The symptoms of lupus
Lupus is a disease with different faces for different cases. Its name was given by doctors that considered the rash it causes, similar to the bite of a wolf. But there are no identical cases or signs of lupus: they vary in intensity, severity or persistence.
The only common features of the majority of cases are the flares, which are the expression of a worsening of systems, followed by a period of symptoms disappearance.
Lupus cases have frequently in common one or more of the next signs and symptoms:
- * Problems of the kidneys as a result of the damage produced by lupus on these organs: many types of glomerulonephritis, which reduce the capacity of the kidneys to filter toxins and eventually generate their failure. These problems are usually symptomless, but in some particular cases, the patients may have inflammations of their ankles or legs, hypertension, frothy or tea – colored urine.
- * Problems of the central nervous system or the brain that go from headaches, dizziness and vision problems to seizures, behavioral fluctuations and even stroke. All these problems are caused by lupus.
- * Photosensitivity is a characteristic of almost all people with lupus, because sunlight worsens their symptoms and causes serious rashes in case their skin is exposed to it. The same effect can also be produced by artificial light, in particular halogen or fluorescent lights.
- * Rash is encountered in about 33 % of lupus cases. Its most common form is represented by the malar rash that starts from the nasal bridge and extends over the cheeks in a butterfly-like shape. There are 2 types of malar rash: flat or raised. The skin may be completely red and in most of the cases, it presents lesions; they develop in 2 different ways: some of them are small in the beginning and become itchy and scaling, while the others are large, flat and itchy with defined centers. What they have in common is the fact that they are generated by the light of the sun. There is also another main type of rash, the discoid rash. The characteristics of the discoid rash are: the indefinite duration (it may equally persist for days or for more than one year), it leaves scares that may be hyper or hypo-pigmented, it is crusty, red and raised and it may represent the only symptom for people with discoid lupus erythematosus .There are cases in which discoid lupus evolves into an easy form of systemic lupus erythematosus.
- * Arthritis that accompanies lupus produces articular pain, rigidity and inflammation of the hands, fingers, knees and wrists. The pain it causes may affect one or more articulations and may sometimes have a symmetric character. This arthritis has not a deforming nature, but it causes almost unbearable pain during a relapse.
- * Blood vessels problems that produce abnormalities in the blood circulation. When they become inflamed, the blood flow is affected. The inflammation varies in intensity with every case.
- * Problems of the lungs. Pleurisy, lupus pneumonia and pleural effusion are the major kinds of diseases that may be generated by lupus. Pleurisy's symptoms make the patient feel a strong pain in the chest as if he or she was stabbed; this disease represents a chest cavity coating inflammation. Lupus pneumonia is caused by the inflammation of the lungs themselves. Pleural effusion appears when the pleural space accumulates excessive fluids.
- * Mucosal ulcers produce no pain in most of the cases. They are sometimes caused by lupus and represent sores appeared on the mouth's roof or in isolated cases inside the nose. This condition only announces its presence in case the patient eats foods rich in spices; another symptom is represented by repeated bleedings of the nose.
- * Problems of the heart, which may appear in all three parts of this vital organ: the pericardium (the external cover of the heart), the muscle of the heart called myocardium and the endocardium, the internal coating of the heart. The most common heart problem generated by lupus is pericarditis, the inflammation of the pericardium.
Other possible but non-characteristic lupus symptoms may be:
- * High body temperature. A chronic fever, usually around 37.8C may accompany the apparition of lupus and increases apparently out of nothing.
- * Inflammations of the glands, legs and even the area that surrounds the eyes.
- * Fatigue that comes with lupus is a persistent, permanent one. The patient feels terribly exhausted and not even sleep or rest make this state go away.
- * Raynaud's phenomenon involves a pale aspect and a numbness of the ears, nose, fingers and toes whenever the air temperature is low.
- * Depression is also experienced by some people affected by lupus. It is caused wither by the thought of the disease or by lupus itself; it is sometimes accompanied by the impossibility to focus on things.
- * The loss of hair is produced when the disease attacks the scalp.
- * Problems of digestion. Lupus may produce nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdomen and weight loss.