Although medications are important for the treatment and control of lupus, there are many things you can do to support the treatment of your own disease. These include eating healthy, exercising and not smoking.
Treatment of Disease Exacerbation:
Lupus is a condition in which the disease progresses with exacerbations and remissions, and the course of the disease fluctuates. Knowing what to do in exacerbations is important in order to better control the course of your disease. The cause of disease exacerbation can vary from person to person. Exposure to sunlight, not listening enough, and stress are the most common causes of flare-ups. It may be useful to observe the causes of exacerbation in you and to take care to stay away from these situations.
Fatigue
You can often feel tired and this can be a serious problem that lowers your standard of living. If there is an explainable condition, such as anemia or an underactive thyroid, this can be detected and treated with blood tests. This may be more difficult to correct if the cause cannot be pinpointed. Quinine group drugs can sometimes contribute. Good regulation of listening and activity times and getting in shape through exercise can be beneficial. However, exercise times should be increased slowly and recommendations should be sought from a physiotherapist on appropriate exercises.
Smoking
Many lupus-related problems are exacerbated by smoking.
• Both lupus and smoking cause narrowing of blood vessels, causing circulatory problems and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke afterwards.
• In the presence of lupus, the respiratory system is more likely to get microbial infections, and long-term lung damage due to smoking causes these infections to be more frequent and severe.
• When lupus affects the kidneys, it causes high blood pressure. Smoking also contributes to increased blood pressure and increases the likelihood of stroke, worsening of kidney damage
Smoking cessation is essential to reduce the more serious complications associated with lupus.
Exercise
When your disease is active, you may not want to move much, you may want to rest. However, prolonged rest and inactivity can weaken your muscles and make you feel more tired. For this reason, it is necessary to establish a good balance between rest and exercise. Walking and swimming are recommended exercises as they are good for fatigue, provide getting in shape and gain strength without putting too much strain on the joints. Even in disease flares, a small amount of exercise can contribute to the improvement of the process.
Nutrition
Little is known about the effects of nutrition on lupus control and treatment. However, there are studies showing that low consumption of saturated fats and omega-3 found in oily fish may be beneficial. It is important to have a balanced diet, as all types of food are needed, and diets that exclude certain food groups should be avoided.
Sunlight
Exposure to too much ultraviolet light can cause skin rashes called rashes and sometimes exacerbations of inflammatory processes in internal organs. Avoid midday sunlight, protect yourself from the sun, wear a hat and use sunscreen with a high protection factor.
Raynaud’s Phenomenon
If you have Raynaud’s Phenomenon, which goes with extreme discoloration of the hands and feet in cold weather, it is necessary to dress in a way to protect the hands and feet and the whole body from the cold in cold weather. Since smoking further impairs blood circulation, it worsens the symptoms. Regular exercise can contribute to circulation and reduce symptoms.
Stress
As it can negatively affect the disease process, it can make you feel worse than it actually is. Learning techniques for coping with stress (Meditation, EFT, etc.) may be beneficial. Support from a psychiatrist may be considered if necessary.
Birth Control
It is recommended that women with lupus use progesterone-only or low-dose estrogen-only tablets, but better still, barrier methods such as condoms. Because estrogen increases the likelihood of disease flare-ups.
If you are taking cortisone treatment, you should avoid the injection of medroxyprogesterone acetate, one of the birth control methods. Because this treatment increases the risk of osteoporosis by lowering the estrogen levels, which have a bone-protecting effect.
Postmenopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy
In the past, there was concern that such treatments could cause lupus flare-ups. However, according to recent studies, short-term use of this type of treatment has been shown to be safe in well-controlled lupus, if the menopausal symptoms are also very severe.
Complementary Medicine Methods
Although there are not many scientific publications on this subject, many people state that they benefit from such methods. For example, acupuncture applications have been shown to be beneficial in lupus-related joint pain. It would be beneficial to get the opinion of your Rheumatology Specialist, who followed you before starting such a treatment. As a result, since the Complementary Medicine Method to be applied is also a disease treatment, the practitioners in this field must be medical doctors trained in the relevant subject.
