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.
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.
You may experience pain and stiffness, with or without swelling. This affects most people with lupus. Common areas for muscle pain and swelling include the neck, thighs, shoulders, and upper arms. Fever.
Due to lupus often being invisible, it may be difficult for your partner to understand what you are experiencing. It is possible that they may doubt your illness, believing it is all in your head. This can be extremely painful and frustrating, causing anger and resentment.
Lupus is a lifelong disease that can affect many parts of your life. But, many women with lupus live long, healthy lives. You can take steps to control your symptoms, prevent lupus flares, and cope with the challenges of lupus.
For people with lupus, some treatments can increase the risk of developing potentially fatal infections. However, the majority of people with lupus can expect a normal or near-normal life expectancy.
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.
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.
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.
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. These may be related to the disease process or, in some cases, the use of corticosteroid medications.
Research shows that stress can worsen lupus symptoms and trigger flares. Stress relates to the feeling of being overwhelmed. Under stress, the body secretes hormones like cortisol to trigger the fight or flight response. In instances of prolonged stress, the human body can be severely affected.
Those with lupus can develop a mental illness like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia just like other people. You may need to see a neurologist or psychologist in order to get a correct diagnosis.
The cause of lupus is unknown, and researchers are still trying to learn what may trigger or lead to the disease. Doctors know that it is a complex autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks the person's tissues and organs.
Currently, there is no cure for lupus. To manage the disease, people rely on medications and lifestyle changes, such as getting enough rest, avoiding the sun, and exercising. In the last two years, three new medications were approved to treat lupus, two for kidney lupus and one for non-kidney lupus.
Gender: Even though anyone can get lupus, it most often affects women. They're nine to ten times more likely than men to develop it. Age: Lupus can occur at any age, but most are diagnosed in their 20s and 30s. Race: Lupus is two to three times more common in African-American women than in Caucasian women.
During a flare, some of the symptoms you already had get worse or brand-new symptoms appear. It could be a light rash that spreads or gets darker or mouth sores that suddenly show up. If you experience increased lupus symptoms, known as a flare, it may mean your disease is active.
Kidneys About one half of people with lupus experience kidney involvement, and the kidney has become the most extensively studied organ affected by lupus.
Based on what researchers have discovered so far, milder climates may benefit people with lupus and might help reduce the severity or number of flares. These include places that do not experience extreme increases or decreases in temperature and are not very humid or windy.
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body's immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. A disease like lupus can put strain on a marital relationship, causing the stress needed for divorce to be a realistic option. Support for those with lupus is available.
It is not necessary to share all of the details about lupus. But you will want to describe the possible symptoms of lupus and your symptoms in particular. Explain your treatments, as well as the fact that lupus can develop in men and women, teens, and children.
Lupus patients with stable disease control can live, study, work, fall in love, get married and have children as ordinary people do. Long-term remission can be achieved as long as the patient follows their doctor's advice, takes medication and has regular follow-up checks.