Causes and symptoms of SLE
Symptoms and Causes Overview Lupus causes symptoms throughout your body. Everyone with lupus experiences a different combination and severity of symptoms, but these are some of the most common. What is lupus? Lupus is a condition that causes inflammation throughout your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means your immune system damages your body instead of protecting it. You may experience symptoms throughout your body depending on where your autoimmune system damages tissue, including in your: Advertisement Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy Skin. Blood. Joints. Kidneys. Brain. Heart. Lungs. Visit a healthcare provider if you notice new pain, rashes or changes to your skin, hair or eyes. Types of lupus Healthcare providers sometimes call lupus systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It’s the most common type of lupus, and means you have lupus throughout your body. Other types include: Cutaneous lupus erythematous: Lupus that only affects your skin. Drug-induced lupus: Some medications trigger lupus symptoms as a side effect. It’s usually temporary and might go away after you stop taking the medication that caused it. Neonatal lupus: Babies are sometimes born with lupus. Babies born to biological parents with lupus aren’t certain to have lupus, but they might have an increased risk. Symptoms and Causes What are lupus symptoms? Lupus causes symptoms throughout your body, depending on which organs or systems it affects. Everyone experiences a different combination and severity of symptoms. Lupus symptoms usually come and go in waves called flare-ups. During a flare-up, the symptoms can be severe enough to affect your daily routine. You might also have periods of remission when you have mild or no symptoms. Symptoms usually develop slowly. You might notice one or two signs of lupus at first, and then more or different symptoms later on. The most common symptoms include: Advertisement Joint pain, muscle pain or chest pain (especially when you’re taking a deep breath). Headaches. Rashes (it’s common to have a rash across your face that providers sometimes call a butterfly rash). Fever. Hair loss. Mouth sores. Fatigue (feeling tired all the time). Shortness of breath (dyspnea). Swollen glands. Swelling in your arms, legs or on your face. Confusion. Blood clots. Lupus can sometimes cause other health conditions or issues, including: Photosensitivity (sensitivity to sunlight). Dry eye. Depression (or other mental health conditions). Seizures. Anemia. Raynaud’s syndrome. Osteoporosis. Heart disease. Kidney disease. What causes lupus? Experts don’t know for certain what causes lupus. Studies have found that certain factors about your health or where you live may trigger lupus: Genetic factors: Having certain genetic mutations may make you more likely to have lupus. Hormones: Reactions to certain hormones in your body (especially estrogen) may make you more likely to develop lupus. Environmental factors: Aspects about where you live — including how much sunlight or how many toxins you’re exposed to — might affect your lupus risk. Your health history: Smoking, your stress level and having certain other health conditions (like other autoimmune diseases) might trigger lupus. Risk factors Anyone can develop lupus, but some groups of people have a higher risk: Women, especially women between the ages of 15 and 44. Black people. Hispanic people. Asian people. Native Americans, Alaska Natives and First Nations people. Pacific Islanders. People with a biological parent who has lupus.
