In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), as in all collagenoses and many autoimmune diseases, the spectrum of possible symptoms is wide. This is because there is connective tissue throughout the body, so very different organs and locations can be affected by the inflammatory responses and thus lupus disease. In discoid lupus erythematosus, however, changes usually occur only in the skin.
SLE: symptoms in systemic lupus.
Symptoms in SLE occur with varying frequency and severity. The symptoms of SLE resulting from organ inflammation, some of which were very pronounced in the past, have become quite rare today because of therapy. The following symptoms are relatively typical of lupus disease, especially when several occur together:
- Hair loss (often the first sign of the disease).
- Skin changes, often as butterfly erythema on the face (flat to slightly raised bright redness of the cheeks, extending across the bridge of the nose)
- General complaints (fatigue, poor performance, difficulty concentrating).
- Joint pain, joint inflammation (symptoms similar to rheumatism).
- Muscle pain
- Dry eyes (as a result of impaired tear secretion).
- Hypersensitivity to light (photosensitivity) with signs such as headache, fatigue and fever after exposure to sunlight.
- Symptoms due to inflammation of the following organs: gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, pleura, lymph nodes, pericardium and myocardium, lungs, pancreas, brain.
Symptoms in chronic discoid lupus (CDLE).
Symptoms in the form of changes in the skin are quite typical of chronic discoid lupus (CDLE) and are divided into three areas:
- Approximately coin-sized areas on the skin with firmly attached scales, under which a spur-like protrusion sits after detachment (“paperhanger nail phenomenon”)
- Reddened edge around the skin area
- In the center, tissue atrophy with scarring of the skin characterized by lighter pigmented dimples and often permanent hair loss
These CDLE symptoms on the skin occur in episodes and usually after sun exposure – especially where the skin is exposed to the sun, ie face, décolleté and neck. In addition, small ulcers in the mouth in the back of the cheeks also occur as symptoms. The people affected by this lupus disease – excluding these symptoms – otherwise feel healthy.
If the changes in the skin are quite extensive, highly photosensitive but not dented, and scaly only slightly, the diagnosis is more likely subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE).
