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There are a number of diseases out there that are easy to get confused with other conditions. Lupus is definitely one of them. There are so many conditions that mimic the symptoms of lupus. And lupus symptoms can vary really wildly based on what the lupus is affecting at the time.

That makes it tough to get a diagnosis, and thus tough to start getting treatment as soon as possible. So what exactly is lupus? How do you recognize the symptoms? And how do you get a lupus diagnosis?

What is Lupus?

Simply put, lupus is an autoimmune condition. And basically, an autoimmune condition is a condition where your immune system starts attacking your body. In a healthy immune system, your white blood cells produce something called antibodies that identify and attack foreign cells like bacteria and viruses. This keeps us alive in a world filled with the possibility of dangerous infection.

But when you have an autoimmune condition, this normally life-saving system begins to mix up your body’s own cells with foreign bacteria and begins attacking them. This causes the tissue in your body to get inflamed and damaged. In serious cases, it can even be deadly.

Is Lupus Dangerous?

Lupus attacks the cells all over your body, including your vital organs. Lupus can start thickening the veins and muscles of the heart with inflammation, which increases the risk of heart attacks or strokes. Lupus can also cause inflammation in the kidneys, which can eventually make them shut down.

Your kidneys play a vital role in filtering out toxins from your blood, so the loss of kidney function caused by lupus can be fatal. Though often it requires you to end up on frequent dialysis treatments.

Luckily, lupus is usually easy to treat with anti-inflammatory drugs, which means that few people who get lupus actually end up dying from it. So lupus isn’t that dangerous for most people if you can get treatment. But it does result in a lot of painful symptoms that can reduce your quality of life.

How Do You Recognize The Symptoms?

The symptoms of lupus can be pretty hard to distinguish from other chronic conditions like fibromyalgia. But there are a few symptoms that you should be on the look out for, even if they aren’t very distinctive.

To begin with, lupus often causes chronic fatigue and muscle aches. In addition, lupus can cause cognitive difficulties, making it hard to remember simple details. Then there’s the swollen joints, unexplained fever, and sensitivity to light. Finally, the most distinctive sign of lupus is a rash that might develop across your face or chest as lupus attacks your skin cells.

How Do You Get A Lupus Diagnosis?

How do you get a lupus diagnosis? Well, it can be tough. People often go years with the disease before they finally find out that they have lupus. That’s because of the fact that the symptoms are so similar to many other diseases. But there are a few criteria that doctors use when diagnosing lupus.

There’s the rash we mentioned, a sensitivity to light, mouth or nose ulcers, swollen joints, inflammation of the lining of the heart, seizures, kidney disorders, a low white blood cell count, immune system problems, and an elevated level of antibodies in the blood.

If you have at least four of those symptoms then you might have lupus. To actually get a lupus diagnosis, the doctor will want to test your blood with something called an ANA test.

ANA stands for Antinuclear Antibodies and in patients with lupus, the activity of the immune system leads to an increased number of them in the blood. So, a laboratory can test your blood to check if that’s the case for you. If it is, and you also have at least four of those eleven criteria, then your doctor will likely diagnose you with lupus. At that point, you can begin treatment.

Lupus is fairly easy to treat if caught early. That’s why getting a diagnosis in time is so important. So if you think that you might have these symptoms of lupus you should head to a doctor and let them know you think you might have lupus. They will want to discuss your symptoms with you and see if they might actually point to lupus. And after a simple test, you should have your answer.

So let us know, do you think you might have lupus? What are your symptoms? Have you been diagnosed with lupus before? How did your doctor know what to look for? Tell us in the comments.