Can you have lupus for years and not know it?

Lupus symptoms can also be unclear, can come and go, and can change. On average, it takes nearly six years for people with lupus to be diagnosed, from the time they first notice their lupus symptoms.
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Can you live with lupus and not know it?

Many people with lupus do not receive a diagnosis straight away because it can mimic other conditions, including fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and various others that affect the same organ systems. Virtually any symptom of illness or inflammation can signal lupus.
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Can you have mild lupus and not know it?

Symptoms range from mild to severe, and many people will have long periods with few or no symptoms before experiencing a sudden flare-up, where their symptoms are particularly severe. Even mild cases can be distressing and have a considerable impact on a person's quality of life.
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Can you have late onset lupus?

Although the age of onset of lupus is typically between 15 and 44 years old,1 up to 25% of people diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have late-onset lupus. Lupus is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 16 and 55, and is more common in women and in African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians.
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Can lupus be missed?

That is very different for people who don't have well-controlled lupus, especially if they have internal organ involvement,” she adds. A misdiagnosis may signal something else too. “Patients who have milder symptoms, especially in this country, are the ones who are more likely to have their lupus misdiagnosed,” Dr.
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Living with Lupus



What is misdiagnosed lupus?

Other skin conditions that sometimes mimic the skin problems of lupus include melasma, psoriasis, eczema (atopic dermatitis), and facial seborrheic dermatitis. A dermatologist can diagnose these skin conditions.
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Does lupus show up in blood work?

No one test can diagnose lupus. The combination of blood and urine tests, signs and symptoms, and physical examination findings leads to the diagnosis.
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Can you get lupus at 63 years old?

Women of child-bearing age are most often affected; however, approximately 10-20% of cases occur in older patients. Elderly-onset lupus has been defined in various studies as onset of lupus after age 50-65 years.
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How long does it take to develop lupus?

Lupus symptoms can also be unclear, can come and go, and can change. On average, it takes nearly six years for people with lupus to be diagnosed, from the time they first notice their lupus symptoms.
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What were your first signs of lupus?

Fatigue, fever, joint pain and weight changes are usually the first signs of lupus. Some adults may have a period of SLE symptoms known as flares, which may occur frequently, sometimes even years apart and resolve at other times—called remission. Other symptoms include: Sun sensitivity.
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What are the top 5 signs of lupus?

Lupus facial rash
  • Fatigue.
  • Fever.
  • Joint pain, stiffness and swelling.
  • Butterfly-shaped rash on the face that covers the cheeks and bridge of the nose or rashes elsewhere on the body.
  • Skin lesions that appear or worsen with sun exposure.
  • Fingers and toes that turn white or blue when exposed to cold or during stressful periods.
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What are the top 10 signs of lupus?

Top 10 Most Common Lupus Symptoms Include:
  • Achy or swollen joints (arthralgia)
  • Unexplained fever (more than 100° F)
  • Swollen joints (arthritis)
  • Prolonged or extreme fatigue.
  • Skin rash, including a butterfly-shaped rash across the cheeks and nose.
  • Pain in the chest when breathing deeply (pleurisy)
  • Hair loss.
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What it feels like to have lupus?

When your lupus is active, symptoms like joint stiffness, pain, fatigue, confusion, or depression can make simple tasks difficult — and sometimes impossible. Since these symptoms aren't visible, the people around you may have trouble understanding how you feel.
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How long can you live with lupus untreated?

Before lupus treatments were available, the five-year survival rate for people with lupus was less than 50%. However, these studies did not measure the lifespan of the other 50% who survived beyond the five-year mark. There are many people living with lupus 10 to 40 years after diagnosis.
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Do you sweat a lot with lupus?

Excessive sweating, overheating, hot flashes, and extreme changes in body temperature are common symptoms of lupus — and especially so in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE is the most common type of lupus, affecting around 70 percent of the estimated 1.5 million people with lupus in the United States.
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Does lupus change your appearance?

Most often, symptoms will develop on your face, ears or scalp. However, you can develop symptoms on other parts of your body too. This condition can sometimes cause scarring and discolorations on your skin (skin can turn darker or lighter).
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Do I have lupus checklist?

Common signs and symptoms of lupus

Extreme fatigue (feeling tired all the time) Pain or swelling in the joints. Swelling in the hands, feet, or around the eyes. Headaches.
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Does lupus cause weight gain?

Muscle pain — Muscle pain or tenderness is common in people with lupus; rarely, some people also notice muscle weakness. Weight changes — Lupus can sometimes cause weight loss or weight gain.
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Can you have lupus without the butterfly rash?

Is a butterfly rash a definite indicator of lupus or can you have a butterfly rash and not have lupus? While the butterfly rash (also called a malar rash or lupus rash) is one of the most commonly known symptoms people associate with lupus, it does not need to be present to be diagnosed with lupus.
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Why do doctors not diagnose lupus?

No two cases of lupus are exactly the same. People experience different symptoms, ranges of severity, organ involvement, and physiological responses to stress. This makes it difficult to recognize. Sometimes called the “great imitator,” lupus can look like many other conditions depending on its symptoms.
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What is borderline lupus mean?

Borderline lupus, which can also be known as unspecified connective tissue disease, or probable lupus, or latent lupus, would define a patient who may have a positive ANA without a DNA or Smith antibody (blood tests used to diagnose lupus), who has arthralgias rather than arthritis, a brain fog or memory loss, and no ...
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What labs are abnormal with lupus?

Complete Blood Count (CBC)

CBC provides information about the red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), and platelet counts, and health of RBCs, all of which may be abnormal in lupus and may need treatment. Common issues are: Low RBC (hematocrit, hemoglobin). A normal hematocrit is 35-40%, hemoglobin 11.5-15.0.
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How do rheumatologists diagnose lupus?

The rheumatologist will take a thorough history of your symptoms and do a physical exam looking for the signs and symptoms of lupus. They will also run blood tests to check for indications of lupus. The first blood test a rheumatologist will conduct to check for lupus is called an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.
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Is dry eyes a symptom of lupus?

Lupus can damage tear glands, tear ducts, and the mucosal tissues that help lubricate the eye. This can lead to a condition called keratoconjunctivitis sicca , also known as dry eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome causes a persistent gritty sensation in the eye or under the eyelid.
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