Lupus, also known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease characterized by global (systemic) damage caused by the body’s own immune system attacking it. The joints, liver, kidney, heart, and brain are worst affected.Lupus is most easily recognized by the characteristic “butterfly rash” that spreads across the cheeks and nose. However, not everyone who has lupus exhibits this particular symptom. Joint pain and swelling, inflammation, fatigue, kidney problems, and photosensitivity (sensitivity to the sun) are other common symptoms .
No one is sure why people get lupus. The evidence indicates that a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental trigger interact to cause the disease. Women are nine times more likely to develop the disease than men. Most patients are between the ages of twenty and forty at the onset of the disease, although both children and the elderly, can, on rare occasions, also get lupus.
A diagnosis of lupus was once tantamount to a death sentence. However, advances in treatment methods have made it possible for many people with lupus to live relatively normal lives. With proper treatment, symptoms can usually be managed and the organs protected from severe damage.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS), is, like lupus, an autoimmune disease. However, in lupus, the damage is more general. MS is a condition which specifically targets the olygodendrocytes. The olygodendrocytes are cells found throughout the nervous system that make and maintain the myelin sheath. Myelin is a fatty layer found on the outside of neurons that acts as a kind of insulation, allowing them to function properly. MS causes this protective sheath to be stripped away. As a result, the symptoms of MS are all neurological, and differ depending on the location of the damage.
Common symptoms of MS include impaired coordination, loss of muscular control, fatigue, inflammation, headaches, problems with sensory input (the signals from the various sensory organs do not reach the brain), and various psychological and cognitive problems, including depression and memory loss.
Like lupus, MS is more prevalent in young women. It appears to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental effects. It is chronic, and, like lupus, includes periods of remission. During these periods, myelin is built up again, and symptoms subside. However, the continuous process of demylenation and remylenation causes scarring to build up, and gradually, symptoms become increasingly severe.
Overlap
Lupus and MS are both autoimmune diseases. They both have an onset in early adulthood. Both affect women more often than men, although the ratio is not quite as steeply skewed in the case of MS. It is theorized that in both lupus and MS, genetic vulnerability is paired with environmental trauma to bring about the condition. They are both chronic conditions, requiring life-long treatment. Both are characterized by a pattern of sickness interspersed with remission.
Lupus and MS have many symptoms in common. Both are characterized by extreme fatigue, inflammation, headaches, and muscle stiffness. Both can result in changes in thinking and feeling such as disordered thinking, poor memory, and depression.
How To Know Which You Have
Because of the many symptoms in common, many people with both lupus and MS are initially misdiagnosed. Seeing a specialist is crucial in finding the right diagnosis.
For MS, an MRI can be used to find plaques in the brain and spinal cord. For lupus, an antinuclear antibody test (ANA) can often be a good diagnostic tool. Unfortunately, neither of these tests are conclusive, and an accurate symptom history is usually the best way to arrive at the correct diagnosis.
Treatments
In both lupus and MS, the goal of treatment is to alleviate symptoms and try to limit organ damage. This is accomplished in very different ways, however. With MS, interferons, immunosuppressants, and immunomodulators are most common. These drugs help regulate the activity of the immunesystem.
When treating lupus, the most common medications are corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and antimalarials. They are all effective, to some degree, in managing the condition. Unfortunately, adverse side-effects are common and build-up over time. Starting a healthy diet has been shown to improve condition in lupus sufferers.
http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/44/4/434
http://www.msakc.org/Articles/MSFibroLupus.htm
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/multiplesclerosis.html
Wow – these are 2 conditions that I’ve never fully understood. I didn’t realize how closely related they were. It’s good to have this basic understanding, as I am in the more likely age and gender bracket. Thanks for the info!
I’m suffering from what I understand is an auto-immune disease of some sort. Initially it was presumed lupus due to my ANA 1:640, speckled pattern, abnormal SED rate, rashes, relentless pain in my back, buttocks, legs, feet, arms, hands, face, fingers deep into the bones and muscle weakness. It is still unknown as to whether lupus is the culprit but until a determination can be made, I need relief from pain.
I was on Baclofen for a few months for which I was ecstatic as it allowed me to work and reduced bladder leakage. I was not completely pain free after a long hard day, but there was significant improvement with overall pain control and my ability to do things. I did suffer an unusual amount of migraines while on the medication which was also debilitating, but w/pain relief and rest these would eventually subside. Unfortunately, I was taken off this medication as a severe rash erupted and the physicians thought it was a reaction to the medication. Since taking Baclofen, muscles in my legs are weaker than ever and I’ve not had a single day of pain relief in months. I believe my back is over-compensating to move my body.
Pain is to the point I’m unable to work, care for my children, maintain a home, eat properly, participate in physical activities or even enjoy life. Pain is such a problem it’s interfering with basic necessities like bathing regularly. It seems I’m caught in a never-ending vicious cycle with no relief in sight. The pain is so bad I’m unable to focus on anything else. It’s making me unkindly irritable, isolated, useless and hopeless about the future.
Can anyone make any recommendations in the Houston Texas area of physicians willing to assess my situation further? Please, I’m at the end of my rope. Thank you.
My hope is that you can get a doctor to prescribe LOW DOSE NALTREXONE for you. Get onto lowdosenaltrexon.org website and read the stories!!! You’ll be relieved you did. If your doctor can get you the LDN, I have a feeling you’ll be pain free!