
Previous research has shown significant seasonal variation in lupus disease activity, such as renal flares being more common in the winter months and increased arthritis symptoms occurring in the spring and summer months; but this is the first study that looked at the link between organ-specific lupus flares and ...
Chilblain lupus is a symptom of lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder (when your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells). People with chilblain lupus get painful red or purple sores and discolored patches of skin. These small sores (chilblains) form or worsen after exposure to cold temperatures.
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.
Cold agglitinin disease (CAD) is a rare type of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. With CAD, cold temperatures activate your immune system to destroy red blood cells. As a result, you may experience anemia symptoms that range from mild to severe.
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.
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.
Some people with lupus have Raynaud's phenomenon. It affects the small vessels that supply blood to the skin and the soft tissues under the skin of the fingers and toes. It causes them to turn white and/or blue or red. The skin affected will feel numb, tingly, and cold to the touch.
To avoid heat-related flare-ups, stay in an air-conditioned or well-cooled environment. Because lupus medications can make your skin cells less photosensitive that they would be otherwise, it's important to continue taking any prescription medications as directed through the summer months.
There are several possible reasons for those with lupus to become heat intolerant. Studies have shown that those with autoimmune diseases have high levels of free radical nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is a chemical that is naturally produced by the body for quickly dilating blood vessels when necessary.
Colder weather is not necessarily better for lupus, although it can depend on which body systems a person's lupus affects. While research has linked hot weather to lupus symptoms such as rashes, inflammation around the organs, and joint pain, it has also linked cold weather to kidney inflammation.
These flare-ups, or relapses, are unpredictable. Some people may experience flare-ups every few years. Others may have them with greater frequency. Lupus flare-ups can occur at any time, and last anywhere from several days to a few weeks or more.
Some common symptoms of a flare include: A butterfly-shaped rash on the cheeks and nose. Rashes on other parts of the body. Pain or swelling in joints.
In addition to your provider's recommendations, there are some things you can do to get through a lupus flare. They include: Increased rest and relaxation—both body and mind. Taking your medications as directed.
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.
With age, symptom activity with lupus often declines, but symptoms you already have may grow more severe. The accumulation of damage over years may result in the need for joint replacements or other treatments.
People with lupus are more likely to experience infection and infection-related complications. This is because their immune system is weakened by both the disease and the medication used to treat it. The most common infections for people with lupus include those of the respiratory tract, skin and urinary system.