Healthy Living

Lupus: What It Means to Live With an Invisible Disease

Flares can be unexpected

Invisible diseases can have a flare-up of symptoms, in lupus, this is usually referred to as a lupus flare. In a lupus flare, a patient can experience symptoms for a relatively long period of time. Although there are many different ways to minimize lupus flares, they cannot always be prevented. The health of a patient is likely to decline when flares manifest.

The unpredictable nature of these illnesses may result in both guilt and fatigue. For instance, an individual may appear healthy on the first day of work. But then, he or she could be forced to take a leave of absence to deal with the disease.