Balancing Life with Lupus

Many patients end up falling into mild or moderate lupus categories, rather than severe lupus categories. If you have lupus, it’s important that you fully understand the disease by doing your research and asking tough questions. According to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), doctors treat lupus using a wide variety of medicines, ranging in strength from mild to extremely strong and it can take months — and sometimes years — before your doctor finds just the right combination of medicines to keep your lupus symptoms under control. So it’s important that your doctor develops a treatment plan based on your age, symptoms, general health and lifestyle. Your primary care doctor may not be an expert in lupus, so you may want to get second opinion or seek out a lupus specialist. A rheumatologist (a doctor who specializes in diseases of the joints and muscles) generally treats patients with lupus. “There is a learning curve on both sides,” Dr. Askanase told dailyRx News. “The rheumatologist needs to learn the expected course of the disease for that individual. The patient needs to learn more about the disease and the options.”