My lower legs currently are covered with red spots. It has been so hot that I’ve been wearing capri pants every day. The result is that my legs have gotten more sun exposure than usual. But instead of a nice golden tan, I have red spots. With lupus, I…
Learning to Live with Lupus — Darla Gay
Darla, who lives in Arkansas, was diagnosed with lupus in 2015. As she grows into her new normal, she created this column to help others with lupus know they are not alone. She writes about hunting down the root causes to her symptoms and side effects.
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On a recent morning, I was lying in bed checking my emails. There was one from the hospital with test results from my last visit. A few days earlier, I had tried a new medication and landed in the emergency room. It turned out to be a bad reaction to…
I’ve been collecting kitchen gadgets for the past few years: The largest food processor available. A heavy-duty stand mixer. Pampered Chef’s Rockcrok slow cooker. So you know I jumped on the pressure cooker craze, even before the Instant Pot became a thing. Now I have two of them: a…
I woke up this morning with a lot of things that needed to be done. By 2 p.m., only one thing had been checked off the list and I was sound asleep. The old me — the one before lupus came into my life — would never have stopped…
Sometimes when people learn that I have lupus, they tell me about someone they know who was cured by taking a “magic potion.” Multilevel marketing companies are the worst — whatever disease you happen to have, their product will cure it. We’ve all heard an anecdote about…
I’m going to see a new doctor in a few days. This time, it’s for my eyes. I wasn’t born with good eyes, and it’s just gotten worse over the years. I got my first pair of glasses when I was 10 years old. As a teenager, my vision started…
My insurance company changed my Benlysta (belimumab) prescription to a new pharmacy this week. So, I had to answer all of their new patient questions. First, we worked through the important stuff such as my name, address, and how I wanted to settle my copayment. For those…
I am not a natural-born exerciser. No one in my family is athletic. There were no evening walks and no one played sports. We didn’t run unless we were being chased. When I was first diagnosed with lupus, my rheumatologist told me I needed to walk half an hour…
People who have dealt with lupus for any length of time know that it is an autoimmune disease. This means that your immune system can’t tell the difference between good and bad cells, so it attacks everything in sight. It leaves you with an overworked immune system, which…
When you have lupus, every single day brings on more stress. There are endless doctor visits and blood tests. You have to deal with brain fog. You have to remember to take your medicine at the right time. Plus, everyday tasks like getting out of bed and taking…
Readers who are familiar with William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” will know that belladonna is a poison. So what does that have to do with potatoes? Everything — and nothing. Both white potatoes and belladonna are from the Solanaceae family, commonly known as nightshades. Red potatoes are also in…
Following your lupus diagnosis, visits to doctor’s offices begin to multiply. Sometimes I’ll have consultations with three different doctors in the same week. If they order tests, it means even more appointments. Having spent all of this time in medical clinics, I have learned that if I come…
Recent Posts
- Galápagos’ oral therapy for lupus fails to meet key trial objective
- What I learned about navigating travel anxiety with lupus
- To my ‘forever nurse,’ who finally gave me my diagnosis of lupus
- New analyses show Benlysta may aid flare control, kidney health
- Can art therapy help lupus patients improve cognitive function?
