10. Tiny, red dots start sprouting on your skin
Patients diagnosed with lupus tend to notice the emergence of red spots on their skin, which occur because lupus is capable of attacking the platelets, which are blood cells that aid in the body in developing clots to put a stop to the bleeding. When there is a low level of platelets within the body, patients usually notice the emergence of tiny red spots, termed as petechiae.
Patients also find tiny red blood spots all over their legs, and these emerge because the blood vessels start leaking the blood. They also experience sudden nosebleeds, or bleeding in their gums, especially while brushing their teeth. This usually happens when the platelets are being damaged.
11. Your mouth constantly feels sore
Constantly mouth sores are regarded as one of the earliest symptoms of lupus. Patients have often reported the development of painful sores within their mouth, and experts believe that unlike canker sores, these are ulcers. They tend to sprout on the roof of the patient’s mouth, or the tongue, and even on the nose. They are likely to last for a couple days, but some cases tend to last for a month and even more.
12. You experience awful headaches, and cloudy thinking
Many patients complain that their head constantly keeps hurting, and they find it difficult to think straight and coherently, and this happens because lupus is capable of attacking the brain and the central nervous system. Nearly 50% of the patients diagnosed with lupus tend to experience problems related to their attention span, memory retaining, concentration and various severe cognitive disturbances that experts have termed as the “lupus fog”.
Patients who are diagnosed with lupus are twice more likely to experience strong, migraine-like headaches, which occur due to inflammation within the blood vessels. Basically, when lupus attacks and damages the nerves within the brain, they tend to become numb or experience tingling within the sensory and motor nerves. Women in their 30s and 40s who experience the symptoms of a stroke have also been diagnosed with lupus.
Sources: The Lupus Foundation of America. American College of Rheumatology. FDA.
