{"id":21123,"date":"2013-09-05T16:00:19","date_gmt":"2013-09-05T23:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=21123"},"modified":"2013-09-05T16:10:17","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T23:10:17","slug":"unrecognizable-signs-my-struggle-with-discoid-lupus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/unrecognizable-signs-my-struggle-with-discoid-lupus-0905137","title":{"rendered":"Unrecognizable Signs: My Struggle with Discoid Lupus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-21125\" alt=\"woman in beach hat\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/woman-in-beach-hat-090513.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" data-id=\"21125\" title=\"\">Freshman year of college was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/change\" target=\"_blank\">difficult time<\/a> for me. Many things had changed, I was away from home for the first time, I was not among close friends, and my course load was semi-difficult for me to adjust to. With all that going on, there was a noticeable change to my appearance that I couldn&#8217;t identify with. There was a round reddish raised sore on my left cheek. I tried to recall in my mind if I had done something to myself to cause this, but nothing came to mind.<\/p>\n<p>Combing my hair in the mirror also became unnerving, because it had begun to fall out more than that average 100 strands a day. My scalp was visible. I figured out where the hair was disappearing from; I was balding on a section of my scalp.<\/p>\n<p>I knew I had been stressing from school and being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/homesickness\" target=\"_blank\">homesick<\/a>, but I couldn\u2019t figure out why my skin and scalp were being affected by my stress. That\u2019s when I really began to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/panic\" target=\"_blank\">panic<\/a>. My mother suggested I come home so my grandmother, who was a registered nurse, could take a look and see what was happening. I was on the next thing smoking going home.<\/p>\n<p>As my grandmother examined my face and scalp, she was clueless about my condition. She concluded that I needed to see a dermatologist. A couple of days later, I was in the doctor\u2019s office being poked and prodded as if I were a science project.<\/p>\n<p>The diagnosis: discoid lupus. It was determined that I didn\u2019t have systemic lupus&#8212;there were traits, but I definitely had discoid. I didn\u2019t understand what discoid lupus was, so my reaction was nothing more than a head nod and wondering, \u201cNow what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My dermatologist did not have a sound of urgency or true concern in his voice, so I made myself believe that this wasn\u2019t very serious and I would be just fine. The information that I gained from that appointment was:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is no certain cause for this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/health-illness-medical-issues\" target=\"_blank\">disease<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>This disease is more prevalent in African-American women than Caucasians.<\/li>\n<li>It can affect my face and scalp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I was handed some cream for my face and told my hair would grow back. That was the end of the appointment. I never saw that dermatologist again, and I put the thought of lupus out of my mind.<\/p>\n<p>Almost twenty years passed; my life was moving along. Planning a wedding brought on demanding pressures that I had not anticipated. Day by day, my face began to show signs of redness, and hair was falling out. I believed that I was having an acne breakout and needed to wash my hair because it was falling out.<\/p>\n<p>I had not thought about symptoms of discoid lupus, so in my mind that was not a possibility. Dismissing all the signs, I went on with my wedding and honeymoon, which happened without a hitch. Coming back to reality, I decided it was time to see a dermatologist.<\/p>\n<p>What I feared became true: my discoid lupus had awakened from its 20-year nap. This time it came with a vengeance. Instead of one lesion, I had several on my face and ears, and my scalp was bald in more than one area. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/depression\" target=\"_blank\">Depression<\/a> began to set in because I couldn\u2019t understand why it came back ten times worse than before.<\/p>\n<p>If I could identify two things I overlooked during both of my episodes, they would be my high stress level and the symptoms I was experiencing at the time. Looking back, I was under some unbelievable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/stress\" target=\"_blank\">stress<\/a> both times, and I dismissed the rashes and hair falling out as just a natural aspect of my life.<\/p>\n<p>I have discoid lupus, which, whether active or dormant, is for life. I must pay attention to those little things&#8212;stress, fatigue, rashes, hair falling out, etc&#8212;in order to gain control of this outbreak, which will limit the hair loss and skin abrasions.<\/p>\n<p>As an African-American female diagnosed with a form of lupus, I have pointed out some important factors that I feel everyone should remember:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\">\n<li>Know your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/family-of-origin-issues\" target=\"_blank\">family history<\/a>. If someone in your family has a form a lupus, being tested may be wise for you.<\/li>\n<li>Get informed. Asking a professional the 5 W\u2019s is a great way to start to learn as much as you can about lupus:<br \/>\nWho can get lupus?<br \/>\nWhat is lupus?<br \/>\nWhen does lupus flare up?<br \/>\nWhere on\/in your body does lupus affect?<br \/>\nWhy is there not a cure for lupus?<br \/>\nThe more you know, the better prepared you are for your flare ups.<\/li>\n<li>Pay attention to symptoms you may have and the various changes that may take place with your body.<\/li>\n<li>Be sure to take your medication and visit your physician(s) regularly. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask as many questions as you can.<\/li>\n<li>If you have to be out in the sun, make sure you wear sunscreen or a hat, or use an umbrella to keep yourself protected.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure your family is educated, as well. You should not have to live with lupus by yourself.<\/li>\n<li>Try to make your life as stress-free as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Today, I am happy to report that my discoid lupus is under control. It hasn\u2019t taken a nap, but it\u2019s not wide awake, either. I see my rheumatologist and dermatologist regularly and I am sure to take my medication and stay out of the sun. Although my face has cleared, and my hair is growing back slowly and finely, I still live with caution.<\/p>\n<p>But I feel blessed that I have my life. As an educator, I have taken on the topic of lupus as if it were a thesis paper for me. Research is the main focus to gain a greater understanding. A great place to obtain information about lupus and its various forms is the Lupus Foundation of America.<\/p>\n<p><em>Genesa Page is a high school business education teacher at Mirabeau B. Lamar High School, an International Baccalaureate World School in Houston, TX. She has been teaching since 2005.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Genesa Page for GoodTherapy.org&#8217;s &#8220;Share Your Story:&#8221; At two distinct times in my life, under extreme duress, my discoid lupus flared and I had to learn to cope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[537],"tags":[31,452,423,25,239],"class_list":["post-21123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-share-your-story","tag-psychotherapy-practice","tag-chronic-illness-disability","tag-health-iillness-medical-issues","tag-psychotherapy-issues","tag-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}