What Causes Lupus?

Taken During the 6th Session
of Pulse Therapy (with cyclophosphamide)
at the Chemo Unit of RTR Hospital,
Tacloban City

Lupus, I think, had been killing humans before I came to exist in this world. It's not a new disease contrary to what people had told me. In fact, in a news article published in January 1986 (I was just more than a year old at that time), LA Times has this news item's head, "Marcos Seriously Ill With Rare Disease Lupus, U.S. Sources Say."

So, Lupus must be popular because it killed a popular man, President Ferdinand E. Marcos,... not just popular but a very popular man at that time. This disease was made popular by media men by following  the treatment procedures of the former President up to the time he breathed his last gasp.

However, up until today, none of the experts can really tell the real cause why this Lupus disease has existed.

For now, let us just settle our minds in an idea that this disease is genetic in nature . Anyway, some studies led us to the idea that certain genes that inherited by people has the higher tendency to develop autoimmune disease, including Lupus. However, even if you have inherited that Lupus genes, it takes certain triggers for it to activate and start attacking you.

The Triggers of Lupus

Experts say that few of the known triggers in the activation of Lupus disease are:

1. Sunlight. A person with Lupus genes is photosensitive. When exposed to sunlight, his immune system reacts and as the result he will develop skin rashes and damage to the internal organs.

2. Infection. If a person with Lupus genes got infected, his immune system reacts to protect him from the infection, and at the same time attacks his own organs.

3. Food. When the person with Lupus genes has eaten food that contains allergen or toxins, his immune system reacts to the allergen in order to protect him, but at the same time attacking his organs too.

4. Hormonal Change. After giving birth of a child by a mother with Lupus genes, her hormones (estrogen and progesterone, including the hormones produced by thyroid glands) have an immediate drop that causes her to feel stress and depression which is called "Babies Blue" syndrome or Postpartum Depression. This stress triggers the immune system to activate as a way of protecting her, but at the same time damaging internal organs.

5. Stress. If the person with Lupus genes felt stressed psychologically, his immune system activates to protect him, and at the same time damaging internal organs.

In short, Lupus is activated soon as one's immune system's activates. And the factors that cause the activation of the normal immune system, are the same factors that activates the abnormal immune system which we call "Lupus."

So, to control the Lupus activity, one's immune system should be controlled too. This is the reason why the doctors gave me immunosuppressant drugs. These drugs suppressed my immune system thus minimizing the attack of Lupus.

Lupus Attacked Me When I Was Stressed

Just like what I have said already, even if I was diagnosed of SLE or Lupus only in 2016, but I already had noticed its symptoms way back 2009, after I gave birth to our first child, which we thought that those symptoms were just another illnesses.

And my most stressful time was when my husband lost his business in 2012, thus losing his income too. I saw how depressed was my husband at that time, and I feel the pain of how he was badly hurt by that incident. I got sick, but I thought it was just another illness not a symptom of Lupus activity.

In 2013, after I gave birth to our second child, I got sick again, and I thought that that was another new illness not a symptom of Lupus activity.

As time goes by, my health condition had worsen. I couldn't grip something because the joints in my fingers hurt. I had knees and ankles problems. Got strange allergies. And I feel tired easily.

And then on January 2016, I got a problem in breathing due to internal abdominal pain. At first, the diagnose was Nephritis. And then it was upgraded to Nephrotic Syndrome. When all those illnesses that I had before manifested in July 2016 at that same time, the diagnose was finally raised to SLE or Lupus.

Lupus Made Me...

That's how Lupus attacked me. It made me suffer, but I am not blaming anyone. I consider it the gift of GOD to me. It made me special. It made me stronger than before.

It made me poorer than before (in terms of material wealth), but it made me rich of LOVE. Lupus made me feel the presence of God in my life.

God is really good to me!