When your symptoms intrude on your life, it's known as lupus flare.
Your symptoms may come and go.
You may have rashes and swelling one week, and the next week you may be fine.
You will probably find that your symptoms flare after a stressful day at work, or after you've been out in the sun for longer than you are accustomed to.
Even if you are on medications for lupus, you may see that your symptoms become worse at times.
You will learn to recognize when a flare is coming, and then you can take some steps that will help you cope with it.
Some symptoms that occur just before a lupus flare include dizziness, headaches, stomach discomfort, fever, rash, pain and fatigue.
There are steps you can take to hopefully prevent flares, including getting rest and quiet time, and limiting the time spent in sunlight.
To help deal with a lupus flare as it comes on: Develop a family and friend support system, including people you can feel at ease and comfortable with.
Exercise moderately, if you can.
Get plenty of quiet and rest.
Develop coping skills that can help slow down stress.
Maintain a healthy diet.
Limit your time in the sun.
Set realistic priorities and goals.
Talk to your doctor.
Learn to be able to tell when a flare is coming.
The scientific community doesn't know what causes lupus.
There isn't a cure, but you can usually manage lupus.
Flare ups make the disease difficult to deal with, but with help and support, you can make it through them.
Lupus oftentimes appears to run in families, so there may be something genetically that triggers the disease.
Symptoms may also be caused by certain medications, stress, sunlight and the environment.
Anyone can suffer from lupus.
Nine out of ten are women, and lupus is most common in women that are between the ages of fifteen and forty-four.
Researchers believe that the hormones in women might have something to due with the onset of lupus.
But older people, and men, can get lupus, too.
African-American women are three times as likely to get lupus as Caucasian women.
Additionally, women who are American Indian, Asian and Hispanic or Latino suffer more often from lupus.
Although it is not understood why, both Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans tend to get lupus at an earlier age, and they have more symptoms at the time they are diagnosed.
The lupus flare is typically more severe in these women, too.
African-Americans have more strokes and seizures, and Hispanic/Latinos usually have more serious heart issues.
Scientists don't know why some people have more symptoms than others.
If you suffer from lupus and face lupus flare on occasion, you're certainly not alone.
But there are many things about lupus that scientists don't understand yet.