Having lupus sometimes feels like being a sergeant in the Army. Having to be strategic, strong, determined and always trying to win a war by facing many battles. Some battles I have won and some battles I have lost. My journey started when I was 17 and before my diagnosis in 2000 I had never heard of Lupus or had any comprehension of how much my life would change because of it.
Angie's Story
This may or may not have been the start of my Lupus but it certainly was the start of me having ‘classic ‘ recognisable Lupus symptoms.
I woke one morning feeling as if I had the world’s worst case of flu. I was very fit (ex WRAF Officer) and healthy, rarely ill, certainly never been in hospital and never complained when I had minor ailments, so there was a clue of how ill I was in the fact I absolutely insisted upon going to the doctor.
Charlotte's story
I first heard of Lupus in 2016 when my GP told me that my blood test results indicated SLE (systemic erythematosus lupus). However, like many, my symptoms started years earlier.
During university I suffered with extreme tiredness, headaches, depression and frequent infections. I often felt completely out of my depth and unable to keep up with deadlines and a university social life.
Faye's Story
I was asked to write about what its like to be a Mum when you have a chronic illness. I thought about it for ages and had so many thoughts, I really didn't know where to start! In the end I decided the best thing to do is to be honest. So here is my most honest post to date. And most definitely the longest! Yeah, sorry about that.
Julie's Story
Mandi's Story
I was first diagnosed with discoid lupus in my early 20's when I got a scaly patch on the top of my nose by my eye. I was referred to Lyle Street where the dermatologist saw that it was a discoid patch. After loads of blood tests and biopsies this was confirmed. At the time it was very scary as the information available was very old and didn't really relate to my condition as it was mostly all about SLE. I was treated with steroid creams and not much else for a long time.
Matt's story
I suddenly became very ill, I knew there was something wrong with me when I kept waking up in lots of pain and coughing up blood. I kept calling my mum at work because I was so worried that I couldn't breathe. My mum told me to get a paper bag and take big breaths slowly in and out, but it didn't work.
Mayuri's Story
My name is Mayuri Patel , I am just one of the many people in the UK who suffers from Lupus. I was just an average child until something happened to me which changed my life. I was diagnosed with having Lupus. It was an illness which was dormant but triggered when I became ill. A disease which was hard to understand and live with, but treatable. An illness that could be fatal, and if not kept under control, never ending. From that day on, I knew nothing would be the same.
Meredith's poem "Overcoming"
Ndumiso’s story
My mother passed away in September 2005 and my father in November 2005 with my 15th birthday and my brother's 13th birthday falling slap-bang in the middle. Fortunately for my brother, he was able to stay with another family after the unfortunate losses suffered. I on the other hand did not deal with their loss in the most conducive manner and as a result of not processing my grief, my Lupus was triggered, in December 2007 I was placed on kidney dialysis and my life changed forever.
Nicola's Story
I woke up one July morning in 2004 with what seemed like a migraine that resulted in me taking a day off work. The following morning I woke with what seemed like flu like symptoms. Leading up to this I begun to feel very tired, I had noticed weight loss and that my eyes were very sensitive to the sun. Subsequently, I went to my GP as I had noticed a large gland in my groin, pains in my legs right down to me feet and toes, high temperature and night fever; I was having difficulty in walking very far and was extremely fatigued, my stomach area was tender to touch.
Nikki's story
I am Nikki, aged 32. Crafter extraordinaire, lover of percy pigs, big foodie, doctor and 8 years into my lupus diagnosis. Basically, I’m learning to live my life despite lupus.
My story started during my first year as a junior doctor. I had graduated about 8 months previously and was working all sorts of different shifts and my body was just exhausted.
Rebekah’s Story
I’m going to start with how I was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). I started having sore pains in my shoulder in October 2014, I was still in my final year at high school doing GCSEs. My mum had phoned my GP asking for some blood tests to try to pinpoint what could have been wrong. They all came back normal, apart from one that had come back showing inflammation, but they couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
Sofia's Story
Vanisha's Story
My name is Vanisha, I am a 30 year old optometrist living in London diagnosed with SLE lupus in 2018. Never in my wildest dreams did I think at 25 I would be on lifetime medication and taking daily pills to survive. I had no idea what lupus was apart from the little I learnt about it in a lecture at university.
