Systemic Lupus Erythematosis

Pregnancy & Lupus

December 27, 2021 ·

I’ve sat down with hundreds of young women as they find out they have lupus. Once a diagnosis is made, the conversations are largely one-sided. Explaining what lupus is, how we diagnosis it, and what we are going to do about it can take a while. I’ve seen every possible emotion you can think of wash over the faces of women as they absorb this news: relief at an answer, sadness at what it means, anger at why them, and then fear for their future. The fear, for many, circles around concerns over the possibility of a pregnancy with lupus.

Lupus can affect anyone, but young women are the most commonly affected. Women in their teens, twenties and thirties, or what we call in medicine, the child-bearing years. Discussing issues related to pregnancy is a necessary component to a well-rounded lupus treatment strategy.

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Know the Prednisone Side Effects

December 23, 2021 ·

Let me be clear – I wouldn’t want to be on prednisone either. In fact, when suffering from a wicked case of vertigo, I fought my doctor buddies who advised I take a Medrol dose pack to ease the symptoms.

“I’m going to gain weight!” “I’m going to have anxiety!”

As a Rheumatologist, I am well-versed in all the possible side effects of prednisone (and similar meds) and feared the worse.

But I also know that there is a time a place for prednisone. Not only was I currently in need of the benefits of prednisone, many of my patients are as well. But there ARE side effects that need to be considered and discussed.

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Do you need Prednisone?

December 20, 2021 ·

“We are just wanting to know if we need to start steroids.”

Doctors will often make this comment when seeking out a rheumatology consultation. Prednisone has almost become synonymous with rheumatology. For years it was one of just a handful of treatments at our disposal to calm down the myriad of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions we came across. But the liberal use of prednisone by rheumatologists also served as education to all the harms the drug can cause.

When facing a prescription for prednisone, one can have many mixed feelings. Relief at the prospect of having some respite from pain and fear at the idea of all the side effects. Prednisone use has become so ubiquitous, especially with autoimmune disease, it can be easy to think of it as simply another “Tylenol” or “Advil.” But it needs to be understood and respected in order to be best used.

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Race & Lupus: Understand the Connection

May 25, 2021 ·

Lupus can affect anyone. And although this is true, we do not want to ignore the fact that lupus disproportionately affects certain people. We have discussed how it affects young women, but we haven’t discussed how it affects young Black women. Lupus affects 1 in every 250 Black women and when compared to the white community, the prevalence of lupus in the Black community is 3-4x higher. It is well established that Black lupus patients tend to be sicker, need more aggressive medications and have worse outcomes. And despite the amazing advancements in testing and treatment, Black patients don’t benefit from those advances to the same extent as their white counterparts.

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What you need to know about Lupus – Pt 2

May 11, 2021 ·

Lupus is not a diagnosis that anyone wants to hear come from their doctor’s mouth. It’s not very well understood by most and although it can be comforting to know the reason for your symptoms, it can be downright terrifying to think about your future. Lupus is a condition of ups and downs, sometimes extreme downs, but it is possible to live a happy, full life while also living with lupus.

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