Do People with Lupus Have Any Other Health Conditions?
Reaching a diagnosis is not always clear cut! Especially when you are living with multiple chronic conditions. Coupled with the daily stressors of finding ‘time’ to understand what you are actually feeling, while also trying to live your life can have its challenges.
It is always helpful to consider other possible symptoms, and recognize how long they occur, and the timeline that you first noticed experiencing them.
-Lawrence (Lupus.net Team)
Lupus can take several years to diagnose, and other conditions might be found during the diagnosis process. People with lupus often also have complications and comorbidities such as heart disease, metabolic syndrome, infections, fibromyalgia, cancer, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, blood clotting conditions, and other autoimmune diseases.
It’s important to remember that not everybody with lupus will have the same diagnosis journey or complications.
-Sam, Lupus.net Team
Very true. Thanks for this! Taking notes in a journal or on medical apps on your phone have been helpful to me in the past when dealing with doctors. Noticing patterns are key. Plus any information as the patient will prove to be helpful to your medical team, since they are sadly not psychic.
Yes, people with lupus often develop other conditions. For me, it is probably one of the more frustrating components of the condition. Because lupus causes the immune system to attack any portion of the body, I have never been surprised when i develop a new condition. In addition to the lupus related conditions, I develop conditions as a result of medication. Right now, I have 5 other autoimmune conditions and one rheumatic condition. So I try and laugh when a new nurse or doctor looks at my chart. I smile when some asks me to name my medications. Several doctors have told me not to be worried about the number of medications that I am taking because they are keeping me alive. I stop worrying about the medication and just try and concentrate on finding a way to tackle each condition one by one.
Rome wasn't built in a day but it was eventually built. I try not to look at each condition as a whole. That makes me stressed. Tackle each condition and figure out how to tackle it one at a time.
Warmest regards,
Chris Lupus.net Team Member
