Symptoms
Since joint pain and skin rashes occurring together can be a systemic disease affecting several organ systems, a wide range of symptoms can accompany them. Some of these should, if they occur, be urgently described to the doctor, because they can give important clues about the nature of the disease. These include: severe fatigue and pronounced feeling of illness, fever or chills, loss of appetite and weight.
Frequent infections of the upper respiratory tract, severely reddened and watery eyes or dry mucous membranes of the nasopharynx can also give rise to further examinations in conjunction with joint pain and skin rashes. Frequent dry coughing or coughing with sputum are also among the symptoms that should be paid attention to. In the case of the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus, psychological symptoms such as depression or even psychosis also occur and seizures are possible.
Fever, i.e. a body temperature of over 38°C, usually occurs when the immune system is dealing with a problem. As a rule, this means combating invading pathogens such as bacteria or viruses.As explained in previous sections, the occurrence of rash and joint pain can often be attributed to infection. A high and sudden onset of fever can thus provide a first indication of a bacterial or viral cause of the symptoms.
However, fever is not always associated with an infection. Autoimmune diseases also place a heavy strain on the immune system. Here, however, it does not deal with foreign invaders.
Instead, the immune defence is now directed against the body’s own components. This can lead to fever in addition to a variety of other symptoms. An example of this is rheumatic fever, which can occur as an autoimmunological secondary illness after a bacterial throat infection.
Fever also occurs occasionally in the acute phase of rheumatoid arthritis. In any case, however, fever indicates that a physician should be consulted in order to be able to recognize a potentially treatment-needy illness in time. Headaches occur as an unspecific general symptom in many diseases and are a cause for concern in very few cases.
A general symptomatology consisting of fever, headache and aching limbs is usually due to a flu-like infection or the viral flu (see symptoms of a flu). However, if headaches occur in conjunction with high fever, unexplained skin rashes or joint pain, a doctor should be consulted to rule out a serious illness. If, for example, a flu-like general symptomatology is accompanied by a roundish skin rash with central paleness, Lyme disease may be present and must be treated with antibiotics.
Even if the symptoms are accompanied by a pronounced feeling of illness, appetite or weight loss, the cause should be investigated. The same applies if severe fatigue and exhaustion occur. These general symptoms are also usually of a harmless nature and are associated with many, mostly harmless diseases.
Tiredness and reduced performance are often an expression of the immune system required in the context of pathogen defence. However, if the symptoms persist over a longer period of time, medical advice should be sought. A permanently reduced autoimmune disease.
If exhaustion, pronounced fatigue, joint pain and skin rashes exist together, it is possible that a systemic disease is present that requires specific treatment. Symptoms that do not immediately bring to mind diabetes mellitus include joint pain, rashes and itching of the skin. Nevertheless, these very symptoms, especially if they occur over a longer period of time, can be due to a permanently elevated blood sugar level.
With diabetes mellitus, the risk of infection is permanently increased. The protective mechanisms of the skin are also limited, which can lead to frequent fungal infections, often accompanied by severe itching. (see skin fungus) Furthermore, diabetics seem to be more susceptible to joint diseases of different kinds. The exact reason for this has not yet been thoroughly researched and is the subject of various studies.
