As many as 1 in 5 people with lupus have peripheral neuropathy, which is widespread pain caused by nerve damage. You may also feel numbness or tingling. Parts of your body may become weak, or you may have trouble moving them. Your doctor may recommend treating it with steroids and immune-suppressing drugs.
Lupus can also cause other problems in the abdomen, including peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal lining) and ascites (a build-up of fluids in the abdomen). Symptoms of peritonitis and ascites include: Abdominal pain and swelling. Nausea and vomiting.
David Baek, DPM, a podiatrist who specializes in wound care at Shady Grove Podiatry in Gaithersburg, MD, sees many people with lupus or other autoimmune diseases. Their most common symptoms, he says, are swelling and pain from arthritis in the foot and ankle. The second most common complication is Raynaud's.
Lupus involves periodic flare-ups, in which symptoms intensify, and remission, in which symptoms lessen or disappear. The most common symptoms include fatigue, painful and swollen joints, skin rashes—most notably, a butterfly-shaped rash across the face—unexplained fever, and mouth or nose ulcers.
Fatigue or extreme tiredness
The most common symptom of lupus is fatigue, which means feeling extremely tired. Fatigue can affect a person's physical and mental health and quality of life. It can also make it hard for people with lupus to socially connect with others.
The most common type of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), can cause dry, coarse hair to develop along the hairline. These dry, coarse hairs break off easily, causing the sparse-looking hair known as lupus hair. Other types of hair loss also develop.
People with lupus often have to take steroids for long periods of time, which can lead to weight gain. Lupus can also cause arthritis, muscle pain, and severe fatigue. These symptoms limit people's ability to keep physically active, which can also contribute to weight gain.
One person with lupus may experience malar rashes, kidney involvement, and memory loss, while another can have seizures, pleurisy, or hair loss. Though any of these symptoms could be a manifestation of lupus, they also could signal another, problem.
Lupus psychosis is a distinct immunologically driven psychosis occurring in patients with SLE after excluding primary psychotic disorder, substance- or drug-induced psychotic disorder, metabolic conditions or psychological mediated reactions to SLE [2].
The most common manifestations of neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE), after excluding the non-lupus specific symptoms of headache, anxiety, mild mood disorder, mild cognitive impairment (“brain fog,” or mild memory problems), and mild neuropathy include: stroke. seizures. sudden confusion and/or psychosis.
Lidocaine or capsaicin may help ease neuropathic pain. You can apply these creams, ointments or patches directly to the affected areas. Nerve blocks. These injections can provide temporary pain relief.
Lupus Symptom: Raynaud's
Their fingers and toes become painful, numb, and tingly in response to cold temperatures or emotional stress. This happens when small blood vessels spasm and restrict blood flow to the area. During an attack, the fingers and toes may turn white or blue.
People with lupus can develop red ulcers on the lips, the tongue, and the inside of the mouth. A white halo surrounds these ulcers, and they may or may not cause irritation. Those experiencing a “flare-up” can develop ulcers quite quickly.
Foods that seem to trigger a flare vary greatly from person to person. So a food that causes problems for one person may have no effect on you. Some foods that have been said to make lupus worse include nightshade vegetables, and animal protein. Nightshade vegetables include potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.
A low white blood cell or platelet count may occur in lupus as well. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate. This blood test determines the rate at which red blood cells settle to the bottom of a tube in an hour. A faster than normal rate may indicate a systemic disease, such as lupus.
People living with lupus may experience various types of headaches for different reasons. Some of these may include: Migraine: This is a type of moderate to severe headache that may feel like a throbbing pain on one side of the head.