Providing Answers, Support and Hope in the Northeast
Common Diseases That Overlap With Lupus
Sometimes, people with lupus also have other conditions or diseases. These “overlap” conditions may include Raynaud’s syndrome, Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and others. If you think you have another condition besides lupus, talk to your rheumatologist.
Raynaud’s syndrome
Raynaud’s syndrome causes blood vessels in certain parts of your body to tighten. When this happens, less blood gets to those areas. About 1 in 3 people with lupus also have Raynaud’s.
Raynaud’s most often affects the fingers and toes, but it can also affect blood vessels in other parts of your body — like your ear lobes, nose, or lips. Raynaud’s “attacks” usually last for about 15 minutes. They’re often brought on by triggers like cold temperatures or stress.
Symptoms of a Raynaud’s attack can include:
- Color changes to the skin. Your fingers or toes may turn red, white, blue, or purple.
- Cold or numb skin. During an attack, it might feel like your hands or feet are “asleep.”
- Tingling. As blood flow returns, you might have a tingling or “pins and needles” feeling in your hands or feet.
If you have Raynaud’s syndrome, there are steps you can take to help prevent attacks — and manage your symptoms when they do happen.
To prevent an attack:
- Try to avoid sudden changes in temperature — especially going from warm air to cold air
- Dress warmly for cold weather by wearing a coat, hat, warm socks, and mittens (which keep the hands warmer than gloves)
- Cover your hands when have to touch something cold (like if you’re getting something out of the freezer)
- Be mindful of taking decongestant medicines, beta blockers and some migraine medications — these can sometimes make symptoms of Raynaud’s worse
- Avoid using tools that vibrate (like electric mixers or power tools) when you can
- Find healthy ways to manage your stress — like through physical activity, meditation, or taking time to do something you love
- Don’t smoke or spend time around people who are smoking
- Limit caffeine and energy drinks which may cause narrowing of blood vessels and make symptoms worse.
To manage symptoms of an attack:
- Soak your hands or feet in warm water as soon as you notice symptoms
- Warm your body up slowly — drinking a warm beverage might help
Talk with your doctor if your Raynaud’s symptoms get worse — or if you notice sores on your fingers or toes.
Sjögren’s syndrome
Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disorder that targets the glands that create moisture. Up to 9 out of every 50 people with lupus also have Sjögren’s syndrome. You’re more likely to have Sjögren’s syndrome if you’re a woman or if you’re between ages 45 and 55.
Sjögren’s syndrome most often affects the mouth and eyes, but it can affect other parts of the body too. Symptoms can include:
- Dryness in the mouth, eyes, skin, nose, throat, or vagina
- Joint or muscle pain
- Fatigue (feeling very tired all the time)
- Trouble swallowing or speaking due to dryness
- Skin rashes
- Brain fog (having trouble focusing or thinking)
If you have Sjögren’s syndrome, the main goal of treatment is managing your symptoms to keep you as comfortable as possible. Here are some tips:
- Treat dryness in the eyes, mouth, or vagina with prescription medicines or over-the-counter products
- Use a humidifier at home and at work
- Ask your doctor if you’re taking any medicines that might be making your symptoms worse
- Take good care of your teeth and gums, because people with Sjögren’s syndrome have a higher risk of dental issues — for example, you might need more frequent dental cleanings or prescription toothpaste
- Avoid foods or products that can irritate the mouth — like alcohol, spicy or acidic foods and drinks, hard or crunchy foods, tartar-control toothpaste, and teeth-whitening products
- Don’t smoke or spend time around people who are smoking
Rheumatoid arthritis
Like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that mainly affects the joints, usually the wrists, fingers and toes. But it can also affect the eyes, mouth, or lungs. Some people might use the term “rhupus” to describe RA and lupus that overlap.
Symptoms of RA include:
- Pain, swelling, stiffness, or tenderness in more than 1 joint
- Stiffness that’s worse in the morning or after sitting for long periods of time
- Pain and stiffness that affects the same joint on both sides of your body (for example, both wrists)
- Weakness or fatigue (feeling very tired all the time)
- Fever
Many of these symptoms are also present in lupus and can be hard to distinguish from RA. The joint swelling and potential joint deformities and erosions of the joint bones are more common in RA.
Read more about how lupus affects the joints, muscles, and bones.
There are steps you can take to help manage your RA symptoms and limit damage to your joints. Working with your doctor to come up with a treatment plan is key — especially if you’ve been diagnosed with RA recently. That’s because most lasting joint damage from RA happens within the first 2 years.
Treatment plans for RA usually involve medicines and changes to your daily routines. Some people with RA may also need surgery to treat serious joint damage.
Medicines for RA can:
- Help with your symptoms (like joint pain, swelling, and stiffness)
- Keep RA from getting worse
Some of the same medicines used to treat lupus can also be used to treat RA, but there are some medications that are effective in RA, but may make lupus worse. It is important to discuss all options with your doctor.
To help manage your RA symptoms:
- Stay active to help keep the muscles around your joints strong — your doctor can recommend safe and gentle activities that work for you
- Rest your body if you have severe inflammation in your joints
- Use heat or cold therapy — cold packs can ease pain and reduce swelling, and heating pads or warm baths can relax your muscles and help with pain
- Try different ways to relax to help ease your pain, like deep breathing exercises
- Don’t smoke or spend time around people who are smoking
Other diseases that overlap with lupus
- Autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s - underactive thyroid function and Graves disease – overactive thyroid function) and other thyroid disorders. These conditions affect your thyroid gland (the butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck that makes hormones).
- Celiac disease. This is a digestive and autoimmune disorder that targets your small intestine. It’s triggered by eating food s that contain a protein called gluten.
- Myasthenia gravis. This disease causes weakness in your muscles. The weakness generally gets worse when you’re active and better when you rest.
- Antiphospholipid syndrome. This condition can cause blood clots to form and can lead to other health problems — like stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism (when blood flow to the lungs is blocked), deep vein thrombosis (clot usually in the leg), and recurrent miscarriages.
- Polymyositis. This is a rare disease that can cause muscle weakness due to inflammation of the muscles, joint swelling and tenderness, and tissue damage.
- Dermatomyositis. This disease is similar to polymyositis. In addition to causing muscle problems, dermatomyositis can also cause skin rashes that can be sensitive to the sun.
- Scleroderma. Scleroderma is a group of diseases that cause skin to become tight, thick or hardened. It can also cause joint and muscle pain, breathing problems and kidney disease.