What Is Lupus?
It seems like a simple question but do you know the answer? I’m going to tell you right now it’s okay if you don’t. That’s what I’m here for. To help you better understand this Silent disease. When I first met my husband I had heard of Lupus because my mom has an aunt who has Lupus so it wasn’t something totally brand new to me. However, that doesn’t mean I knew what it was.
And if you know my husband there’s a chance you probably don’t even know he has Lupus because it’s not something he just goes around advertising. Technically he didn’t even really tell me on his own terms when we first started talking. I’m just noisy and one day I was looking through his stuff in his dorm (he was sitting right there don’t worry I’m not that crazy or am I) and I saw a large bottle of pills so I just asked hey what is Mycophenolate or CellCept for? He just casually says something along the lines of they are for Lupus or I have Lupus while still making beats. I’m just like okay cool but then I’m like wait what? You have Lupus? What is Lupus? This is the part where I proceeded to ask a million questions and he answers them all telling me his whole back story or when he was diagnosed, how he found out, and all the things my little heart desires to know.
Now I don’t know about you but I’m one of those people that once I learn something new and it interests me I’m going to go all in. So you better believe I went home and I researched Lupus back and front. Next time I saw him I had even more questions/facts and a couple of things he didn’t even know himself. Even today after being with him for 4 years now I still pride myself on staying up to date on things concerning Lupus. I’m always asking him new questions about him and how he’s progressing, researching new things and discoveries, willing to participate in walks, and help promote awareness whenever and wherever I can. While Lupus may not personally affect me it affects someone I love therefore I feel it is my responsibility as a wife and a friend to be supportive and knowledgeable throughout his journey. To let him know he is not alone.
So what is Lupus?
Lupus is a chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections attacks healthy tissue instead. In short your immune system attacks itself.
Lupus most commonly affects your:
Skin
Joints
Internal organs, like your kidneys and heart
Because of this Lupus can cause many different symptoms but the most common ones are:
Extreme fatigue that doesn't go away with rest
Joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in two or more joints
Fever over 100°F
Muscle pain
Hair loss
Skin sores and rashes (which may occur in a butterfly-shaped pattern across the cheeks and nose)
Nose or mouth sores (usually painless)
Skin rashes after sun exposure
a loss of appetite and weight loss
pain or swelling in joints and muscles
swelling in the legs or around the eyes
swollen glands, or lymph nodes
headaches & migraines
chest pain upon deep breathing
pale or purple fingers or toes from cold or stress (Raynaud’s phenomenon)
arthritis (Lupus.org)
Lupus is a complicated and unpredictable disease. You don’t know when symptoms will strike or how long a flare could last. Due to its complex nature, people sometimes call lupus the “disease of 1,000 faces” or “The Silent Killer.”
What are the types of lupus?
When people talk about lupus, they’re usually talking about systemic lupus. But there are four kinds of lupus:
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common form of lupus
Cutaneous lupus, a form of lupus that is limited to the skin
Drug-induced lupus, a lupus-like disease caused by certain prescription drugs
Neonatal lupus, a rare condition that affects infants of women who have lupus
SLE is the most familiar type of lupus. It is a systemic condition. This means it has an impact throughout the body. The symptoms can range from mild to severe.
It is more severe than other types of lupus, such as discoid lupus, because it can affect any of the body’s organs or organ systems. It can cause inflammation in the skin, joints, lungs, kidneys, blood, heart, or a combination of these.
This condition typically goes through cycles. At times of remission, the person will have no symptoms. During a flare-up, the disease is active, and symptoms appear.
What causes lupus?
No one knows what causes lupus — but lupus and other autoimmune diseases do run in families. Experts also think it may develop in response to certain hormones (like estrogen) or environmental triggers. An environmental trigger is something outside the body that can bring on symptoms of lupus — or make them worse.
Lupus is not contagious—you can’t “catch” lupus or give it to someone else.
Who is at risk for developing lupus?
Anyone can develop lupus. But certain people are at higher risk for lupus, including:
Women ages 15 to 44
Certain racial or ethnic groups — including people who are African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander
People who have a family member with lupus or another autoimmune disease (Lupus.org)
This is what kind of makes me a little angry for most people if they do know what Lupus is it's because they generally know an older woman with it or they will literally ask isn't that a women's disease. Now while it does affect women more from what research says I am starting to see more and more young men who have lupus. My husband was diagnosed at 18 after multiple tests and struggles of trying to find out exactly what it was he had because lupus can just about mimic anything.
So while the Lupus Community caters a lot to older women I’m hoping that as time goes on it will become more inclusive to all. Because in the end they all are Warriors. They are all fighting a Silent fight with a disease that has no cure. While there are treatments that help improve the quality of life and minimize flare-ups. They wake up every day like you and me and carry on with their lives, you may seem them at the grocery store, the gym, at work and not even know these people day in and day out deal with such a disease.
That is why it is extremely important to help bring awareness to this cause. May is Lupus awareness month and this Friday is Wear purple for Lupus Day, Will you participate? Feel free to tag me in any photos of you wearing purple on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook doesn’t matter. You can even leave a photo in the comments or shoot me an email. Regardless, the support is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time out of your day to learn a little about Lupus.