Lupus may affect the whole body, including the neurological system. According to research, up to 90 percent of people with lupus experience symptoms involving their brain, spinal cord, or nerves. It’s known as neuropsychiatric lupus.
When a person has lupus, the brain is just as susceptible to the illness as any other body area.
It’s difficult to tell if your nervous system problems are caused by lupus or anything else. This article covers what you should look for.
Signs that Lupus May Be Affecting Your Brain
The following symptoms are signs that lupus may be affecting your brain:
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- Difficulties with cognition (trouble thinking, remembering, and concentrating)
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Stroke
- Depression
- Spinal cord inflammation
Lupus might also affect your peripheral nervous system. These are the nerves that travel throughout your body, controlling your organs and limbs.
In these cases, you might experience:
- Numbness, weakness, or pain
- Loss of vision
- Dizziness
- Intense ringing in the ears
- Digestive issues
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How Does Lupus Affect the Nervous System?
Doctors don’t know what causes lupus. It’s an autoimmune illness, which means your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissue by mistake.
Lupus illness causes the production of proteins and antibodies that induce inflammation in the brain and surrounding nerves. They may also damage your blood arteries, making it more difficult to supply oxygen to your brain and increasing the likelihood of blood clots.
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It is unclear why some people with lupus have nervous system difficulties while others do not. They do, however, emerge when the illness is active, and you are experiencing symptoms in other regions of your body.
How Is Neuropsychiatric Lupus Diagnosed?
A diagnosis of neuropsychiatric lupus might be difficult to establish. A variety of factors, including medication, may cause symptoms such as discomfort and memory issues.
Your doctor may order tests to rule out an infection or other medical issues.
Your doctor might perform the following:
- Examinations of the blood
- CT scans and MRIs
- Nerve conduction studies
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What Is the Treatment for Neuropsychiatric Lupus?
There is no particular therapy for lupus-related nervous system issues. In general, doctors will aim to keep your condition under control and treat your symptoms individually.
If you have an active lupus flare, you will most likely be given steroids or other anti-inflammatory medications and treatments that manage your immune system.
Here’s how to deal with some of the most common nervous system issues associated with lupus:
Problems with Cognition
Lupus patients often struggle with thinking, memory, and attention. It is sometimes referred to as “brain fog.” It might be brought on by the illness itself or as a consequence of other symptoms, such as lack of sleep.
Consult your doctor to see if there is a medical explanation for your cognitive issues.
If not, you can acquire coping mechanisms. Here are some pointers:
- Make a note of vital information.
- Concentrate on one thing at a time.
- Allow yourself more time to prepare and perform tasks.
- Consider seeing a therapist or joining a support group.
Headache
Lupus patients often have headaches. However, whether the condition itself causes them is debatable.
For a long time, doctors thought there was a distinct kind of “lupus headache” that was excruciatingly painful, lasted a long time, and did not improve with narcotic pain medicines.
However, researchers have shown that only a tiny percentage of people with lupus get this kind of headache. And there seems to be no link to the lupus disease process or the drugs used to treat lupus.
While individuals with lupus have migraines, tension headaches, and other types of headaches, it does not seem to happen any more often than those without lupus.
Consult your doctor about whether medications or lifestyle changes could be beneficial.
Seizures
The brain damage caused by lupus may result in uncontrolled muscular movements, moments of bewilderment, or loss of consciousness. Your doctor may use steroids or anticonvulsant drugs to attempt to manage your seizures.
Stroke
A stroke is a medical emergency that requires rapid medical attention. Get immediate assistance if you have the following:
- A severe headache
- Numbness, weakness, or paralysis, especially on one side of the body
- Difficulty seeing, speaking or walking
If your doctor believes your lupus puts you at risk for blood clots that may lead to a stroke, they may prescribe a blood thinner.
Widespread Discomfort
Peripheral neuropathy, or widespread discomfort caused by nerve degeneration, affects up to one in every five patients with lupus. You can also experience numbness or tingling. Parts of your body may become weakened or difficult to move.
Your doctor may advise you to take steroids and immunosuppressants. However, there isn’t enough evidence to indicate that they work. Pain relievers, antidepressants, and anti-seizure medications such as gabapentin and pregabalin may also be considered.
Fibromyalgia
Lupus patients are more prone to suffer from fibromyalgia, another painful illness. Doctors aren’t sure what causes it, but they believe it’s an issue with how your brain perceives pain.
It has several symptoms with peripheral neuropathy, such as pain, numbness, and tingling. You may also be very weary and have difficulty sleeping.
Anti-seizure medication and antidepressants, as well as lifestyle adjustments, may be beneficial.
Take Precautions to Safeguard Your Nervous System
Lupus brain fog and other nervous system issues may make daily living difficult. But you’re not alone; cognitive therapists can help you learn to live with lupus brain fog.
You may also attempt the following techniques to alleviate lupus fog in your daily life:
- Focus on one task at a time
- Try repeating someone’s name or a crucial piece of information out loud and writing it down.
- Maintain a calendar to keep track of appointments and reminders.
Summary
Anything affecting the brain may be frightening, and the initial instinct may be to ignore the symptoms and wish them gone.
While this first reaction is normal, it does not assist in alleviating the symptoms and, in the long run, delays treatment.
Paying careful attention to new and existing symptoms, being proactive, and being willing to recognize and confront changes in health help healthcare practitioners handle the situation swiftly and effectively.
While brain science is still in its infancy, more research is being conducted daily to better understand the complicated process of lupus and how it affects the brain.
