What Is Lupus and What Is It Going to Do to Me

“What is Lupus or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?”

Those where my first words to the Doctor when they told me, I had Lupus. Or more specifically, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Still to this day I can not pronounce it properly. Perhaps, it is a mental block that I do not want to say the words.

OK, I had heard the bad news…now I wanted facts. Everything I could get my hands on. I left the doctors and headed straight for the library ( I didn’t have a computer then). Well, I read everything they had in that library, even the medical journals. I had a pretty good idea about what I was up against. That information is shared with you below.

But what I learned in the library, did not tell told me the real story, “The Real Truth About Lupus,” I didn’t learn that until I started talking to people on line about their experiences and what to really expect.

Lupus is the common name for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, which is also called SLE for short.

So, what is Lupus exactly?  Lupus is an autoimmune disease, which means that the body’s natural defense system (immune system) attacks its own tissues instead of attacking foreign substances like bacteria and viruses, etc. When this happens, inflammation is caused. In turn, inflammation causes swelling, pain, and tissue damage throughout the body. If you develop severe Systemic Lupus symptoms, you may also have problems with your kidneys, bones, heart, lungs, nervous system, or blood cells.

What is Lupus in Regards to Arthritis?

It is a relative of the Arthritis family. Where Arthritis affects mostly the bones and joints, Lupus is much broader and eventually fatal, in more severe cases.

Although many people with lupus have relatively mild symptoms, the disease is lifelong and can become very severe. Most people can control their symptoms and prevent severe damage to their organs. They do this by seeing their doctors often for checkups, getting enough rest and exercise, and eating the right foods and some taking medications.

This topic focuses on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), not the most common, yet the most serious type of Lupus.  For future references, there are four other types of Lupus:

1. Discoid or Cutaneous Lupus
2. Systemic Lupus, which is drug induced
3. Neonatal Lupus
4. Subacute Cutaneous Lupus.

I have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. I have had it most of my life. I was not diagnosed with it until Decenmber of 1995. All those years of being ill and being miss-diagnosed with other diseases, had taken it’s toll on my body and in the end, they gave me 7 years max to live, with the accelerated path SEL was taking. Do the math…I proved them wrong. You have to be a real fighter when it comes to Lupus.

In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, the body’s immune system produces antibodies against itself, particularly against proteins in the cell nucleus. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is triggered by environmental factors that are unknown. Some think that viruses are included in in that equation, making people with certain combinations of genes in their immune system, more vulnerable to Lupus.

In layman terms…your body attacks itself. It gets confused and instead of attacking the virus of a cold. It attacks your lungs that the virus has settled in. A cold can very easily turn in pneumonia, because when your body is attacking your lungs, the virus is too.

What is Lupus? Here is something you men can understand…there is no first line of defense with Lupus, The front line is your immune system.  Your immune system is over on the side line drinking Gator-Ade. The BLITZ is on, Lupus displays good offense and is on the attack…the quarterback gets hit hard, the ball is dropped. You lose possession of the ball and 10 yards.

Wikipedia has some great additional information on “What is Lupus.”

A Lupus-Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Survivor
~The Baby Boomer Queen~