Lupus Symptoms

Imagine your own body fighting itself. Imagine the white blood cells, which are meant to fight off infection, believing that your own cells and organs are infections themselves. If you can imagine this, you can understand a piece of what it is like to have lupus.

There are three main types of Lupus.

Systemic Lupus – This is when the immune system attacks more than one part of the body. There are a variety of symptoms that can result from systemic lupus, including arthritis, rash, fever, headaches, hair loss, fatigue and muscle pain. Some patients will only experience a few of these symptoms, while others will suffer from them all.
Discoid Lupus – Discoid Lupus is when the immune system attacks the skin itself. Symptoms are primarily rashes, sensitivity to light and occasional facial ulcers.
Drug Induced Lupus – Sometime the body will react strangely to certain medications. At times it will turn on itself. Drug induced Lupus generally disappears once the medication that has brought the disease on is stopped.

Scientists have not yet discovered why some people get Lupus. It has not been proven that it is hereditary, although people with a family history of Lupus do tend to have a higher chance of getting it. There are some things that can trigger Lupus, such as stress, certain drugs, infections and occasionally ultraviolet light.

At the current time, there is no cure for Lupus. Scientists have discovered ways to keep the symptoms at bay, though, with medication that is meant to reduce inflammation, a major problem caused by Lupus. Patients with Lupus can go into complete remission, but may have “flare ups” occasionally that can be brought back under control by a doctor’s care.