Symptoms of Lupus

From the Lupus Foundation of America

(this list in not all of the symptoms, every person with lupus has different symptoms)

Although lupus can affect any part of the body, most people experience symptoms in only a few organs. The most common symptoms of people with lupus are listed below. Occurrences of particular symptoms happening are listed as percentages.

Achy joints / arthralgia (95 percent)
Fever of more than 100 degrees F / 38 degrees C (90 percent)
Arthritis / swollen joints (90 percent)
Prolonged or extreme fatigue (81 percent)
Skin Rashes (74 percent)
Anemia (71 percent)
Kidney Involvement (50 percent)
Pain in the chest on deep breathing / pleurisy (45 percent)
Butterfly-shaped rash across the cheeks and nose (42 percent)
Sun or light sensitivity / photosensitivity (30 percent)
Hair loss (27 percent)
Abnormal blood clotting problems (20 percent)
Raynaud's phenomenon / fingers turning white and/or blue in the cold (17 percent)
Seizures (15 percent)
Mouth or nose ulcers (12 percent)
If you have several of these symptoms, see your doctor right away.

Mine are: achy joints, arthritis, fatigue, skin rashes, kidney involvement, chest pain, butterfly rash (but it's not a yellow butterfly...sigh), sun sensitivity (in fact..I will almost faint after exposure to the sun), hair loss big time, mouth and nose ulcers..plus it affects the bipolar during some of the flairs like this one. I have warnings that the flairs are coming. I have bowel changes, pains in my abdomen that don't connect with any organ, itchy finger joints that you can't scratch, and am extremely tired and can't seem to wake up. Within a couple of days to a week, the lupus flair is upon me. I am taking an immunosuppressant medication that lowers my immune system so that it won't attack my body, and it has helped. Thank you Jacki!