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].
Serious mental disorders may occur when lupus attacks the brain, spine, or nerves. The medical term psychosis includes mood swings, mania, serious depression, hallucinations, or delusions. About 12 percent of people with lupus will develop psychosis at some time in their illness.
But there is no single clinical, laboratory, neuropsychological and imaging test that can be used to differentiate NPSLE from non-NPSLE patients with similar neuropsychiatric manifestations [7]. Psychosis is seen in 1–2% of SLE patients [2,8].
High-dose glucocorticoids and intravenous cyclophosphamide remain the cornerstone for patients with severe symptoms that are thought to reflect inflammation or an underlying autoimmune process. Rituximab, intravenous immunoglobulins, or plasmapheresis may be used if response is not achieved.
People with lupus can have cognitive symptoms, like having a hard time thinking clearly or remembering things. This is also called “brain fog” or “lupus fog,” and it often comes and goes over time. In some people, lupus fog can be present for many years.
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.
Both lupus and MS can follow a pattern of remission and relapse which repeats. They can both cause brain lesions that look similar on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While the nerves are the primary target of MS, lupus sometimes affects the nerves as well.
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.
Life with lupus can be challenging. With symptoms that come and go, disease flares and remissions, and the uncertainty of what each day will bring, it's normal to experience feelings of unhappiness, frustration, anger, or sadness. It's also normal to grieve for the loss of the life you had before lupus.
Many people with lupus sometimes have confusion, memory loss, and trouble expressing thoughts. The medical term is cognitive dysfunction. These symptoms can come and go.
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.
Depression and generalised anxiety can occur as a reaction to these symptoms and if the underlying lupus can be better controlled, features of low mood, loss of interest and insomnia often improve. Lupus can directly affect the brain and is probably the most feared feature for the patient.
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.
Class 4, or diffuse lupus nephritis
Class 4 involves damage to more than half of the glomerulus. A person will have high blood pressure. They may require dialysis as kidney function begins to worsen.
Environment. Exposure to certain factors in the environment – such as viral infections, sunlight, certain medications, and smoking – may trigger lupus.
The term 'lupus fog' is used by many people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). On patient fora and websites, confusion, difficulty planning, loss of concentration, difficulty in articulating thoughts, and memory impairment are symptoms described in the context of this fog.
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.
While both MS and lupus are autoimmune diseases, they happen for different reasons. MS is caused by immune cells that cross your blood-brain barrier and damage your central nervous system. In lupus, one type of immune cell, B cells, cause you to make autoantibodies that damage tissues and organs all over your body.
As a result, people with lupus are frequently misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, skin disorders, psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression or receive no answers at all.
Lupus is an autoimmune disorder that involves widespread inflammation and impacts many organs throughout the body. Fibromyalgia a disorder that causes widespread chronic pain and tenderness. Unlike lupus, fibromyalgia is not an inflammatory or autoimmune disease.